Kincaid, Malone feeling the heat

Adrienne Packer

Monday, July 31, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

Mary Kincaid has been painted as the Clark County commissioner who is indifferent to children's health care.

Lance Malone has gained the reputation as the commissioner who backtracks on his promises.

Four of the seven board members are up for re-election, but the only races expected to be heated are those involving Kincaid and Malone. They are the two who with controversial votes hand-delivered fodder for their opponents.

And ultimately both votes turned out to be inconsequential.

A collection of pediatricians filed into the Clark County Election Department on Friday holding paperwork that is expected to make Kincaid's May vote on an $80 million bond issue for a children's hospital a moot point.

Kincaid voted with three of her colleagues to delay placing the bond issue on November's ballot until more feasibility studies could be conducted. The physicians collected enough signatures to force a ballot question.

Kincaid nevertheless has felt the effect of her vote.

North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith's supporters quickly pounced on Kincaid's decision, mailing a graphic flier picturing black and white snapshots of sickly children.

Smith, a close friend of Commissioner Erin Kenny, who backed the hospital, made the message in her flier clear: She will make a children's hospital happen, and Kincaid won't.

The mailer was viewed as tasteless by many who received it, but it accomplished what Smith advocates had hoped. The media picked up on it, and Smith, who serves on the low-profile North Las Vegas City Council, gained some of the name recognition she desperately needs.

Smith later distributed a more benign flier that delivered the same message.

Kincaid has insisted her vote was not against a children's hospital. She made the well-publicized statement that she didn't want a Taj Mahal, meaning she didn't want a state-of-the-art structure that couldn't be fully staffed.

Kincaid claimed Smith's first mailer exploited children and last week delivered a more subtle message to assure her constituents she truly cares about youths.

Although it won't be introduced until September, Kincaid has authored a "child exploitation prevention" ordinance. The measure would regulate solicitation and youth peddling.

Mark Kincaid, the commissioner's son and campaign manager, said Kincaid would not have reconsidered her vote even if she could have foreseen the fallout.

"The only thing that's frustrating is that she did what she felt was right for the community, and (the pediatricians) went ahead with it anyway," Mark Kincaid said.

Meanwhile, Malone, Kincaid's colleague across district boundaries in the northwest, continues to try to overcome a statement he made before voting in favor of a Spring Valley neighborhood casino.

"All an elected official has sometimes is his word, and this time I'll have to back off my word," Malone said, referring to an earlier commitment he made to Station Casinos.

Two months after Malone's January vote the state's Gaming Policy Committee overturned the commission's decision, ruling the new casino would adversely affect the surrounding neighborhood and therefore violated the law.

At the time Malone cast his controversial vote, he had one opponent in the general election: Democrat George Togliatti. It didn't take long for potential candidates to sense Malone's vulnerability and hop into the race.

Now the Republican incumbent, once secure in his bid for a second term, faces two viable opponents: Chip Maxfield in the primary race and Lois Tarkanian in the general election.

"I personally don't think they would have run at that time (of the vote)," Malone said. "Nobody was interested in running, because they know we've done a great job in our district. There was no Chip Maxfield or Lois Tarkanian.

"That's what makes it difficult to be an incumbent. You make decisions, and now you have a record."

While Tarkanian has remained relatively quiet about the Station Casinos vote, Maxfield's fliers say it is time to restore ethics and honesty in county government.

Malone disputes Maxfield's claims, saying there is nothing dishonest about changing one's mind. He noted that the Spring Valley Town Board, the planning commission and Erin Kenny, the commissioner who represents Spring Valley, all supported the casino proposal.

"The easy thing would have been to vote no," Malone said. "I probably would not have contenders in this race."