Council has two weeks to pick new members

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Sept. 29, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

Two expected appointments to the Las Vegas City Council will not be made on the same day the wards for those seats are created.

Officials in the city clerk's office said the appointments will be considered Oct. 20 -- two weeks after the redistricting plan is approved. Some City Council members had said that the appointments could come on the same day the wards are created.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said Monday he planned to nominate his choices for the new Ward 5 and 6 council seats at the Oct. 6 meeting.

Logistically, however, the timing gave little room for council members to decide on candidates after the map was certified.

Now the council will have another 14 days of lobbying by would-be appointees.

Residents of Ward 5 will get a chance to see some of those candidates during a forum Thursday at 7 p.m. at the West Las Vegas Library.

But most of the appointment process is done behind the closed doors of the 10th-floor offices held by Goodman and his council colleagues.

Since the Legislature required the council appoint its new members by Jan. 1, 2000, a special election could not be held.

As a result, candidates are relying on meetings with the council members and letters of support from community leaders and residents.

Uri Clinton, 27, a mediation specialist for Clark County Social Services, has upped his stake this week with more than 1,000 postcards mailed to City Hall on his behalf for the Ward 5 appointment.

Michael Mack, 36, a Las Vegas planning commissioner and businessman, has been relying on similar letters of support for the Ward 6 appointment.

But two city employees, Lawrence Weekly and Orlando Sanchez, also have support on the council. Weekly, 35, is seeking the Ward 5 seat and Sanchez, 36, is vying for the Ward 6 seat.