Poll shows mixed results for Nolen

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001 | 11:49 a.m.

A poll released Tuesday shows former Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Nolen with a slight name recognition lead over his opponent for Ward 5, Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly.

The same poll, however, shows that a greater percentage of people would vote for Weekly if the June 5 municipal election were held today.

The poll, arranged by Paragon Communications and paid for by the Nolen campaign, was conducted Feb. 5, 6 and 7 by Landmark Strategies of Arlington, Va. A sampling of 400 registered Ward 5 voters were asked 10 questions.

When asked: "Are you familiar with the following people?" 57 percent of the poll's respondents said they recognized the name Bob Nolen and 53 percent recognized the name Lawrence Weekly.

When asked: "If the election for Las Vegas City Council were held today, who would be your choice?" Weekly drew 26 percent, Nolen drew 20 percent, 47 percent were undecided and 6 percent said they would not vote for either candidate.

Nolen served on the council from 1983 to 1993 before resigning to accept an appointment to the office of Las Vegas Constable.

Weekly, who had not seen a copy of the report, said he doesn't pay much attention to polls because the results are often biased in favor of the person paying for the study.

"If I took a poll of course my poll is going to lean toward me," Weekly said, pointing out that his volunteers had conducted a phone poll that gave the councilman high marks.

Weekly said he is campaigning door-to-door to talk about the many improvements he has made to the ward after being appointed in January 2000.

Another poll question asked: "Do you know who represents you as your City Council person?" Of those polled, 49 percent said they did not know and an additional 8 percent were unsure.

Nolen said those low recognition numbers points to a lack of representation in Ward 5.

"It clearly demonstrates that the incumbent councilman has been there for a year, but certainly hasn't distinguished himself or done anything that brought any attention to the voters," he said.

Weekly said he has received tremendous support from the voters he has spoken with.