Legal interpretation raises bar for recall proponents in Boulder City

By Mike Trask (contact)

Monday, April 21, 2008 | 2 a.m.

An interpretation of election law by Secretary of State Ross Miller could make it more difficult to recall two Boulder City Council members.

Miller recently said only individuals who voted in last year’s election may sign a petition calling for the recall of Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland.

Recall petitioners have until June 3 to collect 1,085 signatures to place Strickland’s recall on the ballot and 1,268 to force a recall campaign on Chandler. The numbers are different because Strickland was elected in last year’s primary election, but Chandler was elected in the fall’s general election, which had a higher turnout.

Petitioners have been collecting signatures since early March. However, petitioner Christine Milburn said the group has been collecting signatures from all registered voters, not only those who voted in 2007.

Miller’s interpretation, which could void about 500 petition signatures, reduces by more than half the pool of people who may sign the recall initiative. Boulder City had a 43 percent turnout in its last election.

Milburn said the group is exploring ways to appeal the interpretation through the Attorney General.

If enough signatures are verified, a special election will be held 30 days after the petition is filed with the Boulder City clerk.

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Recall critics have blasted Milburn’s group for using paid signature collectors to go door-to-door in the small city.

“People who support Linda (Strickland) are not happy,” Milburn said. “But those people wouldn’t like the recall anyway.”

She noted that paid signature gatherers often are used for legislative initiatives.

Milburn declined to say how much money the recall committee has to spend — or how much it’s paying the hired help.

Nancy Nolette, who has been leading a group of residents supporting Chandler and Strickland, said the use of paid signature gatherers shows weakness in the recall effort.

“This is a small, tight-knit community,” Nolette said. “When you bring outsiders in people get upset. They don’t want them messing in our politics.”

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The slumping housing market left another mark in Henderson last week.

The Henderson Planning Commission voted to give developers of the 35-acre Traverse Pointe Village mixed-use project an additional year to begin construction.

The project, visible from Interstate 215, would be at Gibson Road and Wigwam Parkway.

The development, which is to include nearly 600 residential units and 27,000 square feet of retail space, was approved in 2006, and construction was scheduled to start this month. But work never began and developers asked the city for a two-year extension.

City staff recommended the one-year extension, which commission members approved after saying two years is too long for a prominent tract of land to sit vacant.

The project is being developed by Landwell Co., which also plans to build a 2,200-acre master planned community near Water Street and Boulder Highway on the site of a former toxic waste dump. That development would include 15,000 residential units, three shopping areas and more than a dozen parks.

Landwell is moving forward with that project, though it is not expected to open for at least eight years.