Henderson council narrows candidates for city attorney to two finalists

By Aida Ahmed

Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011 | 8:27 p.m.

The Henderson City Council hasn’t made the final decision on who will be the next city attorney, but they say they’re close.

After two days of closed session interviews the council said they have narrowed the list of potential city attorneys from seven down to just two, but are withholding the names while they notify the candidates who did not make the cut.

“We had a very healthy discussion,” said Mayor Andy Hafen. “The sense I’m getting is that I’m not ready to make a decision yet. There are a couple of candidates that I feel need to have a little bit further vetting.”

Councilwoman Gerri Schroder agreed saying she would like to ask the candidates additional questions and check on their references.

“I think that we’re making a very important decision that impacts the city and we certainly had challenges in the past,” said Councilwoman Debra March. “I think it’s very important that we have comfort and confidence in the person that we select because there are so many diverse challenges in the city of Henderson coming through this economy.”

March said she would like to interview the candidates one on one.

Candidates who were interviews Nov. 2 and 3 by the council and the city’s human resources department were Josh Reid, Sen. Harry Reid’s son; Christine Guerci-Nyhus, the current interim city attorney; George Assad, a former Las Vegas municipal judge; Marc Cardinalli, Richard Hinckley, Keith Kizer and Paul “Luke” Puschnig. About 45 people originally applied for the position, which pays a $190,000 annual salary without benefits.

The position became vacant after former city attorney Elizabeth Quillin resigned in early August after being arrested in May for DUI. Quillin, who served as Henderson city attorney for two years, received a $99,500 severance package. The package included accrued vacation time and 10 months of insurance coverage, worth about $3,800.

The city’s human resources department will announce the meeting date for the next round of interviews.