Editorial: Our choices in municipal elections

Friday, May 27, 2005 | 6:10 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

May 28 - 30, 2005

Important municipal races in Southern Nevada will be decided in the general election on June 7 (early voting runs through June 3). Following are the Las Vegas Sun's endorsements:

Las Vegas

We were relieved when conflict-ridden Michael Mack decided not to run for re-election to the Las Vegas City Council. His decision offered hope that residents of Ward 6 would have a chance to elect someone they could be proud of, or at least someone who isn't an embarrassment. Political newcomers Steve Ross, an electrical contractor, and Mary Gillins, who works for the Las Vegas police union, raised the most money and received the most votes in the primary, allowing them to face each other in the runoff election.

At the outset of the race, we didn't believe any candidate could be worse than the incumbent, but we might have been wrong. During our interviews with Ross and Gillins, we were struck by how little they know about city government and how unprepared they would be for the job. Additionally, their campaigns have lacked substance and have centered on personal attacks.

All we can hope for is that the winner will turn out to be an improvement over Mack. Either of the two challengers might prove capable of rising to the occasion, but it will be a long climb. Because both candidates failed to impress us, we cannot say which of them would do the better job if elected. Therefore, we cannot recommend either Ross or Gillins.

North Las Vegas

North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon and City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith are both seeking their third terms. North Las Vegas has been going through all of the growing pains that Las Vegas and Henderson already have experienced as it tries to keep up with its breakneck pace of growth. We believe voters should re-elect Montandon and Smith, who have done a good job of making North Las Vegas an even better place to live and work, as the economy remains strong and major crime is down. We hope that Montandon's youthful opponent, Andres Ramirez, stays active in politics if he loses this race. Ramirez' aggressive questioning of city government policies shouldn't be simply dismissed automatically as just so much campaign talk. Indeed, to continue to improve, North Las Vegas needs to keep asking itself the tough questions about what needs to change and to encourag e all of its residents to become more active in decision-making so as to create a better community.

Meanwhile, a new judgeship has been created in North Las Vegas to handle the backlog of cases there. In this race, Willia Chaney, who runs a day care center, faces Sean Hoeffgen, a criminal defense attorney who also handles personal injury cases. Hoeffgen's campaign has focused on the fact that he is an attorney and that his opponent, Chaney, isn't. Chaney has replied that the court typically handles lesser crimes and that common sense, not necessarily a law degree, is what is most important.

Although a law degree isn't required under Nevada law to be a Municipal Court judge, we believe that such training is preferable. Nevertheless, there have been exceptions to this rule, and some excellent judges haven't been lawyers, including current North Las Vegas Municipal Judge Warren Van Landschoot. A businesswoman, Chaney has also been heavily involved in the community for years as a member of nonprofit groups that help people get bank loans and affordable housing. She promises to be tough on crime while at the same time acknowledging that alternative sentencing, including substance abuse treatment when necessary, is sometimes required. The Sun recommends Chaney, who has the maturity, temperament and plain common sense necessary to make sure that justice is served.

Henderson

The only race for Henderson voters to decide is a new Municipal Court judgeship that has been created by the city to handle a growing caseload. Michael Miller was an attorney in the Clark County Public Defender's Office for 25 years. For the past year and a half, he has been a pro-tem judge in Henderson Municipal Court and in Justice Court. (Pro-tem judges serve part time.) Miller's opponent, Diana Hampton, was a deputy city attorney in Henderson for three years before resigning to run for municipal judge. Prior to that she practiced family law and some criminal defense law. We believe both candidates are exceptionally qualified and that either one would make an excellent judge.

Boulder City

Incumbents Mike Pacini and Andrea Anderson have been solid, hard-working members of the Boulder City Council. Our experience with Boulder City has been that it takes elected officials who are mature and who have lived there for awhile, such as Pacini and Anderson, to understand how to keep that city's wonderful small-town character and charm for today and for the future. Pacini and Anderson deserve to be re-elected.