North Las Vegas elections bill dies

Cy Ryan and Brian Wargo

Thursday, May 19, 2005 | 9:38 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill supported by four Assembly members that would have changed the election system for the North Las Vegas City Council is dead in the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

Assembly Bill 197 would have required the four City Council members to be elected from the voters in their district, instead of at-large. Supporters of the bill said they would look for another bill to insert the proposed legislation and bypass the Government Affairs Committee.

Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the committee, said Wednesday the internal fights involving North Las Vegas have been presented on a number of occasions to the Legislature in the past. He said the problems should be presented to a city charter committee to resolve rather than the Legislature.

Hardy proposed, and the committee agreed, that instead of passing the bill, the committee would write a "strong letter" to the North Las Vegas City Council to create a charter committee that would handle the dispute.

Democratic Assembly members Kelvin Atkinson, Marilyn Kirkpatrick, Bob McCleary and Moises Denis, who represent parts of North Las Vegas, and former Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, backed the bill.

Atkinson said Wednesday said he's disappointed but hasn't given up hope the language can be inserted in another bill.

"The fight is not over, and we are going to find another way to address this," Atkinson said.

If it isn't done in the Legislature, Atkinson said they will put the measure before North Las Vegas voters in November 2006.

The Assembly members calling for the change complained that the developing areas of the city north of Cheyenne Avenue wielded too much political power at the expense of the older sections of the city, which have been neglected.

City Manager Gregory Rose opposed the change, noting the 18-month process to develop a plan for the future of the city, which he said contained no talk about switching the present election system.

The push for the new voting format has become a campaign issue in the race for mayor. Incumbent Mayor Mike Montandon, a Republican, opposed the bill while challenger Andres Ramirez, a Democrat, backed it.

"I think it is unfortunate that the city is fighting a policy that is beneficial to the residents, and they are using our tax dollars to do it," Ramirez said.

Steve Wark, the campaign manager for Montandon, said the bill was "bad public policy" opposed by the entire council and most residents. He said the Legislature shouldn't enact an election format that applies to North Las Vegas only and not other cities of similar size.

By having council members elected by residents in wards only, that would create partisan districts, Wark said.