Williams facing two elections

Kirsten Searer

Friday, April 16, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

Assemblyman Wendell Williams may no longer have a full-time job, but he is planning a busy campaign year.

A week after announcing he'll pursue another term in the Assembly, the 53-year-old Williams said he'll also run to be the next president of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The election is in November.

"Las Vegas has had a long history of problems with discrimination," he said at a news conference in front of the North Las Vegas statue of Martin Luther King Jr. "And we still do, even to today.

"The NAACP deserves someone who is not afraid to confront the issues," he said.

The news came as a surprise to the current president of the NAACP, William Dean Ishman, who said he also plans to run in the November election. He took over in December after the past president of the organization, a pastor, was relocated by his church.

"I've been doing the job, and we've got a good, synchronous group of people together," Ishman said. "I'm just really starting to see the positive results. I don't want to break the continuity."

Several activists in the black community were on hand to say they support Williams and recruited him to head the organization's local chapter, which was temporarily disbanded in April 2001 by the national headquarters because of internal conflicts.

The only elected official present at the news conference was Assemblyman Morse Arberry Jr., D-Las Vegas, who said he will run to be treasurer on Williams' ticket.

Williams was in the news last year after he was reprimanded by his then-employer, the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department, for billing the city while he was working at the Legislature and for excessive phone bills on his city-issued cell phone.

He was fired from his job in December. He also was ticketed last year for driving with a suspended license.

But activists gathered said they were undeterred by Williams' recent political problems, and that they think the media vilified him.

"We decided we needed a real leader in our community, someone with real vision and focus," said Bonnie Juniel, one of the people who approached Williams about running for the NAACP position about four months ago.

Juniel said she wanted Williams for the job because of his energy, his intelligence and his knowledge of city and state government.

"I know him very well," she said. "I don't think his credibility has been hurt at all. It was blown up at once, so it appeared to be big."

Ishman said the group is currently focusing on voter registration and helping ex-offenders restore their voting rights.

"We're not just looking at voter registration, but we're also focusing on education and transportation to the early polling sites," he said. "We want to actually get people to the polls so they can push that button."

The best way to reform the system, Ishman said, is to get people to vote.

Williams said if elected he will respond to needs in the community and will seek out attorneys and others who can advise the group on how to handle civil rights violations.

"The more resistance occurs on the other side, the more action there will be on this side," he said.

Williams said after the news conference that he is enjoying life away from Las Vegas City Hall and isn't looking for another job. He said his attorney is still looking into pursuing legal action against the city. He alleged that some city officials encouraged him to claim time on his time cards while he was serving in Carson City and doing some tasks for the city on the side.

He said he also is working on a new book called "The Calculated Endangerment," which he described as a "sort of autobiography, sort of a tell-all, as well."