DUI arrest sidestepped in race

Saturday, June 2, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

Boulder City Councilwoman Karla Burton's reelection campaign seems to be on course despite an arrest for allegedly driving under the influence in February.

Burton finished second in the 10-candidate primary in April and is widely viewed as the favorite in Tuesday's general election against local lawyer Travis Chandler.

Chandler has not used the DUI arrest against the 50-year-old former Air Force lieutenant colonel.

"People can say what they want, but I don't want to make it an issue," he said. "I think I can beat her on the issues that affect all of Boulder City."

Most, however, see Chandler, 52, as a long shot.

Burton has raised more money than Chandler - about $2,400 to $1,000 - and her signs are on dozens of Boulder City lawns. Her ads in newspapers are flashier and, perhaps most important, she's the incumbent.

In the primary, Burton received 36 percent of the vote, followed by third-place finisher Chandler with 25 percent. Linda Strickland, with 51 percent, was the only candidate to draw support from a majority of primary voters to win election outright in April.

Burton declined to be interviewed for this story.

Burton was charged with DUI at 10:30 p.m. Feb. 6 after she was allegedly found passed out in the driver's seat while parked at a gas station on U.S. 93. Her blood-alcohol level was allegedly .274 percent, more than three times Nevada's .08 legal limit.

Burton pleaded not guilty to the charge in a Las Vegas court last month, although she did not attend the hearing. The case was transferred to Las Vegas to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

This was not Burton's first DUI arrest. In November 2000 she was arrested by the Nevada Highway Patrol on the same charge. Under a plea bargain, the charge was reduced to reckless driving, for which she paid a $310 fine and was ordered to attend a group meeting where victims discuss how drunken driving affected their lives.

Four months after her most recent arrest, few people have openly questioned whether someone who has broken the law at least once - and is accused of doing so again - should be responsible for creating laws.

"People either didn't read the newspaper or they forgot," longtime resident Art Olsen said.

That's not true, however, of Frank Fisher, a vocal opponent of the council who has blasted Burton on his Web site.

Many in the town say they still support Burton, or at least her recovery - indicative, perhaps, of Boulder City's small-town tendency not to kick people when they're down.

"She's a sweet person," resident Ken Byler said. "She's eminently qualified. But she has some problems."

What is unknown is whether voters will be motivated by it at the polls.

Burton has said often since her February arrest that the town has been supportive and that she no longer drinks.

Ironically, when she was elected to council in 2003, one of the challengers she defeated was Bryan Nix, who had been charged with a DUI five years earlier.

Chandler, though, isn't biting on any of it. He'll talk about the future of Eldorado Valley, the financing of the town's golf course or the rapidly filling landfill - but not about Burton or her arrest.

"She has her personal problems," he said. "I wish her the best of luck with that."

On Tuesday, though, Chandler hopes his political luck will be a little better than hers.