Smith criticizes new ward map

Mathis Winkler

Thursday, March 7, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

New City Council wards are unfair because they severely limit the options of the Ward 3 council member to move to another home, North Las Vegas Councilwoman Stephanie Smith says.

Smith, who represents Ward 3, was the lone dissenting vote Wednesday as council members approved modified wards to reflect population shifts since the 1990 Census.

Council members are elected by all voters in the city but have to live within one of four wards. Mayor Michael Montandon, the fifth vote on the dais, can live anywhere in the city.

"I was really dissatisfied with the process," Smith said, adding that her colleagues declined her request to postpone a vote until she had a chance to raise her concerns.

Until now Smith's ward included the city's upscale Eldorado neighborhood, but the reconfiguration has pushed a large part of that community into Councilwoman Shari Buck's district.

"I can no longer move there if I want to be in this ward," Smith said. "There seems to be substantial changes made without any explanation."

City Clerk Eileen Sevigny, who drew up the new wards, said state law required adjustment to the wards because their populations were no longer within 5 percent of each other.

While the old wards split voter precincts, the new ones no longer do that and will prevent confusion during election time, she said.

City officials plan to redraw wards in December 2003 to keep up with North Las Vegas' population growth, Sevigny said.

Smith's ward still includes a proposed master-planned community on 1,900 acres at the northern end of the city. Developers of the project expect to welcome their first residents by the end of the year.