Council considers a replacement for Boggs McDonald

Sito Negron

Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | 11:31 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald's appointment to the Clark County Commission leaves an opening on Las Vegas City Council that her fellow representatives said would be difficult to fill.

Let the jockeying begin.

"Ward 2 (Boggs McDonald's district) has some quality people up there," said Councilman Larry Brown. "This is just my opinion, but I would think (the council will consider) a half dozen or more candidates, legit people who not only want to serve but are capable."

City rules give council 30 days to vote on a replacement. If the appointee wanted to stay in the office, he or she would have to run for it during the next municipal general election, in 2005.

Some potential replacements already have spoken to council members about their desire to be considered. Other names also have surfaced, among them current or former members of the city Planning Commission.

Potential replacements confirmed by council members Tuesday include architect and former planning commission member Craig Galati, developer and planning commissioner Todd Nigro, planning commissioner Richard Truesdell, lawyer Steven Wolfson, and city Planning Director Bob Genzer.

Councilman Michael Mack said a candidate ought to have experience, "whether government or management experience. It takes someone who is a taskmaster, as well as (being capable of) listening to constituents and getting in the trenches."

And because of the city's extreme growth, candidates ought to understand planning issues, he said.

Mack said he's spoken with Genzer and Galati, conversations that did not go beyond the candidates expressing an interest in the job.

Brown said he also spoke with Genzer and Galati.

Galati said his conversations have been brief, "nothing of significance. I kind of wanted to wait for the first domino to fall."

He declined to elaborate on his conversations.

Galati said he's contemplated running for office before, and "obviously I'm considering it for the future as well."

Todd Nigro said he was aware that his name has been mentioned. However, he said Tuesday night, "There's no vacancy on the City Council right now so I feel uncomfortable talking about it."

Genzer, who has worked for the city 30 years and is eligible for retirement, said "long before I dreamed about being a planning director I dreamed of being a city council member, and this potentially an opportunity to fulfill that dream."

He said "it is a little different to talk about this, but what I've done is tell them (council members) I'm seriously interested about it, and left it at that. I haven't asked anyone to commit to me, and I don't know who the other candidates may be."

Gary Reese said he wasn't very surprised that Genzer was interested.

"I knew one of these days when he got ready to retire he'd probably run for public office," Reese said.

Reese said he wasn't a fan of the system that forces council members to appoint someone to fill vacancies.

"I tried to get an appointment one time myself, I went through all the hoops ... I didn't get the appointment, so I said I'm going to run for the office and win it anyhow, and that's what I did," said Reese. He said that was in 1993.

The appointment process can be messy -- the last round, which brought Councilman Lawrence Weekly and Mack to office in 2000, was part of a power struggle between Mayor Oscar Goodman and former Councilman Michael McDonald.

When asked how long it will take before the contest gets nasty, Brown said "I don't think this one will be. We're at a point where council, including Lynette, has developed a relationship, a rapport that's pretty solid."

Boggs McDonald herself was an appointee, picked to fill a vacant seat in 1999. She did not return telephone calls seeking comment Tuesday night.

Her fellow council members predicted she would do well wherever she went.

"Lynette's a very sharp lady," Reese said. However, he added, "we can all be replaced."

Brown said Boggs McDonald will leave big shoes to fill because she was good at balancing her specific duty to represent her Ward 2 constituents with looking out for the entire city on issues like the capital improvements plan.

Mack said "She's intelligent, well-studied and I think she'll be a great asset as well as a partner in the community. I don't feel we'll lose her completely."

Recently, Boggs McDonald drove the discussion over whether to allow city employees to serve as elected officials in the Legislature.

The majority of council members said they wanted to allow the practice, but institute policies that require leave without pay when the elected official is serving. Boggs McDonald argued that the only way to prevent a conflict is to force employees, if elected, to choose between their job and office.