City Council to make final decision on wards

Diana Sahagun

Monday, Nov. 29, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

North Las Vegas residents will have their last chance to say how they want their city divided at Wednesday night's City Council meeting.

The council is scheduled to take final action on an ordinance that will establish four wards within the city.

A new bill approved by the 1999 Legislature mandates for the first time in North Las Vegas history that the city divide into four equal wards for the 2001 election.

Retired Wisconsin Judge Frederick Kessler, who created the new six-ward redistricting map for Las Vegas, drew the proposed plan for North Las Vegas' wards based on population estimates as of July 1. Under his plan, each council member would be responsible for an average of 28,572 constituents.

Once the wards are approved, residents will still vote for candidates at large, but candidates will have to live within the ward from which they run.

Under the proposed map, Councilman John Rhodes would represent Ward 1, Councilman William Robinson Ward 2, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith Ward 3 and Councilwoman Shari Buck Ward 4.

At a public forum Oct. 25, many residents spoke heatedly that the way lines were drawn, resources would not be spread evenly.

Residents in the proposed Ward 2 told Kessler they were dealt a bad hand, and Wards 3 and 4 had a higher economic base and a greater potential for growth.