Friday, April 4, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.
Incumbents seeking re-election in North Las Vegas and Henderson are raising and spending far more campaign money than their opponents in all but one municipal race, according to candidate reports filed this week.
Henderson Municipal Judge John Provost was the only incumbent to raise less money than a challenger through March 27. Provost raised $28,677 compared with $34,385 gathered by Douglas Hedger, a chief deputy Clark County public defender. Both candidates loaned their campaigns money, Hedger at least $6,600 and Provost $7,500.
Overall Provost spent $23,748 while Hedger spent about $700 less. They both spent much of their campaign funds on signs and to mail voters campaign literature.
Candidates were required to list all campaign contributions and expenditures from July 8, 1999, through March 27 in reports that were due Tuesday. The reports are the last campaign finance disclosure forms candidates will submit before the Tuesday primaries. Early voting ends today.
Candidates who do not file campaign finance reports face fines beginning at $25 a day for the first seven days, $50 a day for the next eight days, and $100 a day thereafter. The maximum fine for filing the reports late or failing to file the reports is $5,000.
Henderson
In all of the Henderson City Council races the incumbents raised and spent more than $100,000 during the reporting period, with Henderson Councilman Andy Hafen leading all candidates in both categories.
Hafen, who is seeking re-election in Henderson's Ward 2, raised $206,498, including $5,000 donations from three Station casinos, Vestin Mortgage, Shustek Investments, Southwest Homes, Southern Highlands, Boyd Gaming, and the Terrible Herbst Oil Co.
Hafen spent $176,669 on the campaign, buying signs, mailing campaign materials to voters, and putting some ads in local print media.
Rocco Tucker, who is running against Hafen, was the lone challenger to raise or spend more than $100,000.
Waging a campaign that has included billboards, campaign signs, and mailing campaign literature to voters cost Tucker's campaign $109,989.
Tucker raised $110,240 for his campaign, but about $80,000 of that came from Tucker as a loan to his campaign.
Fellow Henderson Ward 2 candidate Briana Ousley-Mitchell raised nothing and spent $125, according to her report.
Another City Council candidate, Jesse Harris, said he raised and spent no money except for the $100 filing fee.
In the other Henderson council race incumbent Amanda Cyphers raised $146,149, which included $5,000 donations from each of three Station casinos, and Boyd Gaming. Those donations were added to $63,600 already in her campaign account.
Cyphers also spent $128,502 on a campaign that has featured at least one billboard, campaign signs and mailers.
Cyphers' opponents in the city's Ward 1, aren't collecting anything close to the councilwoman's total.
Challenger Ann Barron raised $11,230, with the largest donation being a $4,000 loan from herself, and she spent $10,599 on her campaign.
Candidate Ed Molitoris raised $100 and spent $1,135 on his campaign.
Henderson Ward 4 Councilman Steven Kirk, who automatically won re-election when no one filed to run against him, raised $205,556 and spent $82,929 during the reporting period. Kirk's expenses included many donations to area charities, as well as signs and T-shirts for the campaign he didn't have to run.
North Las Vegas
In North Las Vegas, City Council candidate Nelson Stone waged the second most expensive campaign for a municipal challenger so far in this year's races.
Stone's campaign, which included numerous roadside campaign signs and mailed campaign literature, cost $43,518. Stone raised $51,050 for his campaign against longtime incumbent Councilman William Robinson.
Robinson, who represents the city's Ward 2, raised and spent about three times that.
Robinson raised $148,680, including $5,000 donations from the Palms, the Cannery, Boulder Station, and Craig Ranch Golf Course. He also received a $10,000 contribution from North Valley Enterprises LLC, a partnership between the Del Webb Corp. and American Nevada Corp., which is owned by the Greenspun family that also own the Las Vegas Sun. North Valley Enterprises is the development company behind the Aliante master-planned community.
During the same period Robinson spent $146,297, including at least $55,000 paid to Paladin Advertising, a Las Vegas political consulting firm.
The third candidate in the Ward 2 race, Howard Flebbe, raised no money and spent only $100, according to his report.
In North Las Vegas' other council race, Councilwoman Shari Buck's campaign spending is also far exceeding her challengers.
Buck collected $136,283, including $5,000 contributions from Olympia Land Corp., the Tropicana, Pardee Homes, Mission Industries, Palace Station, Texas Station and the Fiesta Rancho. Before that money rolled in, her campaign account was already at $90,783. She also spent $107,736 on her campaign, which has featured several mailings of campaign literature to voters.
Buck said that in her report filed Tuesday she only listed campaign activity since the Jan. 1, not since July 1999, as the report requests. Buck said because she filed a similar report in January, which included the information from earlier campaign activity, so she saw no need to be redundant.
Buck's latest report also showed that her campaign received $9,604 in in-kind donations of goods or services, including $5,324 from Station Casinos for a fund-raiser.
Buck's challengers raised and spent a fraction of that.
Challenger Bill Dolan raised $24,570, including a $5,000 loan from a Phyllis Dolan, and spent $21,653.
Candidate Honey Easter raised $1,155, and spent $1,209. Easter also received $19,631 in in-kind contributions, including 2,500 atlases valued at $12,425. Her campaign ads were attached to the front and back of the atlases before distribution to voters. The atlases came from the James Seastrand Helping Hands of North Las Vegas, a nonprofit organization for which Easter volunteers.
Lee Fuller, raised no money and spent only $125.
Boulder City
In Boulder City the incumbents carried a monetary advantage, but on a much smaller scale.
Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro raised $39,690, including contributions of $1,000 from Nevada Power and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, $2,500 from Mandalay Resort Group and $5,000 from American Pacific Corp. The mayor spent $25,221, including more than $15,000 to Paladin Advertising, a Las Vegas political consulting firm.
Councilman Mike Pacini, who is running against Ferraro, raised $8,186, including $1,000 from Boulder Disposal, and spent $9,036, mostly on newspaper ads and signs.
Mayoral candidate Bill Smith, a former councilman, raised $4,350, including $2,025 he gave his own campaign. He spent $2,266.
In the race for two seats on the Boulder City Council, incumbent Bryan Nix led all council candidates in raising $28,246 and spending $27,045.
Like the other council candidates most of Nix's expenses were related to campaign signs and newspaper ads.
Candidate Roger Tobler raised $10,376 and spent $7,719.
Dick Bravo raised $9,165, including a $900 loan from himself, and spent $8,566.
Karla Burton raised $7,523, including $3,520 coming from herself, and spent $4,531.
Anthony Pakula gave himself $100 and spent $75 of it.
Susan Higley raised no money and has spent only $50.
Kevin Polk raised $3,040, including $433 from himself, and spent $3,023.
Polk filed his campaign finance report Wednesday, a day after the deadline.
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