Boulder City resident Sherman Rattner leaves council race

By Dylan Scott

Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 | 4:50 p.m.

Sherman Rattner pulled out of the race for Boulder City Council on Monday, just days after filing his candidacy.

Three spots on the council, including the mayor's seat, are open in June's election. The reduced field for the two city council positions includes Lynn Goya, Linda Graham, Peggy Leavitt, Rose Ann Miele and Rod Woodbury.

Rattner, 64, an eight-year resident of Boulder City, said he had announced his candidacy "because he wanted to preserve the possibility to change the majority on city council." By Monday, however, he said he no longer believed that was possible after reviewing his fellow candidates.

"The numbers didn't add up," he said.

Some Boulder City residents have said Mayor Roger Tobler, along with Councilmen Duncan McCoy and Cam Walker, have effectively formed a supermajority on the council, leaving council members Travis Chandler and Linda Strickland on the outside looking in.

That perception is based largely in the three's support of City Manager Vicki Mayes last fall amid controversy about her car registration, as well as a recall petition that Chandler and Strickland faced last year.

And during some of the council's most controversial votes -- such as on potential penalties for Mayes and whether to proceed with lawsuits against the petitioners of voter-approved ballot questions -- the two blocks have almost always voted together.

Chandler declined to run for re-election in June, while Strickland will challenge Tobler for the mayor's seat. McCoy and Walker will be on the ballot in two years.

Calling Boulder City's budget "a financial disaster," as the city attempts to pay back more than $95 million in debt, Rattner said he "felt I could be more effective as a voice for change if I was not on the council."

"The people of Boulder City don't realize how bad things are," he said. "Until the people are ready for a real change, I'm not going to beat my head against the wall."