Sun Editorial:

Municipal endorsements

The Sun endorses Anthony in Las Vegas, Boutin, Hafen and Kirk in Henderson

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

Stavros Anthony and Glenn Trowbridge are running for Las Vegas City Council in Ward 4, represented by Larry Brown before his election to the Clark County Commission.

Both are longtime residents with good credentials. Trowbridge is a retired Clark County executive and is currently on the Las Vegas Planning Commission. Anthony is a Metro Police captain and an elected regent of the state’s public higher education system.

In our opinion, the plan to build a new city hall project is the overriding issue in this race. Trowbridge is for it. Anthony is against it. The nation is in the middle of an economic crisis, and an expensive new city hall at a cost of up to $267 million would tie up Las Vegas’ attention and resources for years. Now is the time to think about consolidating government, not building a needless monument to city government.

The Las Vegas Sun endorses Stavros Anthony.

Henderson City Councilmen Andy Hafen and Steve Kirk are running to succeed term-limited Mayor James Gibson. Kirk and Hafen have had long tenures as council members and, because of that, the voters know them well. In that vein, we don’t know that we can add much more to the voters’ knowledge base.

We can, however, make some observations. This is a critical time for Henderson as it tries to overcome the very real challenges facing it, particularly in this recession.

Kirk impresses us as an official who can bring creativity and imagination to the second-largest city in the state. On the other hand, Hafen has been a consistent and stable official who has demonstrated that his primary concern is for the people of Henderson.

Both are good candidates and the Las Vegas Sun endorses Steve Kirk and Andy Hafen.

Two political newcomers are running for the Henderson City Council seat for Ward 3, vacated by Jack Clark because of term limits. Kathleen Boutin and Cathy Rosenfield have volunteered extensively in the city and bring good ideas and energy, but Boutin is the standout.

Boutin worked in the private sector before founding the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth, which has helped thousands of young people. Boutin has shown the ability to work with a variety of people, which is demonstrated in the wide support she has garnered for her campaign.

Boutin has the experience and ability to be a successful member of the City Council. The Las Vegas Sun endorses Kathleen Boutin.

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

By IndependentNevada

5/26/09 at 7:10 a.m.

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I'll have to respectfully disagree with the Sun's pick in their Las Vegas Ward IV endorsement. Anthony lied about improperly using his badge to get a free upgrade. It is not that he got the upgrade, I'm happy to honor those who serve us with perks like that, it is that he lied about it. His own fellow police officers refuse to endorse him. Stavros never objected to using our tax dollars to stay at the Four Seasons for $500/night while on Board of Regent trips. I'd prefer an official who knows when to tighten the fiscal belt, which is anytime they're using my money.
By Me

5/26/09 at 8:21 a.m.

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The Sun completely shirked its responsibility to its readers by not choosing between the Henderson mayoral candidates.

As evidenced by stories in your own paper, the voters are having a difficult time differentiating the two candidates. The shrinking newspaper readership expects its paper to put in the hours of research that the readers don't have time for.

At a time when newspapers need to give more to its readers, you have given less.

Then again, this is probably just another example of the Sun putting Greenspun business interest ahead of its readers. The Greenspuns don't want to be on the wrong side of either candidate so they can get their land use approvals.

The Sun should be ashamed.
By neiman1

5/26/09 at 9:50 a.m.

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Why are the only items in the Sun that do NOT allow comments the ones from Brian Greenspan? He seems to have plenty of far left opinions but will tolerate no dissent from the readers.
By lvcala

5/26/09 at 12:19 p.m.

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I think the Sun was spot on by endorsing Anthony. Trowbridge has shown what a disingenuous, pandering politician he is by trotting out his union backing for all Ward 4 Democrats to see, and then sending out a mailer in which he snuggles closely with Senator Ensign while calling himself a "true conservative" to garner Republican support. I would rather have a man who made one alleged "error" and has been open and honest about the situation, than Trowbridge who is so desperate to gain votes, and to hop right on up to City Council to be Oscar's personal puppet, that he will promise anything to anyone.