Council power struggle a draw

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999 | 12:56 p.m.

The power struggle in Las Vegas City Hall over the appointment of two new council members ended in a split, with the appointment this morning of one candidate backed by Mayor Oscar Goodman and another backed by Councilman Michael McDonald.

The City Council in separate votes made Lawrence Weekly, a native Las Vegan, and Michael Mack the sixth and seventh members of the board.

Weekly, McDonald's choice and the fifth black in Las Vegas history to serve on the council, becomes the representative of newly created Ward 5. Mack, who was backed by Goodman, will represent the newly created Ward 6.

Weekly, 35, works as Ward 3 Councilman Gary Reese's liaison and Mack, 36, is a planning commissioner who owns several pawn stores and boutiques.

Weekly, who will have to quit his city job, will take a significant cut in pay from his $48,596 annual salary. City Council posts, considered part-time jobs, pay $37,545 annually.

Weekly and Mack will be sworn in on Dec. 15 and take their posts at the start of the year.

Mack's appointment was approved by a narrow vote of 3-2 with Reese and McDonald voting against him. Weekly got in with a 4-0 vote with Reese abstaining because Weekly was one of his two liaisons. The city attorney had issued an opinion that Reese was not in conflict of interest and could have voted.

"I believe I will be able to bring a cohesiveness to the council given my experience as a planning commissioner and a businessman," Mack said outside the hearing.

Mack's appointment was aided by a swing vote by Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, who had criticized Mack for moving from his home in Ward 2 to Ward 6 to have a shot at that seat. Mack also had initially opposed her in her bid last year for appointment to the Ward 2 council seat after the defeat in the mayoral election of former Councilman Arnie Adamsen.

Despite the past competition, Mack said this morning, he and Boggs McDonald "have always had a good relationship."

Left off the council was City Building Services Manager Orlando Sanchez, 36, another ally of McDonald, who had been considered a shoo-in to become the first-ever Hispanic on the council. He too would have had to quit his city job and take a cut in pay from his current $78,442 a year.

Mack and Weekly will have to run for their council seats in 2001.

After the 4-0 vote putting him on the council, Weekly said, "I am very excited because it gives me the confidence that I am going to be able to work well with everyone to obtain for the people of Ward 5 the things they want -- economic development and better quality of life."

The weeks before the selections were filled with political intrigue.

Before the Oct. 20 council meeting at which the appointments originally were scheduled to be made, Goodman learned that McDonald's choices for the seats -- Weekly and Sanchez -- had the votes to win the appointments.

Goodman, a lawyer, called for the item to be held while he asked for an opinion from the city's Ethics Review Board on whether appointing two city employees to the council would violate city ordinances designed to regulate lobbying. City employees must wait two years before appearing before the city on behalf of others. The review board ruled that there would be no conflict of interest.

Goodman had argued that a city employee who immediately becomes a council member might, for example, have trouble objectively deciding the budget of his former department.

Goodman had supported Mack and Uri Clinton, 27, a lawyer and Clark County mediation specialist, for the posts. Councilman Larry Brown reportedly had sided with Goodman's choices before the Oct. 20 decision to hold off on the vote.

The Nevada Legislature required the council to expand by two seats if voters approved such a measure in June. After the ballot measure passed, the city began the process of redistricting from four to six wards.

The new districts take effect Jan. 1.