Panel approves new ward maps

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, June 4, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.

Although it would mean 6,000 Las Vegas residents will go six years without voting for the City Council, new ward maps were approved Monday by the council.

The council was acting as the city's recommending committee and forwarded the vote for final approval at its Wednesday meeting.

The council's terms are every four years, but because of the shuffling of four precincts, nearly 6,000 voters will have had to wait six years to vote for a council seat. The residents are currently living in Councilman Michael McDonald's Ward 1, and last voted in 1999. Under the proposal, the residents will be moved into nearby Ward 2, served by Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, whose seat will be on the ballot in 2005.

Retired Wisconsin Judge Frederick Kessler, who was hired by the city to redraw the boundaries, assured the council that while the situation was unfortunate, it was the only way to draw the boundaries to ensure the ward populations were within 5 percent of each other, as required by city code.

Most significant is that Ward 3, currently represented by Councilman Gary Reese, will have a majority Hispanic district in 2002, Kessler said.

The local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union had pledged last month to review the redistricting proposal to determine whether it was fair. But ACLU representatives did not attend Monday's meeting and executive director Gary Peck did not immediately return calls seeking comment.