Weekly faces two challengers

Judy Odierna

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 11:32 a.m.

Candidate bios

Jefferson Lee

Age: 39.

Occupation: Supervisor for Delta Airlines.

Endorsements: None.

Gene Collins

Age: 59.

Occupation: Semi-retired electrician; also has a consulting business.

Endorsements: None.

Lawrence Weekly

Age: 38.

Occupation: City councilman.

Endorsements: Las Vegas Police Protective Association; Police Managers and Supervisors Association; Urban Chamber of Commerce; Latin Chamber of Commerce ; LasVegas Chamber of Commerce; Hispanics in Politics; Laborers' International Union Local 872; Southern Nevada Central Labor Council; Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters.

These are some of Las Vegas' most contentious issues in the past year and they all fall within Ward 5.

Councilman Lawrence Weekly has had his plate full since the Ward 5 district was created and he was appointed as its representative in 1999. Weekly won re-election in 2001 by garnering 77 percent of the vote in the primary against six challengers.

"We average 50 to 75 calls a day," Weekly said. "But it's just a part of it, you know. When you say you want to be involved and you want to try to make a difference, you just suck it up and go for it."

This election season Weekly only faces two opponents: Gene Collins and Jefferson Lee, who both say they are ready to handle the many challenges of the Ward 5 district. The position, considered part time, has a four-year term and pays $40,664 a year.

"I'm just trying to do my little part," Weekly said. "You know, I don't think I'm ever going to be a Gandhi, but I think I'll leave here and my presence would be known that I tried to make a difference."

Political consultant Mark Benoit believes Weekly will have four more years to do that.

"I think Weekly has feelers into all the neighborhoods and he's very responsive to complaints and community concerns," he said. "He has established a network to keep the power structure intact. I think they know him and he will win rather easily."

But Collins and Lee think they have a pretty good shot at the seat.

Collins is a known name in Las Vegas, having been a former assemblyman and a former president of the Las Vegas NAACP, whose chapter was suspended during Collins' tenure. Collins also serves with Weekly on the county's Economic Opportunity Board, which represents low-income communities in Clark County, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

"This race is going to come down to who has done something and who has not," Collins said. "What and who is going to win this race are the individuals that get out and meet the people."

Lee says he's been doing just that. Lee has lived in Las Vegas for three years and grew up in a political family in Indiana. Lee ran unsuccessfully in 1994 for state representative in Indiana and he used to work in a juvenile corrections facility.

"My campaign theme is to bring traditional values and excellence to Las Vegas," Lee said. "There needs to be more morality for our society. Most politicians, when it comes to certain issues, will support whoever puts money in their pockets. I consider myself middle class, and that's good to have in this race."

Lee feels the top concern for the district is the city's homeless population.

"The City Council needs to realize it's not a crime to be homeless," he said.

Weekly said he wants to try new approaches to the homeless issue, drawing in the other municipalities in the Las Vegas Valley.

"I want us to be serious about it, not throw dollars at it and say, 'Here's our share,' and 'Here's our share,' and then, 'Go away,' " Weekly said. "I want to really be serious about it and come to the table like mature elected officials and really make a compassionate decision about people who can't help themselves."

Another group finding themselves displaced in the ward are veterans who used the Veterans Affairs Department ambulatory care center on Martin Luther King Boulevard and Vegas Drive. They will now have to go to 11 service centers throughout the city for medical care.

"It's a struggle for veterans who live all over this city to have to get to this location, but think of the struggle these veterans are going to have going to multiple locations," Weekly said. "I can see the misery on a lot of their faces. I see a lot of vets giving up, and it's not fair."

In addition to veterans, Collins said the seniors of Ward 5 should also not be overlooked.

"We must come up with ways to assist our seniors in the high cost of medicine," Collins said. "Seniors who have worn the iron shoes have now choose between medicine or going without food. That is a bad omen."

Collins says the community is now benefiting from the increasing development that is occurring within the district, but the word isn't getting out.

"There are awesome opportunities here in Ward 5, regardless of how many social issues are located here," Collins said. "No one called a town hall meeting to show what type of jobs are coming. No one has told the community about all these opportunities.

"Ward 5 has a lot of potential and opportunity, if the community knows what's going on."

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