City Hall outsider running for Henderson mayor

By Jeremy Twitchell

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 | 6:44 p.m.

The three veteran politicians seeking to be Henderson's next mayor drew an outside competitor Thursday when attorney Richard C. Sipan filed to run for the city's top office.

Sipan will square off against current City Councilmen Andy Hafen and Steve Kirk as well as former three-term Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers in the race to succeed Mayor James B. Gibson, who is unable to seek a fourth term because of the state's term limits law.

Sipan is an attorney practicing collections and personal injury with the law firm of Muije and Varricchio in Las Vegas. He said he plans to be the voice of dissent in the upcoming election.

"What it comes down to is if the voters wish, they can vote for somebody who says everything is fine, or if they wish, they can vote for somebody who sees the city's issues as they really are," Sipan said.

Sipan said he disagrees with the way the council has handled zoning issues in recent years, saying that he has moved twice because of adverse impacts on his home that came from zoning decisions. He said he was also upset when his child was zoned out of Lamping Elementary School because of what he said was a lack of planning on the city's part to meet the schooling needs of the southern part of Henderson.

"Let me be clear," Sipan said. "There have been a lot of achievements in the city. But I think that all three candidates have drunk from the same Kool-Aid, which is that growth automatically means progress."

Sipan said he thinks there are too many occasions in City Council meetings when members have to excuse themselves from a vote because of a conflict of interest, and he hopes to appeal to voters as a political outsider.

Beyond the $100 fee he paid to file, Sipan said he doesn't plan to spend much more, if any, money on his campaign.

"I do not intend to try and match these people dollar for dollar," he said. "I'm simply going to go to the free events and state my point of view."

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or [email protected].