Robinson challenges incumbent Gibson

Dan Kulin

Monday, March 21, 2005 | 11:24 a.m.

Jim Gibson

Democrat

Age: 56

Occupation: incumbent mayor, CEO Transit Systems Management, operators of the LasVegas Monorail

Web site: www.jimgibson2005.com

Endorsements: Henderson Chamber of Commerce, Henderson Police Officers Association, Henderson Professional Fire-fighters Local 1883, Southern Nevada Central Labor Council, Henderson Police Supervisors Association.

Susan Gillean-Bedell

Democrat

Age: n/a

Occupation: casino banquet server

Laurie Robinson

Republican

Age: 43

Occupation: insurance claims adjustor for Farmers Insurance Co.

Endorsements: Veterans in Politics

The race to be Henderson's mayor for the next four years pits the city's two-term mayor against one woman who is critical of past development decisions, especially the handling of the construction of Horizon Ridge Parkway, and another woman who put her name on the ballot to give voters another choice for mayor.

Laurie Robinson, 43, a Republican and insurance claims adjustor for Farmers Insurance Co., said she is making her first run for elected office because she doesn't feel Mayor Jim Gibson is doing a good job.

Robinson said Gibson and the City Council have allowed growth to happen too fast, and approved new developments before infrastructure improvements are completed for previously approved projects.

Robinson said Horizon Ridge Parkway, a developing road in the Green Valley part of the city, is a "perfect example" of her point.

"Why does it go from three to two to one?" Robinson said, referring to the varying number of road lanes one encounters when traveling the road.

"Because nobody planned for anything."

But Gibson said that while development of Horizon Ridge Parkway, which he described as a "saw-tooth street," is not perfect, he said the city leaders have dealt with the development of the road as best they could.

"For a time that was the edge of development," Gibson said of the road. "And to the extent that we had control over people we required people to build the street in front of their property."

Gibson said the highly traveled road should be finished sometime in 2005 thanks to a city backed loan program that will have the property owners along Horizon Ridge Parkway pay for the rest of the widening of the road.

"It's easy to take pot shots," Gibson said about Robinson's criticism. "But the city doesn't have the money to go around building new roads.

"The timing is not as good as anybody would like it," the mayor said about the ongoing completion of the road. "But by the end of the year it should have two lanes in each direction."

Jim Gibson, 56, a Democrat who was first elected mayor of Henderson in 1997, said the development of Horizon Ridge parkway and the ongoing construction of the new interchange and highway extension to link U.S. 95 and the Las Vegas Beltway, are two transportation projects he sees as long-term accomplishments he has helped along.

Gibson said he is also proud of the additional recreation centers that have been built during his years in office, and putting laptop computers in police vehicles, which he said helps keep the police on the streets because they don't have to return to the office to fill out reports.

The mayor, who is also chief executive officer of Transit Systems Management, the company that runs the Las Vegas Monorail, also said other positive developments during his tenure include the continued development of the Nevada State College in Henderson and the city's strong bond rating.

Robinson, however, was also critical of the Crystal Ridge development and plans to build on the former BMI industrial site

Robinson said blasting for Crystal Ridge is disrupting neighbors.

Gibson said the city is studying the effects of blasting in the area to see if the work is truly impacting homes, and if the city needs to change the regulations for blasting work.

Robinson also said she doesn't think former industrial site can be cleaned up enough to make it safe for residential development.

Gibson said the cleanup involves removing contaminated dirt from the site and replacing it with new soil that he said is expected to make the land safe for residential development. But Gibson said there will be "considerable testing" by the state before new construction is allowed there.

"If it's determined to be clean enough then we'll work on a development plan," Gibson said.

The third candidate on the ballot Susan Gillean-Bedell, a Democrat who works part-time as a casino banquet server, said she put her name on the ballot because she wanted to make sure Gibson was not the sole candidate for mayor.

The three candidates first face off in the April 5 primary, early voting runs through April 1. If one of the candidates receives more than 50 percent of the vote they are declared the winner of the election, otherwise the top two vote getters will go head to head in the June 7 general election.