Valley voters head to polls

Tuesday, June 5, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

Turnouts at the polls today are expected to be low, but don't tell that to the precinct volunteers at the Desert Willow Recreation Center in Henderson, who handled brisk business this morning.

"At 7 a.m. we had a line out the door that reminded me of a general election," said Precinct Captain James Barber, who has worked at the polls since 1990.

"When you don't have candidates running, like in Henderson, the turnout tends to depend on how the ballot questions affect the wallet."

While most voting places valleywide have just one ballot question -- a children's hospital proposal in Clark County -- Henderson has two additional tax questions dealing with public safety and libraries that would add $98 a year per assessed $100,000 value of homes for the next 30 years.

The public safety initiative, which was defeated in November, would pay for 237 new city employees, including 166 police officers. An identical question failed in November. Both sides agree that more police and firefighters are needed, but disagree on how to pay for them.

"I just think there has to be a better way than putting the burden on the middle class," said Mark VanDamme, who teaches physical education to children with disabilities at Henderson schools and voted against the measure in November and today.

"The Legislature just came up with money for teachers (raises). I think money can be found for public safety, too. I was hoping that since November (the City Council) would have found a different way to do it."

Francine Mazza, accompanied to the polls by her 4-year-old daughter Shelby, said she knows of no other way to come up with the money and believes it is a small price to pay for safety and peace of mind.

"It makes sense to me as a mom to want this additional safety," Mazza said. "There just are not enough police to protect our homes. Henderson has been my home for three years. I have to do my part to take care of it."

Also in Henderson, a library tax initiative proposes to fund the building and operation of six neighborhood libraries.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax has predicted a 13 percent total voter turnout valleywide. Polls close at 7 p.m. today.

On everyone's ballot is the $80 million bond issue that would fund the construction of a 152-bed children's hospital at University Medical Center's West Charleston Boulevard site.

In North Las Vegas, City Councilman John Rhodes faces former Planning Commissioner Robert Eliason, and voters will decide whether to broaden the street maintenance tax to allow it to be used for parks and fire stations.

In Boulder City, voters have two questions. The first would cut pay for mayor and council members from $21,800 to a base pay of $10,400 plus out-of-pocket expenses. The second would ensure future councils don't attempt to vote themselves same-term raises as the current council attempted.