Twelve candidates file for LV City Council seat

Thursday, May 20, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

Novice candidate Gabriel Lither as well as Nevada Stupak, a veteran campaigner, plunked down a $100 filing fee and entered the race to fill a vacant Las Vegas City Council seat.

An even dozen candidates had filed by the end of Wednesday for a chance to complete former City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald's remaining term of one year.

Stupak, the son of gaming entrepreneur Bob Stupak, proved he could attract votes when he ran against Las Vegas Councilman Gary Reese in 1999, losing by 139 votes in the incumbent's first re-election race.

In 2002 Stupak squared off against County Commissioner Myrna Williams in the Democratic primary for District E.

Lither, 32, is an attorney and entered the special election fresh after spearheading a protest against Station Casinos' Red Rock casino earlier this year.

"I've lived in Ward 2 since I moved to Las Vegas in 1996," said Lither, who helped found Summerlin Residents for Responsible Growth.

Asked why he was running for elected office, Lither said, "I think we need responsible, predictable growth. I'm a candidate who actually fought a developer."

Although the casino and the neighbors compromised on a 198-foot building -- the company had wanted a 300-foot-tall structure for its hotel and casino -- Lither said the agreement was "a reasonable compromise."

For Joanne Levy, 49, broker-owner of Levy Realty, politics runs in the family.

Married to Realtor Al Levy, who died almost seven years ago, Joanne Levy said that her husband's dad had been a city councilman.

As for her intentions for running the Ward 2 race, Levy said that she applied as soon as the seat opened. "It's my opportunity to give something back to the community," she said.

A 39-year resident of Las Vegas, Levy has lived in the ward for eight years. "I really love Las Vegas and I think we are in one of the most exciting cities in the world."

Her experience as a businesswoman and serving in top offices of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors qualifies her for the job, Levy said.

Duane W. Stephens, 34, graduated from Boyd Law School at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2002 and works with a survey engineering firm today.

"I decided that the best way to effect change is to be in the middle of it, instead of being on the outside," Stephens said of his candidacy.

A native of Las Vegas, he attended Bishop Gorman High School and graduated from Eldorado High School, he said.

City Planning Director Bob Genzer also filed Wednesday.

Genzer, 53, has been with the city of Las Vegas since July 1973. He has been planning director since March 2001, he said.

"I've actually talked about this for quite some time," Genzer said. "Public service has been my life and this is a logical extension of my career," he said.

Genzer is married and has no children.

Margarita Rebollal, executive director of the nonprofit East Las Vegas Community Development Corp., has also entered the race.

Rebollal, 64, interviewed after she walked the ward Wednesday night, said that she wanted to improve older neighborhoods and offer a plan for consistent growth in newer areas such as Summerlin.

"Improving properties increases property values," Rebollal said. She said she entered the Ward 2 race because she noticed there were no women or Hispanics running at the time.

The above six joined Attorney Martin M. Manke and John Hambrick, an investigator for a state medical board, who filed Tuesday to run in the June 22 special election.

Richard Truesdell, a member of the city's Planning Commission, attorney Steve Wolfson, Citibank officer Steve Greco and Firouzeh Forouzmand, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's Performing Arts Center coordinator, filed Monday.

The Ward 2 seat was left open when former City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald resigned after the governor appointed her to fill a seat on the Clark County Commission, left empty when Commissioner Mark James resigned.

Council members are paid $41,884 annually.