Moncrief recall list ready to be filed

Dan Kulin

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

A group working to kick Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief out of office was expected today to turn in more than enough signatures to force a recall election as soon as Jan. 1.

Also, at least one potential challenger to Moncrief announced her intention to run, and another potential candidate is being drafted to run despite saying she doesn't want to be on the ballot.

Vicki Quinn, an activist for increased access to public buildings for the handicapped, said this morning that she planned to run against Moncrief.

Meanwhile, Miguel Barrientos, who said he is president of the Las Vegas chapter of the Mexican-American Political Association, is overseeing the effort to put Kelly Benavidez on the ballot against Moncrief. Benavidez is a City Council liaison for Councilman Lawrence Weekly. This morning Benavidez said she has not been asked to be a candidate and has no desire to run for council.

Those leading the recall effort have said they want a change because of charges that the freshman councilwoman falsified her campaign finance reports, and because they feel she has failed to block unwanted development.

Moncrief has represented Ward 1 on the council since June 2003, when she received 58 percent of the vote in defeating incumbent Councilman Michael McDonald.

Moncrief had been working to thwart the recall petitioners. She said she paid a California company $750 to deliver phone messages to 17,000 Ward 1 voters on Friday, and she knocked on about 100 doors over the weekend, asking people not to sign any recall petitions. She plans to go door-to-door again tonight, only now she will ask for her constituents' votes.

"I wanted to represent the people of Ward 1, and I feel like I am," she said Monday. "It's a sad day ... But I'm ready to campaign. I'm not going to give up."

Moncrief and Billy Rogers, whose Southwest Strategies company collected the signatures, said the recall election will probably be in January, assuming the signatures make it through the verification process. That process -- which involves the secretary of state, the Clark County registrar of voters, and the city clerk -- includes several deadlines for different counts and checks of the signatures, and so makes it difficult to say exactly when the election would be.

Rogers said his group collected 2,660 signatures on the recall petition by going door to door in Ward 1 from Nov. 13 to Nov. 22. The group needs 2,106 signatures from registered Ward 1 voters to force the recall. Rogers said his group has verified that 2,534 of the signatures they collected are from registered Ward 1 voters.

Rogers' group was hired by a group of Ward 1 citizens calling themselves the Committee to Recall Janet Moncrief, which is being led by resident Larry Anspach.

Another group, the Ward 1 Cleanup Team led by resident Lee Haynes, has collected about 1,900 signatures on its recall petition. Haynes said he would stop collecting signatures for his recall petition if Anspach's group turns in their petitions today.

Anspach said the alleged campaign finance fraud "was a big part" of the reason his group decided to work to get Moncrief out of office. But he said there were also "many other issues in the neighborhood."

He cited failure to stop a rezoning that allowed local developer Irwin Molasky to build a Social Security building in a residential corridor along Buffalo Drive, just north of Oakey Boulevard. Members of Anspach's neighborhood successfully sued the city to overturn the zoning decision.

But Anspach said former Councilman McDonald would have been able to kill that proposal at the council level.

Moncrief said that while McDonald was able to block some smaller office buildings proposed for the same site, she said this time was different because Molasky is a powerful local developer.

Moncrief also said the indictment is not a good reason for a recall.

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty? ... And I'm so innocent," she said. Moncrief has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Moncrief's case is scheduled to go to trial Feb. 7, but she also has a court date on Dec. 15, when her attorney will argue to dismiss the case.

Anspach would not say how much his group has paid Southwest Strategies to collect signatures on the recall petition, although that amount will become public when the group files its financial reports.

If it is determined that the recall petition has enough valid signatures to force a recall, there are two ways the election can proceed.

One is if a challenger emerges. To be on the ballot, a person must gather the same number of signatures from voters in the ward as it took to force the recall election. If there are one or more candidates, the ballot will not mention the recall but will simply have Moncrief's name and title on it, along with the names of the challengers.

If no challengers obtain enough signatures on petitions to put them on the ballot, then the ballot will offer two choices: "for recall" or "against recall."

If under that scenario Moncrief is recalled, the City Council will decide whether to appoint someone to the position or to have a special election.

Anspach said his group would probably unite behind a candidate to replace Moncrief. He would not say who that might be; although he did say he would not run.

"A lot of us really wanted Michael McDonald to run again, but he said he wouldn't," Anspach said.

Quinn said she will probably hire Southwest Strategies to help her get enough signatures to get on the ballot.

Quinn, 45, is a mother of three and lifelong Las Vegas resident, who would be making her first run for elected office.

Quinn said she wants to protect Ward 1 from unwanted development, keep adult businesses from encroaching on neighborhoods and put more police on the streets.

Quinn said she was part of Anspach's group when it formed and signed the recall petition because she was so upset about the Molasky zoning decision.

But Quinn said her campaign will not focus on why she wants Moncrief out, but instead on what she wants to do for her community.

"I'm not going to say anything terrible about Janet Moncrief. I'm doing this for the neighborhoods," she said.

Haynes said that at the request of Barrientos he has collected about 500 signatures on a petition to put Benavidez on the ballot.

Barrientos said he hasn't asked Benavidez to be a candidate because he feels if she became involved she would lose her city job. But Barrientos said he's hopeful Benavidez would accept the nomination to be a candidate if they collect enough signatures to put her on the ballot.

"We know there's a lack of Hispanic representation in City Hall, and saw this as an opportunity. If she accepts the nomination, we'll go ahead and campaign for her," he said.