Ward 1 candidates debate issues

Dan Kulin

Friday, Jan. 14, 2005 | 10:59 a.m.

Las Vegas City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief and the two challengers she'll face in the coming recall election got into a testy exchange Thursday about over-attention or inattention to various neighborhoods and the incumbent's ability to represent Ward 1.

The three candidates were together for a taping of "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channel 19. The debate will take up two programs, one of which aired Thursday. The second half of the debate was scheduled to be broadcast today.

The candidates were most animated when discussing what is known as the Alta Drive improvement project -- a road and sidewalk project pushed by Moncrief's predecessor Michael McDonald. Moncrief calls it a special project for the wealthy and influential, but challengers Vicki Quinn and Lois Tarkanian defended the project.

Quinn has a special attachment to that project as it came after, and partly because, her sons were struck by a car while walking along that part of the road in October 1999, before the sidewalks were built.

Quinn, an activist for the disabled, also said she has been told that Moncrief initially told attorneys for developer Irwin Molasky that she supported his plan to build a Social Security building at Buffalo Drive and Del Ray Avenue, and then turned against the project after realizing neighbors opposed it.

Moncrief said she always opposed the project, which was approved by the council over her objections. Molasky has also said Moncrief always opposed his project.

Critics of the councilwoman, including those who circulated the successful petition that forced the Jan. 25 recall election, cited Moncrief's failure to block that project as evidence of her inability to effectively represent Ward 1.

Moncrief criticized the Alta Drive improvements, which she said Quinn and her husband, a former city planning commissioner who was appointed by McDonald, were instrumental in getting approved.

In 2002, the $1.7 million Alta Drive improvement project replaced the street between Rancho Drive and Valley View Boulevard with a curvy road, installed new landscaping as well as sidewalks and street lights in the spots where they were missing. A special assessment district was created that had the most immediate property owners pay about $160,000 toward the project. The rest was paid by the city.

Moncrief said that was too much money spent on that one area, and said the money "could have been divided more equally" throughout the city.

Tarkanian, a member of the Clark County School Board from 1989 to 2000 who also lives near that section of Alta, said the project did not take money away from other parts of the city.

Tarkanian said the sidewalks were needed because of concern for children going to the nearby Wasden Elementary School.

During the debate, Moncrief said she has been doing a "excellent job" representing Ward 1, adding that her office has received and taken care of more than 450 complaints from citizens.

She also said that during her almost two years on the council she has only lost three votes she thought were important to Ward 1. And all those votes involved her going against prominent or powerful people -- lawyer John Moran, former strip-club owner Michael Galardi, and Molasky.

Moncrief said she did all she could to fight Molasky, but said part of the problem she faced was that she believes the state open meeting law prohibits her from talking to a majority of her fellow council members about any project coming before the council.

Neil Rombardo, open meeting law senior deputy attorney general, said members of an elected body are allowed to speak with all of their fellow elected officials to lobby them and share their opinion on matters. However, they are not allowed to build a consensus or relate whether others support the matter being discussed in private.

Tarkanian said the Ward 1 residents she's spoken with "did not feel they were being represented effectively." However, when pressed by Ralston, Tarkanian did not provide any specific examples of Moncrief falling short.

Tarkanian said she feels that her experience on the school board shows that she knows how to deal with a large bureaucracy and build a consensus with other leaders.

Quinn is perhaps best known for her work to increase handicapped accessible seating to UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center. Quinn realized there was a lack of handicapped seating in the more desirable sections of the arena when her son Stephen, who uses a wheelchair, attended a game in 1999.

Quinn said she views the election as an opportunity to see if she can be successful in City Hall.

Moncrief also addressed the criminal charges she faces for allegedly filing false campaign finance reports. The indictment has created, or exposed, a rift between the Secretary of State Dean Heller and Attorney General Brian Sandoval.

A series of correspondence between those two offices released this week showed Heller's office opposed charging Moncrief criminally. The state could have sought to impose civil penalty, fines, against Moncrief instead of the criminal charges.

Moncrief said that dispute between the two Republican state officeholders lends weight to claims by her and her attorney that she was the victim of selective prosecution. District Judge Nancy Saitta has ordered a Feb. 17 hearing on that question.

She said the developments have some residents questioning the indictment too.

When Ralston asked Moncrief if she thought the indictment might even be helping her, the councilwoman said, "Yes, absolutely."