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Boulder City council members in eye of storm
Pair subject of recall, anti-recall efforts
Monday, March 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.
Directly in front of the Boulder Dam Credit Union, small-town politics were at work Friday.
On one side: a group aiming to recall a pair of Boulder City council members. On the other side: supporters of the targeted council members.
This is how political activism plays out in Boulder City.
The recall proponents arrived at 9:30 a.m. to collect signatures on a petition calling for a special election to throw Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland off the City Council.
By 11 a.m. on the first day of their effort they had 22 signatures.
They need to collect 1,085 within three months to force the election on Strickland, and 1,268 to force it on Chandler. (Reason for the difference: Strickland was elected in a primary election so he can be removed more easily. Chandler was elected in a more competitive general election.)
The council members’ supporters, meanwhile, collected 50 signatures on white notebook sheets. If the battle were to end there, the council members win. But that would be too easy.
If the special election does happen, the council members’ supporters plan to use the names of the people who signed their sheets as a contact list to campaign against a recall.
Why the effort to throw the pair out?
“They aren’t offering any solutions,” said Christine Milburn, one of three residents organizing the recall effort. “They aren’t moving forward.”
Instead, Milburn, who served on the council in the mid-1990s and ran unsuccessfully for Clark County public administrator in 2006, thinks the two rookie council members have been stuck arguing about past decisions related to the city-owned Boulder Creek Golf Course.
The council members’ supporters happen to like the fact that Chandler and Strickland question city officials.
“If they have done something immoral, unethical or illegal, that’s one thing,” said Nancy Nolette. “But they haven’t.”
Even as they eyeballed pedestrians to ask them to sign their respective petitions, the political opponents made nice with one another, chatting amicably while killing time in front of the credit union.
Until, that is, someone walked their way. Then it was time to solicit signatures.
Strickland and Chandler, both lawyers, had heard talk of a recall almost from the day they took office.
But the timing surprised Chandler.
“The one issue a lot of folks seemed to be upset about was the golf course, and that has been resolved in their favor,” he said.
Chandler and Strickland said their opposition to the use of city redevelopment agency funds for private business improvements also probably angered some people in the city of roughly 15,000.
“Rich people shouldn’t be getting money that we need for the city,” Strickland said.
Milburn said the redevelopment funding had nothing to do with recall efforts.
•••
Henderson officials like what they see in The District at Green Valley Ranch, a mixed-use development, and they want more of it.
The Henderson City Council will vote March 18 on a proposed zoning change that would allow the project to expand onto 20 acres at the southeast corner of Green Valley Parkway and Interstate 215.
The expansion would include a pair of nongaming hotels, an office building, two restaurants and a parking garage. The new area would be connected by a walking trail to the existing retail section anchored by Whole Foods.
Previously, developers sought space for 360 town houses designed to look like the brownstone homes found in East Coast cities. Those plans have been set aside because of the housing market slump.
The Planning Commission recommended the approval and representatives of a neighborhood group said they support the project.
A construction date has not been set.
The District opened in 2004. It is being developed by the American Nevada Co., which is owned by the Greenspun family, which also owns the Las Vegas Sun.
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As usual, Mike jumps into the water and gets right out without getting wet. This is because he is still wet behind the ears and does not do his due diligence.
1) A recall is completed when enough signatures are validated by the BC City Clerk.
2)"If the special election does happen, the council members’ supporters plan to use the names of the people who signed their sheets as a contact list to campaign against a recall." BULL. See #1. Elected people are recall and THEN there is a special election.
3)"Milburn said the redevelopment funding had nothing to do with recall efforts." BULL. Look at those pushing for a recall. Most are members of the downtown business oriented Sunrise Rotary as are the BC City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk...for starters.
A good reporter might ask whose ox is being gored and connect the dots but Mike is not yet a good reporter. Maybe one day when he is dry behind the ears.
4) BTW, Milburn served on the council for only a short appointed term and failed to be elected when she ran for the seat.
PS: I forgot to mention a correction of some sloppy "reporting": Strickland is not a "he" but a "she".
"They need to collect 1,085 within three months to force the election on Strickland, and 1,268 to force it on Chandler. (Reason for the difference: Strickland was elected in a primary election so he can be removed more easily. Chandler was elected in a more competitive general election.)"
The reason for the different numbers needed for a recall has nothing at all to do with the type of election but the number of votes cast in the respective elections. 15% of the voters is the requirement. You could have learned that by asking.
Mike: next time, stay long enough to get the full story. Your superficial reporting reminds me of some chicken pies and chicken soup where the chicken only just walks through.
Hey Mike,
Why have you not covered the real story in Boulder City? Want to know what it is? Pssst: have you heard that Dr. Ron Milne has resigned as chairman of the Finance committee? Check out his accusations about the continued cover up of false accounting for BCGC. Whoops. Too much for a fast walk through, isn't it?
I think everything Mr. Fisher mentioned in his first two posts was clear in the story, although he would have clearly chosen different words.
Calling Linda Strickland a "he" was a typo. I apologize to Councilwoman Strickland for the mistake.
I heard about Mr. Milne's resignation last week and I plan to meet with him today.
Also, Christine Milburn tells me that more a few hundred signatures in favor of a recall have been collected over the weekend. The group continues to solicit signatures at the Boulder Dam Credit Union.
No the story was not clear on the points raised and missed important parts of the story. 1. Recall Sponsor Milburn is a lobbyist who is or has represented the Nevada Golf Owners Association of which Boulder Creek G.C. is a member; Recall Sponsor Draney is a wealthy resident but was still given 99k from the RDA slush fund by the council 3. Both are members of the Sunrise Rotary which also includes Vickie Mayes, Dave Olsen, lots of other City Hall insiders and beneficiaries of City Hall Largess via the Slush Fund and other favors.
This info was given to Trask prior to the article but he didn’t bother to mention it. In other words the real reason they are doing the recall is so the entrenched special interests can hold on to the power to drain the City coffers dry. They have already drained the city of 10's of millions of dollars.
No Mr. Trask: you did not do any due diligence but walked through town and wrote less than the complete story. The complete story should include any interest of your employer in the undeveloped land in Boulder City including the Dutchman Pass that is so much envied. You had infomation that you could have used that goes to motive and with any kind of checking you could have found out more. Just from what you were told and omitted, you are guilty of only partially telling the story. A partial truth is a whole lie. Again, the story goes much deeper than a recall of the two best council people in my 16+ years in Boulder City.
And btw: want to bet that there is no way they collected a "few hundred signatures".
Mike: report or find other employment.
Mr. Trask
When can we expect your major expose of the big problems in Boulder City caused by the $50 Millions of extra-ordinary expenses connected with the building of a golf course to serve about 3% of the local population that all must pay for. My utility bill is up 25-30% while the Utility Fund was illegally sacked in 2001 and systematically every year since. Will you be the one to hold accountable the silly council and the too highly paid staff trying to protect their jobs by hiding the true ramifications of their deeds? Probably not as it would require a little work on your part. Pity because maybe the story will not be told and their will be no movie made about your investigative reporting.
Mike:
Still no story on the major story: the resignation of Dr. Ron Milne and his revelations...which are just the tip of the iceberg in B.C.
Hard to write the story from a telephone interview is it not?
When? If not today, WHEN?...if ever.
Have you considered a real job Mike instead of pandering for your boss?
Great: a blurb in your blog. That's a start but not much of one.
The eye of the storm should rightly encompass the rolling over and playing dead to development by the staff who rightly perceive that as being the only way to preserve their outrageous salaries and benefits. They and their enablers on the silly council are the ones who rightly should be in the "eye of the storm" and not those who do their due diligence and seek to represent the best interests of the voters over and above those who would develop BC for personal gain.
The BC city staff must have development to support their exorbitant salaries and benefits. The silly council members who look to staff for approval of their every action are complicit and culpable.
Example: watch Pacini and Tobler seek approval from the City Clerk, City Manager and City Attorney. Watch the City Manager and the City Attorney take control and run a meeting where the mayor is the moderating official. See if you think that it appears that the council serves the staff instead of the other way around. Note: Pacini once expressed surprise at the concept of the council making policy. He, and others, seem to think that they are there to rubber stamp the decisions of the staff. What a setup for the failure of a city government that has put the 15K residents over $55 Millions in debt and set to grow by at least 50%.
Remember the campaign slogan "Its the economy stupid"?
Well, in Boulder City, it is the silly council and their staff stupid. They are the cause of all of our problems up to the $55 Millions in debt but not including the $25-$30 Millions soon to be added.
Bottom line: It is the voters stupid. The buck stops with them but they have only just begun to pay through the nose for not paying attention to the silly council and the staff that controls them. They have succeeded in getting the cart before the horse. Yes, Pacini, it is the council that should be making policy...not its staff.