Two newest councilmen sworn in

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 10:06 a.m.

The two newest members of the Las Vegas City Council were sworn in Wednesday, helping make the board younger and more diverse.

Lawrence Weekly, 35, and Michael Mack, 36, were joined by their families at the ceremony.

Both men will officially take office in January - when the new ward 5 and 6 boundaries take effect.

For only the second time in its history, two blacks - Weekly and Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald - will be seated on the council. Frank Hawkins and Ken Brass were the first blacks appointed to the board, and both served during at the same time in the early 90s.

The council is made up predominantly of people with public sector experience.

Weekly currently works as Councilman Gary Reese's ward liaison while Mack, a local businessman, serves on the Planning Commission. Councilman Larry Brown and Boggs McDonald also have public sector experience.

The Las Vegas City Council was forced to expand by two seats due to legislation signed into law requiring such an expansion provided the voters approved the measure.

Voters did that in June and set into motion a highly-contested race for the appointments. Mack and Weekly prevailed after months of interviews.

In addition to the swearing-in ceremony Wednesday, the council approved $98,498 to fund the salary and benefits for Mack and Weekly and another $356,691 to fund five management analysts and two senior executive assistants for the new councilmen.