Buck challenged in Ward 4 race

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 | 11:29 a.m.

Early voting

Early voting in North Las Vegas is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through April 4, not including Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, at City Hall. Other sites will be available Saturday through April 4. Locations and times can be found at ci.north-las-vegas.nv.us/Departments/CityClerk/ MunicipalElections.cfm Primary election day is April 8.

North Las Vegas City Council candidates Bill Dolan and Honey Easter say incumbent Shari Buck doesn't listen to her constituents.

But Dolan and Easter might not be able to get their message heard by enough voters to oust her from Ward 4, a political expert said.

The reason is money, said David Damore, an assistant political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Buck, who says she does listen to residents, had about $90,000 in campaign funds at the beginning of the year and has held at least four fund-raisers since. She makes $22,691 a year plus a $300-a-month car allowance for the part-time position.

Whoever is elected to the seat will get $35,017 a year plus a cost-of-living increase and a $500 monthly car allowance, because a pay increase approved in 2000 was delayed until the next election for Ward 4.

Dolan has shown his commitment to unseating Buck. He sold his house and moved to an apartment in Buck's Ward 4 just so he could run against her. Money is tight for the challenger, but he expects to spend about $30,000 before the primary.

Easter is trying to make Buck's "huge campaign war chest" an issue by implying in literature that Buck is beholden to special interest groups that provided the money.

The two challengers are reminding voters that North Las Vegas has the highest property tax rate in the Las Vegas Valley.

Easter also criticizes Buck for opposing the so-called Freedom of Speech proposed ballot initiative.

Shari Buck

Age: 42.

Occupation: North Las Vegas councilwoman.

Education: Brigham Young University .

Endorsements: North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, North Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1607, Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, Teamsters Local 14, AFL-CIO Southern Nevada Labor Council, Associated General Contractors, Latin Chamber of Commerce, Nevada Concerned Citizens, Laborers Union Local 872, and Citizens for Responsible Government.

Bill Dolan

Age: 48.

Occupation: University Medical Center nurse, department of surgery.

Education: Community College of Southern Nevada associate's degree in nursing.

Endorsements: North Las Vegas Alliance of Home Associations, Glaziers and Allied Trades Local 2001, Hidden Canyon Homeowners Association and the Tempo Homeowners Association

Honey Easter

Age: 42.

Occupation: Volunteer program director at James Seastrand Helping Hands of North Las Vegas.

Education: Brigham Young University .

Endorsements: None so far.

Lee Fuller

Age: 33.

Occupation: Owner of Best Choice Installations, an office furniture installation company.

Education: High school graduate.

Endorsements: None so far.

Easter's husband, Glen, led the drive to get more than 1,500 signatures on the petition, which was enough to get the measure on the ballot. But a majority of the council, including Buck, voted to sue to get the question taken off the ballot, and won.

The initiative would have asked voters to force the council to put a public comment period at the beginning of meetings and to change the starting time from 6 to 7 p.m. The council argued the question sought to make administrative changes and that ballot initiatives must deal with legislative matters.

Dolan said he did not sign the petition because he didn't agree with a section that would have allowed any city resident to add items to the agenda. But Dolan said if elected he would push for adding a public comment period at the beginning of meetings and for changing the starting time.

Buck said she voted to challenge the proposed question after the city attorney said the question was illegal.

However, Buck said, she has asked for a public comment period at the beginning of council meetings in the past and she may again.

On the tax issue, Buck says that while North Las Vegas does have the highest property tax rate in the valley, the reasons are not the fault of the city's elected leaders.

Some of the blame goes to the state tax shift of 20 years ago and voter-approved tax overrides.

North Las Vegas had a tax rate about 25 percent lower than its neighbors before the shift, but the city was hurt by the 1981 formula that split the lowered property tax between state and local governments, City Finance Director Phil Stoeckinger said. The formula took into account how much each government taxed to support its general fund, he said. Since North Las Vegas' rate was lower, it got a smaller share of the property tax pie.

"My opponents say I like to raise taxes," Buck said. "But I'm fiscally very conservative."

Buck said her opponent's claims that she listens more to campaign contributors than to residents is "ridiculous."

"The people who contribute are the people interested in North Las Vegas, whether it is citizens groups or builders. Just because they gave me a donation, they won't get special treatment," Buck said.

Buck also said she is accessible. "My phone number is in the phone book," she said.

Damore, who specializes in campaign politics, said Buck could win the race April 8.

"I would be very surprised if she doesn't get a majority or close to it in the primary," Damore said.

Candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the votes in the primary win the seat. Otherwise, the top two candidates run off in the June general election.

While the charges and responses between the candidates may register with some voters, the main factor will be who can better reach the voters directly, which gives the advantage to Buck, Damore said.

Buck has already mailed two campaign pieces to voters and plans to send more.

Last week Dolan and Easter were working on getting their first direct-campaign appeals to voters.

Easter's is sure to catch the attention of voters when it shows up at their homes because her campaign literature is glued to Rand McNally atlases. The atlases were donated to Easter's campaign by the James Seastrand Helping Hands of North Las Vegas, a nonprofit seniors' assistance group for which Easter volunteers.

Damore says in the end Easter and Dolan might look back and think they should have joined forces against Buck. They will probably split whatever anti-Buck votes are out there, he said.

Dolan acknowledged his and Easter's "ideas are a lot alike, that the incumbent needs to go."

Another name on the ballot could also take some of those votes, but the fourth candidate, Lee Fuller, said he would do no campaigning and would be surprised if he received many votes.

"I'm just kind of curious to see if people would vote for someone they haven't heard much about," Fuller said.