LV City Hall could face upheaval this year

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2001 | 11:22 a.m.

Although the year just dawned, the calendar is already bearing down on a majority of Las Vegas City Council members.

In just three weeks filing opens for candidates interested in the Ward 2, 4, 5 or 6 seats.

Three of those seats up for election are filled by council members appointed by the board. And with Councilman Michael McDonald's seat threatened by his legal troubles, the council could enter the summer with just two of the current seven members remaining in office.

"If the board changes, and there's a chance it might, it will be a lot different throughout the city," Ward 6 City Councilman Michael Mack said.

But don't count Mack, Lynette Boggs McDonald, Lawrence Weekly, all appointees, and elected Councilman Larry Brown out just yet.

The political rumor mill has ground to a virtual halt, without its typical bevy of potential candidates. In fact, other than candidates interested in Michael McDonald's seat, should he be removed from office this year, no one has emerged as an opponent to any of the council members up for election.

"I don't anticipate the spring will be tumultuous at all," Boggs McDonald said. "I would almost feel 99 percent sure we will support each other.

"We just have the type of collegiality and camaraderie," she added. "I would hate to see it change."

But neither she nor Mack is taking the upcoming elections lightly. Boggs McDonald said she has already raised $150,000, with $300,000 in pledged money expected to come this year.

Already Ward 2 residents have received slick mailers from Boggs McDonald outlining some of her accomplishments in the first 18 months of her appointment.

Mack, who began his Ward 6 appointment exactly one year ago, said he has raised more than $150,000 -- some of which was doled out to charities this holiday season.

Like Boggs McDonald, Mack has announced his election team and a kickoff fund-raiser.

"I'll take anyone's money," said Mack, who owns several pawn, souvenir and jewelry stores. "It's all green. But it doesn't change the way I view the issues or where I stand on growth in the northwest."

Weekly, appointed a year ago to represent West Las Vegas and portions of downtown in the new Ward 5, said he plans to run simply on his accomplishments, with a little subtle help from the city's fledgling television station.

"I think Channel 2 has helped a lot of people see us at meetings and see how we act," Weekly said. "I think it gives people a better idea of how their government is working, and exactly how I represent the ward."

When Mack and Weekly won appointments to the council, they beat out numerous candidates who had already garnered some level of support and could be factors again.

Mack, for example was picked over city building director Orlando Sanchez, state Assemblyman Tom Collins and community activist Louise Ruskamp. Weekly got the nod over lawyer Uri Clinton, who later lost to Joe Neal for state Senate, and Mujahid Ramadan, a job-training advocate well respected in the black community.

"Coming off what I thought was a campaign of sorts for my appointment, it'll be good to actually be asking for real votes," Mack said.

Brown, elected in 1997, is the only council member whose term is up this spring who has previously won an election.

He said he doesn't think his elected status gives him an edge over appointed council members.

"It's difficult to say," Brown said. "I think the voting public, as seen in the recent election, has become so difficult to pin down."

Brown said he has not yet begun formal fund-raising efforts or picked a campaign team, because he said, he believes that while money is a factor, local races are still largely a grass-roots effort.

Normally with the April 3 primary and June 5 general election right around the corner, candidates emerge from the shadows forming exploratory committees and dropping their names to political spinmeisters.

Yet with the monthlong filing period just weeks away, none of the sitting council members or local consultants has heard any serious talk of competition.

"I never look to my left or my right," Boggs McDonald said. "I only compete against myself. If they run against me or any of my counterparts, they're running against all of us."

The unknown factor in this year's municipal elections is Michael McDonald. This week special counsel Frank Cremen is expected to petition District Court for McDonald's removal from office due to malfeasance.

The city's Ethics Review Board found McDonald guilty of two ethics laws. The first, which led to the malfeasance petition, pertained to McDonald's attempts to broker the sale of the troubled Las Vegas Sportspark to help his boss get out of financial hock. The second related to McDonald's attempts to thwart a tavern license request that could have hurt business for a friend.

McDonald's past campaigns have been fund-raising juggernauts with his top city aide, Rick Henry, running the campaign. Henry has also worked on a number of other local campaigns, including Councilman Gary Reese's narrow re-election victory in 1999.

Some believe McDonald and Henry might seek to avenge any potential removal from office by supporting opposition candidates in the various council races. Boggs McDonald has been an outspoken critic of McDonald's behavior, and Brown testified against him during the recent ethics proceedings.

"Anything is possible," Brown said. "My feeling toward that is Michael is handling a lot of personal stuff right now, and I don't think in my case there's any reason for him to get involved."

Boggs McDonald was more blunt.

"Whether they're affiliated with Michael McDonald or Mickey Mouse, they're going to have to run against me."

City Hall sources have two views of the McDonald factor. Some believe his ethics record could somehow be used to tarnish the entire council and thus leave the others susceptible to defeat.

But more people sense that if McDonald backs an opposition candidate, the move would backfire as the public again sees McDonald working behind the scenes in ways already condemned by the ethics board.

McDonald, whose term ends in 2003, could be removed from office either through the District Court proceeding, a planned secondary recall effort or a potential State Ethics Commission-launched impeachment proceeding.

Several would-be replacements have lined up to seek the council's appointment in the event McDonald is removed from office. They include state Assemblywoman Merle Berman, failed U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bernstein, former School Board member Lois Tarkanian and former city planning commissioner David Griego.

Brown said that regardless of how the elections and McDonald's troubles play out, practices and policies instituted by City Manager Virginia Valentine will maintain continuity.

"If one of us or five of us, or all these new faces come in, the programs that are in place are going to run the city," Brown said.