Balance of power unlikely to change at LV City Hall

Saturday, March 17, 2007 | 6:51 a.m.

A campaign for an open Las Vegas City Council seat and another contest that will determine whether the voice of the council's loyal opposition remains at City Hall highlights next month's primary.

Although elections for mayor and half of the council seats are on the ballot, some of those races are little more than electoral formalities in which incumbents face only token opposition. Barring several upsets of major proportions, the outcomes are unlikely to significantly tip the balance of power at City Hall.

Election Day is April 3, but early voting begins today and extends through March 30 at the city clerk's office and at various locations throughout the city.

In the mayor's race, perhaps the only question seriously at issue is whether Oscar Goodman will top the landslide 86 percent of the vote that he won in the last election. Although Goodman has several challengers, including local activists Tom McGowan and Beatrice Turner, none poses a significant threat.

Goodman exerts strong influence over the council and another lopsided victory would further solidify his ability to sway key votes.

Goodman's power base could become even stronger if Ward 1 Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian fails to hold her seat.

On a legislative body where unanimous votes are the norm, if there is a dissenting vote on the council, it most often comes from Tarkanian.

One of the more notable examples of that came in November 2005 when she cast the lone vote against lifting a deed restriction on a golf course owned by developer Bill Walters to clear the way for a residential development. The council's vote, which prompted an investigation commissioned by the state attorney general's office, was later reversed.

While Tarkanian won praise from the attorney general for the vote, her position alienated her from the rest of the council and some in the business community. It also secured her role as the council's lone wolf, who will vote against issues she opposes even when the outcome is assured.

Tarkanian's opponents are Metro Officer Laurie Bisch, who ran unsuccessfully last fall for sheriff, and businessman Shawn Spanier.

The one guaranteed change is in Ward 5, where 10 candidates are scrambling for the seat vacated by Democrat Lawrence Weekly earlier this month with his appointment to the Clark County Commission.

Only one candidate, Marcia Washington, had filed to run before Weekly's appointment, and she had indicated that she would withdraw from the race if he remained at City Hall and ran for reelection.

After Weekly's departure, however, nine other candidates, including Ricki Barlow, Weekly's council liaison, entered the contest. The others are Marion Bennett, Richard Blue Jr., Gene Collins, Katie Duncan, Earnestine Howell, Jeffrey Loveall, Shondra Summers-Armstrong and Stacy Truesdell.

The other council contests are races more in name than fact. In Ward 3, 12-year Councilman Gary Reese faces long-shot Joe Sacco, a community activist. Much less known than the incumbent, Sacco, hampered by a lack of campaign funds, is unlikely to close that name recognition gap by Election Day.

Candidates in the contested races admit that trying to capture the public's imagination, given the low turnout traditionally seen in primaries, is as challenging as their actual opponents.

"That's the biggest challenge in any race really, identifying your voter base and getting them to vote," Barlow said.

Because council members are elected by ward, campaign methods that are widely used in citywide or statewide races, such as radio and television ads, are often not an effective use of campaign funds. Instead, candidates turn to more basic tools such as mailers, door-to-door politicking and personal appearances.

Gary Gray, campaign manager for Reese, Spanier and Truesdell, said his candidates don't miss a chance to appear before any group.

"Every vote is so important when you have a low turnout," Gray said. "Especially when you have multiple candidates in the field, as in Ward 5."

The primary could be the only race in some of the Las Vegas contests, because if the victor receives more than 50 percent of the vote, there will be no general election in June. If no one draws 50 percent in the primary, the two top vote-getters will face off in June.