Commissioners will quickly challenge for Maxfield’s support

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Nov. 9, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

Chip Maxfield has yet to be tainted by politics or influenced by special interests, which might be why voters were willing to put him in the Clark County Commission District C seat.

The question is whether he can sit on the most powerful board in the state and remain independent.

Maxfield's first challenge will come quickly. When the commissioner-elect is sworn in Jan. 1, one of his first tasks will be to help determine who will chair the board.

Commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid want the job and already are lobbying their fellow board members. Maxfield will walk right into the battle that could unintentionally expose an allegiance to one commissioner.

Herrera is familiar with Maxfield's position. Two years ago he voted for Commissioner Bruce Woodbury to take the chairman's seat at the center of the dais.

"People grouped me with Bruce early on," Herrera said. "We've been close on a lot of issues. It helped people understand where my loyalties would be from the very beginning."

Maxfield will be walking into the decision cold unless he meets with his soon-to-be colleagues before he takes office in January, which commissioners hope he does.

"I don't know who he knows; I hope he comes in with an open mind," said Commissioner Myrna Williams. "I hope he gets to know everyone and makes a legitimate choice."

Maxfield said that is exactly what he intends to do during the next two months. He plans to meet not only with the commissioners, but with department heads and staff members.

"I don't think (picking a leader) will be an issue for me," Maxfield said. "I'll meet people and do my homework and just do my best."

Maxfield has said his common-sense approach and his ability to vote his conscience will carry him through the tougher decisions. On Election Night his wife, Kathey, said his personality will also be beneficial.

"Chip is very unemotional," Kathey Maxfield said. "He doesn't let emotion carry him away. He manages to stay clear-minded and stick to the issue."

Maxfield likely will dodge the biggest controversy that will hit the county in the next two months -- the decision about whether Clark County Manager Dale Askew stays or goes.

Commissioners who want Askew to resign aren't willing to gamble on where Maxfield will land on the issue. Herrera and Commissioner Erin Kenny know board member Lance Malone -- who Maxfield will replace -- is in favor of ousting Askew. They are confident they have the fourth vote to seal Askew's fate.

Herrera said dealing with outside influences is more difficult than handling the occasional political back-biting on the board. Herrera joined the commission as it prepared to create the Citizen Review Board, which triggered contentious debates between police and civil rights officials.

Herrera said he simply voted for what he believed served the community best.

"Chip's an individual with strong beliefs of what he thinks is right," Herrera said. "I have every faith he will deal with issues in an honest way."

The board is looking forward to the expertise Maxfield, a civil engineer who has owned his firm for 15 years, will bring to the county. Maxfield said his knowledge in planning and design work will help in solving traffic and growth-related problems.

Kenny said what might be most frustrating for Maxfield is the make-up of District C -- a vast area, 95 percent of which is in the city of Las Vegas. Maxfield might have grand ideas on how to improve residents' quality of life, but many times he'll need the city's authorization to execute them.

"District C is different than any of the other district seats," Kenny said. "In much of his district he has little say; there will always be something that will be a challenge."

Board members agree that what Maxfield can learn only by experience is the amount of work being a commissioner involves. It's a part-time job that calls for 50 to 60 hours a week.

"Sitting up there making decisions at a board meeting is only a third of the job," Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates said. "Trying to understand how local government works, that will take awhile."

After months of campaigning, dozens of interviews and an Election Night in which Maxfield rarely led opponent Lois Tarkanian by more than 2 percentage points, the commissioner-elect is ready for the job.

"I would never have done all this if I didn't really want it," he said after his victory.