Ward 2 race figures to be close

Sito Negron

Wednesday, June 2, 2004 | 11 a.m.

In a six-week sprint to the finish line, the cliche that every vote counts might never be truer than it is in the Ward 2 Las Vegas City Council race, where the winner is likely to be elected with less than 1,000 votes.

With the value of each vote magnified, some political insiders say candidate endorsements for the June 22 election could take on greater weight than usual.

Others aren't so sure.

The most recent endorsement belongs to Gabriel Lither, who has secured the support of the powerful Culinary Union. The union has 48,000 members in the Las Vegas Valley, although its political director would not say how many live in Ward 2, which stretches from Charleston Heights to Summerlin.

"It's extremely hard to handicap this kind of situation," said Glen Arnodo, the union's political director. "A very low turnout, a dozen candidates, a month to campaign -- it's anybody's guess as to what the outcome would be. Depending how the dozen candidates divide up the 3,000 votes or so that will be cast, you could conceivably win with much less than (1,000 votes)."

Arnodo said that his union's support is just that, support, and does not necessarily constitute an organizational advantage for Lither.

"We're not presuming to play the whole role for Gabe in this election," Arnodo said. "With the shortness of time, we're largely going to restrict our activity to communicating with our members."

Another large union, the AFL-CIO, plans to meet this afternoon to consider whether to issue an endorsement, said Danny Thompson, executive secretary treasurer of the group. The Nevada AFL-CIO has 165,000 members, he said, of which about 80 percent are in the Las Vegas Valley.

Alan Feldman, an MGM MIRAGE executive who runs political operations for the state's largest employer, said the group endorsements might sway group members' votes.

"If you're a member of the culinary union and the culinary union were to endorse someone, that would matter," Feldman said. "With their membership they can make or break a race like this."

But Terry Murphy, a political consultant in Las Vegas, said that "unless they (endorsements) translate into votes based on personal relationships they're not very valuable."

Organizations with political arms can provide bodies to work phone banks, mail letters, or walk precincts. With such a short election cycle, said Murphy, "I would say there is not the time for them to gear up their normal machines, plus they're in the middle of gearing up for the August primary and November general election, so this couldn't have happened at a worse time in terms of getting a campaign going in the next three weeks.

"I'd rather have those (endorsements) than not, but in terms of tremendous value, I don't see it," Murphy said.

Still, Lither, a lawyer who fought the height and scope of the proposed Red Rock Station hotel-casino, which the Culinary also fought, was pleased with the endorsement, which he said would add to the "grass-roots" campaign he's trying to run.

"It is a huge boost," he said. "This thing has come so quickly, in the little time (since City Council approved the special election) I think I have an excellent base for a grass-roots campaign."

Grass roots was a term used by just about every candidate contacted Tuesday.

For example, Steve Greco, a Citibank officer, said his was "a grass roots, mom and pop campaign, working with the people."

Greco had an observation similar to Murphy's, in that "it's always great to have endorsements, but considering of course the candidates have so little time ... it may take just as much time if not longer for those endorsements to put their support together for you.

"The phone banks, the mailing, assisting with funds, political paraphernalia like postage and signs, and getting out to their members who live in this area ... there are a lot of parameters here to fall into place," Greco said.

Greco said that his community involvement -- for example, with the Summerlin Lions and Elks clubs -- could serve as well as endorsements.

"I have a lot of avenues already in place," he said.

Lawyer Steve Wolfson, who already has prepared and sent out a slick mailer, said every piece of the puzzle -- from endorsements to personal connections to walking the streets -- will play a role in the election.

Wolfson said he was prepared early because he had been thinking about running for more than six months. His campaign mailer boasted endorsements from the police union, the Downtown Central Development Committee, and the Unity Council of Nevada.

It also noted an endorsement from the Charleston Neighborhood Preservation Association, which plans to host a June 15 candidates' forum, although a board member of the group said its backing was intended to support Wolfson's appointment to the council, not his election.

"That (endorsement) was for the appointment, not for the election," Juanita Clark said. "Our bylaws don't allow us to endorse in an election."

Wolfson said he would call Clark for clarification of the policy, which was news to him.

Wolfson also picked up an endorsement from the city's firefighters union.

"Endorsements are important, because it shows the community my record has been examined," Wolfson said. "Organizations that matter have looked into my candidacy and the candidacy of my opponents and determined I'm the best qualified."

Candidate John Hambrick, a retired federal employee who serves as the chief investigator for the Nevada Board of Osteopathic Medicine, said, with a laugh, that endorsements were important "only if I win them."

He praised his opponents' endorsements, saying that "the individuals who receive those should be very proud." Hambrick said that while he didn't have organizational endorsements, he was proud of the support he has received for his nonpartisan race from prominent Republican officeholders Sen. John Ensign, U.S. Rep. Jon Porter, and Assemblyman Bob Beers.

Bob Genzer, the Las Vegas planning director who is on a leave of absence as he runs for the Ward 2 position, questioned the value of the endorsements, given that not all candidates were interviewed. He gave as an example the police union endorsement of Wolfson.

" I was never given an opportunity to talk to them," Genzer said. "How do they determine who's the right person if they haven't talked to everybody?"

Metro Det. Dave Kallas, executive director of the police union, said the process was fair. "It's not our job to seek out people to endorse," he said.

"Ultimately the voters will decide who the best candidate is. Whether endorsements carry additional weight because of the nature of this election, that's too abstract to comment on," Kallas said. He said his group, which has about 1,800 members, would not be actively participating by sending mailers or walking precincts.

Genzer said he didn't think the endorsements would make much difference when it's all said and done.

"This is going to be won on who can get out the vote, and that's what we're all concentrating on, knocking on doors and telling people one on one why you're the best person for the job," Genzer said.

Candidate Duane Stephens, a law school graduate who works for a survey engineering firm, also said he wasn't sure whether endorsements would carry much weight.

"I'm just trying to meet as many Ward 2 constituents as possible, and dealing with them face to face as opposed to throwing a bunch of propaganda at them and hoping they care," Stephens said.

On the other hand, candidate Margarita Rebollal, executive director of the nonprofit East Las Vegas Community Development Corp., said she was looking for endorsements.

"This is the first time I'm running for office, so I really don't know, but they should be important, because everybody seeks them," she said.

Candidates Firouzeh Forouzmand, Nevada Stupak, Martin Manke, Joanne Levy and Ric Truesdell were not available for comment.

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