Elections: Key municipal races left to be decided

By Mark Hansel

Friday, May 22, 2009 | 3 a.m.

Early voting has started in Clark County for the June 2 general election, and although there are not a lot of races to be decided, some prominent posts need to be filled.

Both Henderson and North Las Vegas will elect a new mayor, and both cities, as well as Las Vegas, will choose new city council members.

The election of Larry Brown to the Clark County Commission left his Las Vegas City Council Ward 4 seat vacant. David Steinman, a member of the city’s planning commission, has been interim councilman.

Glenn Trowbridge, a 20-year resident of the ward, who is chairman of the planning commission and Metro Police Capt. Stavros Anthony, a 29-year veteran, emerged from a field of six candidates in the primary to face each other for the seat.

If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary, the two highest vote-getters face off in the general election.

Trowbridge captured 45 percent of the vote in the primary and Anthony got 37 percent.

Trowbridge said that as a planning commissioner he routinely deals with issues that end up before the council, so he understands how the system works.

The most important challenges facing the city right now, Trowbridge says, are to balance expenditures with the revenue. to make Las Vegas a more business friendly environment.

Anthony has served on the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents for eight years and says if elected he will resign from that office and the police department to devote all of his energy to serving his ward and the city.

What distinguishes him from his opponents, he says, is his experience with the issues that matter most to the residents of Ward 4 – crime, education and traffic.

One hot-button issue the candidates disagree on is a downtown development project that includes a new City Hall.

Trowbridge is a strong supporter of the city’s redevelopment agency and has endorsed the project that includes a new City Hall. Anthony disagrees, saying a new City Hall should not be built in this uncertain economic time.

In Henderson, Councilmen Andy Hafen and Steve Kirk got the most votes in another crowded primary and will face off for the mayor’s seat.

James Gibson, the city’s longest serving mayor, is term limited after three four-year terms.

Hafen was elected to the Ward 2 seat in 1987, and Kirk was elected to Ward 5 in 1999. The city will have a special election to fill the council seat of the candidate who wins the election. The loser will return to his council seat until 2011 when he will be ineligible to seek reelection because of term limits.

In Ward 3, Councilman Jack Clark is leaving after serving four four-year terms. Businesswoman Kathleen Boutin, founder of a nonprofit group that helps homeless youth, and Cathy Rosenfield, volunteer chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Department are competing for that seat.

Boutin captured 45 percent of the vote in the primary’s field of six, while Rosen received 23 percent.

North Las Vegas will choose a mayor and councilman as well as a Municipal Court judge.

Mike Montandon is not eligible for reelection because of term limits, and Ward 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Smith forfeited her seat to run for mayor, but lost in the primary.

Councilmen Shari Buck and William Robinson emerged from the mayoral primary with about 30 percent of the vote each and will face off in the general election.

Buck is a member of Colorado River Commission and vice chairwoman of the North Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency. She is also a member of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition and serves as chairwoman of the Southern Nevada Water Authority board.

Robinson, the mayor pro-tempore, is a retired outreach consultant for the Clark County School District and a Workforce Investment Board member. He is on the Southern Nevada Health District Board and a Criminal Justice Advisory commissioner.

The Ward 3 race pits Angelo Carvalho, owner of Auto Visions and a North Las Vegas Rotarian, against Anita Wood, a community activist and a former North Las Vegas Planning commissioner.

Both Carvalho and Wood advanced from a crowded primary after receiving less than 25 percent of the vote.

In the Municipal Court judge’s race, incumbent Sean Hoeffgen faces Marsha Kimble-Simms, an attorney with Simms Law Firm.

In the primary the candidates finished in a dead heat with each garnering about 35 percent of the vote.