Smith presents challenge to Kincaid

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, May 16, 2000 | 11:11 a.m.

While the focus of the Clark County Commission race has been the Who's Who list of candidates rumored to be running against a vulnerable Lance Malone, the closest battle might be fought in a district next door.

North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, who formally tossed her name into a mix of seven candidates before the filing deadline Monday, is considered to be the greatest threat to District A incumbent Mary Kincaid.

Smith is a friend of Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny who many, including Kincaid, believe is trying to help unseat the first-term commissioner.

"I know Stephanie is Erin's best friend, and Erin is upset with me because she doesn't feel I vote her way enough," Kincaid said. "She told me, 'I like you as a person, but it would be nice to have someone I can count on.' "

Smith said she decided to run for county commissioner because she believes she can improve the cohesion between the county, cities and the state, having served at the latter two levels.

"There are needs in the northwest that I cannot meet through the city," Smith said. "There is a desperate need for parks and better transportation."

Smith said another priority is air quality, which has been one of Kenny's top priorities since she was first elected to the board in 1994.

Kincaid, who served four consecutive terms on the North Las Vegas City Council, lost any chance of an endorsement from the influential culinary and food and commercial workers' union when she voted last year against a union-drafted ordinance that banned full-sized Wal-Mart Supercenters.

Kincaid, a self-proclaimed supporter of organized labor, said before her October 1999 vote that government doesn't have a right to regulate competition among retailers.

She said she is aware the vote might hurt her political career, but she has never second-guessed her decision.

"I'm sworn to uphold the Constitution; I was told it was unconstitutional," Kincaid said. "I never considered it to be a union, nonunion issue. It was an issue of constitutionality and free trade."

Kincaid has secured endorsements from several other unions, including the teamsters, building trade and the police officers associations for Metro and North Las Vegas.

To the west of Kincaid's region the District C race, as expected, is packed with candidates looking to take advantage of Malone's recent run-in with Station Casinos and residents in the southwest.

A barrage of lawsuits have been filed since an anonymous flier was mailed to Malone's constituents blasting the commissioner for going back on his word to Station Casinos and voting in favor of a competing casino.

While the state Gaming Control Board decides whether to punish Station Casinos, which has admitted to being behind the flier, the race Malone expected to win easily has suddenly become crowded.

Malone will face Republican Donald "Chip" Maxfield, president of Southwest Engineering in the primary.

Should Malone defeat Maxfield a slew of Democrats await him, most notably Clark County School Board member Lois Tarkanian -- the wife of former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian -- and civil rights activist Dr. James Tate.

Tarkanian has said she will avoid an ugly campaign against Malone. Since she doesn't have nearly as much campaign funding as Malone -- about $700,000 -- Tarkanian said she plans to walk door-to-door in an area that includes much of the same territory as her existing School Board district.

In District D, Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates has no opponent in the primary but will run against four Republicans in the November election.

Joining Joanna Wesley, who has previously run for North Las Vegas City Council and Anthony Snowden, president of West Las Vegas Development Corp., are candidates Cheston Williams and Carlo Poliak.

North Las Vegas City Councilman John Rhodes, who said he planned to run against Gates, was indicted earlier this month on two felony counts related to insurance fraud and did not file Monday.

The most quiet race is expected to be the one involving commission chairman Bruce Woodbury, who has served on the board since 1982.

Woodbury, the only Republican in District A race, will face Democrat Jeff White, Libertarian Timothy Hagan and Joshua Hansen in November.

UNLV biology professor Larry Paulson, who said last year he intended to run against Woodbury, did not file.

Adrienne Packer

covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com