Editorial: Changes in North Las Vegas

Monday, Nov. 20, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

The midterm election may have just ended, but there are other elections just around the corner, as municipal races will he held this coming spring. Of the cities in Southern Nevada, voters in North Las Vegas will see some of the biggest changes in how they elect members of the City Council.

In November nearly 70 percent of voters in North Las Vegas approved Question 1, which will result in members of the City Council being elected by ward instead of citywide. Mayor Mike Montandon opposed the measure, but other members of the City Council sat out the debate over Question 1. In the past, opponents of electing council members by ward have contended that it's a divisive system, one where elected officials selfishly look out for their own ward's interests and not always do what is best for the entire city.

In our view, however, the ward system has more advantages than the at-large system, especially in a city as large as North Las Vegas, which has 200,000 residents now and is expected to grow to 500,000 within the next two decades.

Under a ward system, people are much closer to their elected officials, since the members of the City Council have substantially fewer people to directly represent. For that matter, an elected official in a ward system can better represent the specific needs of those residents, needs that often can be very different from other areas. Also, the at-large system gives an unfair advantage to incumbents because it costs so much money to run a citywide campaign, whereas a ward system at least gives a challenger more of a fighting chance against an incumbent.

We think the voters in North Las Vegas made the right call and we look forward to seeing how Question 1, which should bring government closer to the people, works out.