Democratic process

By Mike Trask

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 | 7:16 a.m.

Fueled by a few big-time issues, Boulder City's small-town politics are becoming as popular as tourists gawking at Lake Mead.

Whether because of those major decisions on the horizon or because politics hits closer to home for people who know their neighbors by name and leave their doors unlocked, Boulder City will see some multiple candidate free-for-alls this spring in races for City Council and mayor.

In contrast, in bigger valley cities such as Henderson or North Las Vegas, some ballot contests will be little more than electoral formalities because of limited - or nonexistent - competition.

"I think Boulder City is a unique city," banker and council candidate Dean Collins said. "People who live there really have a passion to ensure the future of the place. You tend to get that in a small city."

In Boulder City nine challengers are running, hoping to unseat incumbent Karla Burton or grab another open seat. The field race, in which the top two finishers win, drew that long list of contenders even before Burton's arrest on driving under the influence charges two weeks ago had her suddenly looking more vulnerable.

In contrast, Henderson City Councilman Steven Kirk already has won the Ward 4 election - or will as soon as he votes for himself. In the city of more than a quarter of a million residents, more than 16 times Boulder City's population, no one stepped forward to challenge Kirk, who also ran unopposed four years ago.

Henderson's two other council races each feature only two candidates.

In North Las Vegas, with its 200,000-plus population, one race has only two candidates and the other has four choices.

In fact, with the exception of the Ward 5 Las Vegas City Council race - which has drawn nine candidates hoping to fill the seat being vacated by Lawrence Weekly, who has been appointed to the Clark County Commission - no other local municipal contest this spring exhibits the spirited political atmosphere found in Boulder City.

The same deeper political involvement reflected in Boulder City's larger number of candidates also is usually seen at the polls. In the 2005 municipal elections, Boulder City's 45 percent turnout dwarfed the figures for North Las Vegas (14 percent) and Henderson (8 percent).

"I think with everything in the news and everything happening over the past few years, people are interested," said hairdresser Kathey Ditzler, a candidate making her first foray into politics in Boulder City.

Many consider the next few months a pivotal time in the city's history, in large part because of a controversial land deal that residents will vote on in June. If two ballot measures pass, Boulder City would sell a section of Dutchman Pass - along the eastern edge of Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area - and use the revenue to buy and keep undeveloped property near Railroad Pass that otherwise would be likely to become the site of a 3,800-home community.

But there may be an even bigger issue ahead for the city of 15,000. When the Hoover Dam Bypass opens in 2010, thousands more vehicles will pass through town, a challenge that will become even more formidable as plans for 55,000 homes in northern Arizona proceed.

While those looming issues may have quickened the political pulse rate in Boulder City, small-town dynamics have created a long tradition of its citizens paying more than passing attention to politics.

Indeed, in a town where you're liable to bump into the mayor at the grocery store, people take a keen personal interest in what's happening in City Hall.

"The issues could have a far greater impact than most of the individual decisions by Henderson City Council," said Michael Green, a Nevada historian at the Community College of Southern Nevada. "There's a sense of running for office to protect or change a way of life that you don't see elsewhere."

It's a sentiment echoed in small towns across the country.

"In a big city you've almost resigned yourself to being distant from government," said Daniel Rodriguez, a University of San Diego law professor who has studied municipal governments. "In a small town they believe they can make an immediate difference."

The mayoral race includes two council members - Roger Tobler and Mike Pacini - attorney Roger Harris and a homeless man, Gary Kallam.

The council ballot features an eclectic mix of candidates. In addition to Burton, Collins and Ditzler, the field includes retiree Beverly Burke; Myreen Star Aschenbach, a homemaker with a bachelor's degree in urban and regional planning and a master's in public policy and administration; Fritz McDonald, a 21-year-old National Guardsman, UNLV student and a lifetime Boulder City resident; Diane Hutchings, a paralegal who has lived in the city more 16 years; hotel worker Wayne Mrozinski; and lawyers Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland.

"I think it's a good thing," Hutchings said. "I think it's good when the citizens are involved in their government. I think more should be involved. We take our rights too lightly."

Ditzler offers another perspective. "We may be a small town, but we're by no means backwoods," she said. "The people here are very intelligent, and they want to be involved."