Council contenders converge on City Hall

Erin Neff

Monday, Oct. 18, 1999 | 11:56 a.m.

A steady parade of would-be Las Vegas City Council members marched through City Hall's 10th floor last week in an 11th-hour display to win the coveted bids.

Nowhere was the scene more surreal than outside Councilman Michael McDonald's office, where each person seeking an appointment lined up for back-to-back 15 minute meetings.

Katherine Duncan-Briley, who is hoping to win the Ward 5 seat, said she was shocked to meet her so-called competition outside McDonald's door.

"That's OK though," she said. "We all decided to work together no matter who gets it."

But privately, some are vying very hard for the appointments to Wards 5 and 6 to be decided Wednesday.

Planning Commissioner Michael Mack and Uri Clinton, a Clark County mediation specialist who recently passed the Nevada bar exam, both made return trips to City Hall as common as a chain smoker's reach for the pack.

"I still have a little work to do," said Clinton, 27, when spotted at City Hall last Thursday.

Sources close to Mayor Oscar Goodman say the mayor is leaning toward Clinton for the Ward 5 seat. However, Goodman himself refuses to discuss his preference.

Last week Goodman said his mind was essentially made up, but he would hold meetings with anyone else interested in the seats.

"If somebody else impresses me to the point where I have to change my mind, I will," Goodman said Thursday.

Lawrence Weekly, 34, who works as Councilman Gary Reese's ward liaison, also is working hard for the Ward 5 appointment.

Weekly has held several community "meet and greet" functions and reportedly has the support of McDonald.

McDonald has publicly said that Weekly and Orlando Sanchez would be strong candidates for the Ward 5 and 6 seats respectively.

Weekly and McDonald attended Western High School together. Sanchez, 36, the city's Building Services director, worked closely with McDonald on concerns in his ward when Sanchez worked for the city's Neighborhood Services department.

McDonald's support for both Weekly and Sanchez seems to best benefit his power on the council, but it may meet with resistance from his colleagues.

Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said she had philosophical difficulties in appointing two city employees to the council.

Boggs McDonald is a former city employee who currently works at UNLV. Councilman Larry Brown is a former Las Vegas Valley Water District employee and McDonald a former Metro Police officer.

"I just think we need greater diversity," Boggs McDonald has said, referring not just to ethnicity, but to employment background.

That leaves two questions to be answered on Wednesday.

If Boggs McDonald can support just one city employee for a seat, will it Sanchez or Weekly?

And if Goodman nominates Clinton and Mack -- which some suspect will occur -- will the rest of the council concur?

Reese, meanwhile has asked City Attorney Brad Jerbic whether it would be advisable for him to abstain from a vote if Weekly, his ward liaison, is nominated. Previously, Reese said he would abstain -- leaving some to question whether Weekly's chances have diminished in the past few weeks.

The appointment process isn't favored by any of the council members. All have stated they would have preferred to let the voters decide.

The state Legislature passed a law this session requiring the council expand by two seats if voters approved such a measure. Voters did just that in June.

That decision, coupled with the state law requiring the expansion to take place by Jan. 1, 2000, forced the city into redistricting and making the appointments.

Retired Wisconsin judge Fred Kessler, a re-apportionment expert, added Wards 5 and 6 to the city's current four-ward design in an effort to split up the population equally.

The council approved his plan Oct. 6. Those who win Wednesday's appointments won't be sworn in until January.