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By Conor Shine (contact) 
Tuesday, June 7, 2011 | 10:45 p.m.
Richard Cherchio
NLV City Council race
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KSNV coverage of North Las Vegas City Council race between Richard Cherchio and Wade Wagner, June 7, 2011.
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A fiercely contested race for the Ward 4 seat on the North Las Vegas City Council was decided by a single vote, with Wade Wagner ousting incumbent Richard Cherchio.
Wagner received 1,831 of the 3,661 votes cast, beating Cherchio by two one-hundredths of a percent. Only 72 votes separated the candidates in the April primary, which Wagner also won.
A union-driven attack on Cherchio dominated much of the campaign, as residents were flooded with mailers criticizing his tenure and approach to public safety.
Fliers, one of which featured a masked man smashing a window, blasted Cherchio for higher crime rates, the early release of criminals from jail and participating in wasteful government spending. Several of the fliers were later proven to be inaccurate.
Cherchio was appointed to the council in 2009 and approved a number of cuts to public safety as the city struggled with steep budget deficits. As many as 259 layoffs, including 40 firefighters and 43 police officers, could be needed to close a $30 million hole in this year’s city budget, a move Cherchio supported.
Local dentist Wade Wagner seized on the issue and said the city needed to increase its public safety presence to attract new residents and businesses, a position unions supported.
Residents were widely turned off by the negative tone of the race as the two campaigns and the unions traded barbs, eventually leading Cherchio to threaten a defamation suit against the unions.
“It turned into mudslinging...instead of what they’re going to do for North Las Vegas,” resident Vince Ramirez said shortly after exiting the polls.
Ramirez said he tried to ignore the rhetoric and ended up casting his vote for Wagner because of his “good ethics and good morals.”
Cherchio supporters praised the work he’d done since being appointed to the City Council and said they found the retired mail carrier more accessible than Wagner.
Some raised the issue of what influence the unions will have over Wagner now that he’s in office.
“[Cherchio] made tough choices in a difficult environment,” Jeff Miller said. “More choices will need to be made, and there can’t be any favors.”
Wagner, 48, has insisted he’ll be impartial on the council and said he hopes to use his experience as a small business owner to bring creative ideas to help grow North Las Vegas.
The father of eight moved to the Las Vegas Valley when he was 4 years old and has lived in North Las Vegas since 1997.
Can you say recount?
Wagner may put up a good front, but after what his campaign did to Richard Cherchio, how can anyone say that he has "good ethics and good morals?" Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Wagner will vote lockstep with Mayor Buck and the Police and Fire Unions. God help us all.
Who Say's your vote won't count.
I voted. If you didn't and live in Ward 4 then I don't want to hear a F@#$#@#G complaint from you now that another union lackey is in office.
This is an idiotic article. How were the statements made about Cherchio "proven to be inaccurate"???? Was that proven in the Las Vegas Sun One-Sided, Anti-Union Court, because it wasn't proven in a real court. Nor could it. Everything that was said about Cherchio in Wagner's campaign literature was demonstrably true. And what about the ridiculous campaign literature that Cherchio sent out? Cherchio lied when he stated that he had the support of the Police Department, lied when he stated that Wagner wanted to raise taxes, lied when he stated he is creating jobs in NLV. Now that Cherchio is out he can focus on mismanaging his own finances rather than that of the City of NLV.
Las Vegas Sun what spoiled sports you are. The winner of the election doesn't get his name in the headline or his picture in the article. Show some class, the story is about how Wade Wagner won by a vote not about the loser losing by a vote. Would you run a post Superbowl article with the losing team on the front page? So much bias in this newspaper. This is one reason this paper lives in the shadow of the RJ.
This is a Town that will not rest until there is a Service Station or Bar on EVERY corner. This is their idea of growth. Look at how many sites they have set aside for Casinos. These people should all be out of office for their terrible stewardship of the Town - from Planning, Parks and Rec, Urban Landscape, Commercial Centers, Fire and Police, Sewer Plant, Zoning, Creating Crime Zones, etc..
Thank god I don't live in NLV.
I sure hope when it comes time to negotiate that these two union backed people have the courage to do the right thing........Especially when there is not any tax money.
Thank God I live in Downtown Las Vegas! I got to vote for Carolyn Goodman, Voted for the Bellagio Bandit's Father for Judge(He Lost), & a minor judgeship.
Wonder how the fire fraud union will steal the recount? I hope we have some dangling chads and can get a real recount going.