Boggs McDonald now key player on council

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | noon

City spending

How the Las Vegas City Council voted Wednesday to spend tax dollars:

To Richardson Construction Inc., to construct a track-break building at Ann/Cimarron Park on the southwest corner of Ann and Cimarron roads. The work includes clearing the site, installing utilities, paving the area, installing irrigation and installing playground equipment.

To CB&G Enterprise Inc., to install playground equipment at Bob Baskin Park, Coleman Park, Ed Fountain Park and Rotary Park.

Preapproval of the contract for the lowest responsible bidder to make ballfield, dugout and backstop improvements at Lorenzi and Freedom parks.

To Zumar Industries Inc. for sign face material that will be used to repair street signs through the end of this year.

To Metro Police for the reimbursement of witness fees.

To Logan Marketing for the annual requirement of plotter supplies for various city departments.

To Wells Cargo Inc. to provide the installation of a wall on the Las Vegas Valley Water District's property at Torrey Pines Drive and Gowan Road and Gowan and Rainbow Boulevard. The water district will reimburse the city.

To VWR Scientific Products for laboratory supplies for several city departments.

Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald sits in one of the middle offices on the 10th floor at City Hall.

How appropriate that was for a woman caught in the middle of an apparent power struggle between Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Councilman Michael McDonald, each trying to get their choices appointed to the new Ward 5 and Ward 6 council seats.

When the smoke cleared at Wednesday's City Council meeting, neither Goodman nor McDonald came out on top. A strong argument, however, could be made that Boggs McDonald, by casting a key swing vote to give each man a partial victory, has established herself as a force with which to be reckoned on future close votes.

Boggs McDonald voted for McDonald's Ward 5 candidate, city employee Lawrence Weekly, who won by a 4-0 vote, and Goodman's Ward 6 candidate, City Planning Commissioner Michael Mack, who pulled out a 3-2 victory with votes from Goodman and Councilman Larry Brown.

Mack and Weekly will be sworn in on Dec. 15 and take office in January.

Weekly, 35, will have to quit his $48,596-a-year city job for the $37,545-a-year part-time council post. Mack, 36, owns several pawn shops and boutiques. He will have to step down from the Planning Commission.

"In the final analysis, I just wanted to accomplish a balance so as not to minimize or exalt anyone's choices," Boggs McDonald said.

As late as last Friday, Boggs McDonald appeared to be leaning toward City Building Services Manager Orlando Sanchez as her choice for Ward 6 -- a move that would have given McDonald considerable power at City Hall, as Weekly and Sanchez were his choices.

Boggs McDonald, however, said one deciding factor against Sanchez, who would have been the first Hispanic to serve on the council, was his status as a city employee. She had gone on record expressing concerns over appointing city employees to the council.

"I got so many calls from constituents telling me it would not be good for two city employees to be selected," she said. "I realized it did not matter how I voted on Lawrence Weekly, because he would win no matter what I did. But I knew my vote would be a factor" on the Mack-Sanchez vote.

In voting for Mack, Boggs McDonald -- who herself was appointed last year to represent Ward 2 after Arnie Adamsen stepped down -- put aside Mack's initial competition for that seat as well as her earlier criticism of him for moving from his Ward 2 home into Ward 6 to have a shot at the new post.

A key reason she said she voted for Mack was because of his expertise in planning and zoning -- issues that take up more than half of the twice-monthly council meetings.

While some City Hall observers say that Boggs McDonald now figures to be a swing vote on potential Goodman-Brown-Mack vs. McDonald-Gary Reese-Weekly showdowns, others say it is not that cut and dried.

"Frankly, I took offense when I heard people say I was voting for Michael McDonald's candidates," said Reese, who abstained from voting for the Ward 5 seat because Weekly works as his ward liaison. "Yes, I agree with Michael on a number of issues, but I supported the people I thought would best do the job regardless of who else supported them."

As for Boggs McDonald's immediate political future, that also is not clear. Boggs McDonald, Weekly and Mack all will have to run in 2001.

Asked if she felt she misled McDonald -- a man who supported her appointment to the council -- and embarrassed him by switching loyalties, Boggs McDonald said she never promised McDonald that she would vote for Sanchez.

"We have many other common issues," she said.

On the other hand, she said, she was not looking for Goodman's support either. "There was no deal made for my vote," she said.

Meanwhile, Goodman's highly publicized ploy last month to delay the votes apparently paid off by buying him the time he needed to get at least half a victory.

Before the Oct. 20 council meeting, Goodman learned that McDonald's choices had the votes to win the appointments.

Goodman, a lawyer, called for the item to be held to seek an opinion from the city's Ethics Review Board on whether appointing city employees to the council would violate 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 city employees were not in conflict of interest by taking council seats.

Goodman had supported Mack and Uri Clinton, 27, a lawyer and Clark County mediation specialist, for the posts. Brown had reportedly sided with Goodman's choices prior to the Oct. 20 vote to delay action, although he wound up voting for Weekly on Wednesday.

The City Council had to make the two appointments after the Nevada Legislature passed a law requiring the council to expand from five to seven members if voters approved such a measure in June, which they did.

The law was sponsored by state Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, a longtime local black activist who was upset that blacks and other minorities had difficulty obtaining seats on the City Council. He felt that by having more wards, at least one minority would have a better shot of getting elected.

Now, for the second time ever, there will be two blacks on the council -- Boggs McDonald, who is filling Adamsen's term, and Weekly, a Western High graduate and lifelong Las Vegan.

The only other time two blacks served on the City Council was during the tenure of Frank Hawkins, the first black to be elected to the council, and Ken Brass, who was appointed. Brass was in office for just 20 months, losing to Reese in 1995. Hawkins served one term, losing to Michael McDonald the same year.

Weekly and Boggs McDonald hope that is history. They feel that with the dawning of a new millennium, they will get equal opportunity if they prove themselves to their constituents.

"I think people today will look past race if they feel they have someone on the council who looks after their concerns -- who represents their interests," Weekly said. "In the next 18 months I will do my job to the best of my ability for all of my constituents and make a choice then whether I will run."

Boggs McDonald said times are changing.

"Las Vegas is one of the most racially diversified cities," she said. "I feel the people of my ward support me."