Council considers new ward liaison for Moncrief

Sito Negron

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.

Residents in Ward 1 Councilwoman Janet Moncrief's district will have a new person to go to for help, if her choice for neighborhood liaison is ratified by Las Vegas City Council today.

The position became open after Moncrief's former liaison, Betty Schulte, resigned in mid-September. After about a month, Moncrief has recommended Lito Rayos -- a Leisure Services Department employee at the Doolittle Community Center -- as Schulte's replacement.

Each council member is allotted two liaisons, generally splitting their duties between planning and zoning issues, and neighborhood issues such as responding to junked cars and graffiti. Rayos will handle neighborhood issues for Moncrief's office, she said, at a starting annual salary of about $40,000.

"His motivation was so winning, and he's so polite," said Moncrief, who praised Rayos' writing and computer skills.

The liaisons are meant to be a bridge from the public to council members.

"The workload is more than you can imagine," Moncrief said. "The calls are constantly coming in, 'We want this street barricaded because traffic is coming through the neighborhood.' Then we'll have a meeting to see if we can get signatures, is it feasible ... a lot of research goes into accomplishing a speed bump, or to wall off a street."

She said liaisons also work to help businesses. For example, she said, "Someone wants to do a project in the downtown redevelopment area ... my liaisons research for licensure, zoning issues, special use permits. We help them figure out how and if it can be done," she said.

Ward 5 Councilman Lawrence Weekly, whose district includes the Doolittle Center, recommended Rayos, Moncrief said. Weekly was a liaison for Ward 3 Councilman Gary Reese before he was appointed to his seat when the council was expanded in 1999.

The liaisons, Weekly, said, "do a lot of the footwork for you, a lot of the research and keep you on top of pertinent issues in your district."

Weekly said he learned much from being a liaison. "Then I got a demotion and became a councilman," he joked.