Another candidate announces for Mack’s council seat

Dan Kulin

Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

Another potential candidate has surfaced for the Las Vegas City Council seat Michael Mack has said he won't try to win again.

Steve Sanson, a former Marine who works collecting debts for a telephone directory, said he plans to run for the Ward 6 seat on the council.

Sanson said if elected he would work to change development approval procedures to give the residents, and not their council members, the final say on whether new projects are approved. Those living around where a project is proposed to go should be surveyed by the city, and approval of a development would hinge on the responses to that survey, he said.

"I want to work more for the people," Sanson said. "And the residents should have the final say on what happens in their neighborhood."

Mack announced Wednesday he will not seek re-election, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Mack has gone through a turbulent five years on the council, surviving ethics and legal challenges.

Also Wednesday, Steve Ross, 42, general manager of a commercial electrical contracting company Keleeco Electric, and former officer with the Clark County Democratic Party, announced he intends to run for the Ward 6 council seat.

Sanson, a veteran of Desert Storm, has a campaign Web site, www.stevesanson4council.com.

Water issues, education and veterans' issues are also important to Sanson.

Sanson, 37, was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and moved to New York City in 1973. He was in the Marines from 1985 to 1991, and then was in the Army Reserves from 1992 through 1998. He became a U.S. citizen in 1989.

Sanson moved to Nevada in 1995. He is the credit and legal manager for Frontier Telephone Directory, a telephone book for local businesses.

In 2003 Sanson wrote a book titled "How to Collect on your Bad Debt Accounts in Clark County Nevada," which is aimed at helping people collect on debts by simplifying small claims court procedures.

This would be Sanson's first run for elected office.

The Wards 2 and 4 council seats, represented by Steve Wolfson and Larry Brown respectively, will also be at stake in the coming city election.

The candidate filing period lasts from Jan. 25 to Feb. 4. The city's primary election will be April 5, and the general election will be June 7. Candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the votes in the primary election win their election, which means some races could be over after April 5.