Boggs McDonald elected to League of Cities board

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.

With just over a month of political work under her belt, Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald has become the first freshman elected official picked for the executive board of the Nevada League of Cities.

Boggs McDonald, who was appointed to the Ward 2 council seat July 12, was elected secretary/treasurer by a majority of Nevada League of Cities delegates gathered at the league's 40th annual conference this past weekend in Fallon.

Boulder City Councilman Mike Pacini nominated Boggs McDonald. North Las Vegas Councilwoman Stephanie Smith seconded the motion and gave Southern Nevada its first representative on the Nevada League of Cities executive board in years.

Ever since her appointment, rumors that Councilman Michael McDonald controlled her political destiny have been rampant in City Hall. Boggs McDonald, who is not related to the councilman, has repeatedly said she earned the appointment on her own merit.

"It shows that I'm a qualified and capable politician," Boggs McDonald said.

As secretary/treasurer, she will serve as a delegate to the National League of Cities annual convention in Los Angeles this December. But more importantly, she said, her new position helps bring political clout to Southern Nevada.

"We want to have a stronger voice in terms of the Legislature," she said. "You have to be at the table when those decisions are made."

The Nevada League of Cities coordinates legislative activities for its member cities and municipalities.

Boggs McDonald said she was first familiarized with the league's work in 1995 when she was an assistant city manager in Las Vegas and lobbied for legislation to allow counties to collect outstanding traffic fines when people register their vehicles after moving to a new county.

"It's very important Southern Nevada has a voice in this process," Boggs McDonald said.

Now that she's been elected to the executive board, Boggs McDonald will continue moving up the league's hierarchy as long as she remains in office. Next year she will become second vice president.

If she is elected to the council in 2001, when her appointment expires, she will become first vice president. She said she would become president of the league if still a part of the Las Vegas City Council in 2002.