Steve Ross gets last-minute challenger in Las Vegas City Council recall election

By Dave Toplikar

Published Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 | 9:16 a.m.

Updated Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 | 6:07 p.m.

A last-minute challenger emerged late today for the Jan. 31 special recall election of Ward 6 Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross.

Planning Commissioner Byron Goynes, who finished in third place for that seat in the 2005 city election, turned in his paperwork with 20 minutes to spare before the 5 p.m. deadline.

However, Beverly Bridges, Las Vegas city clerk, said it’s still not a done deal that Goynes will be on the ballot — the county election office will have to verify that he has turned in at least 1,084 signatures registered voters who live in Ward 6.

Bridges said her office would on Thursday begin checking through the 1,758 signatures that Goynes brought in today and should be able to determine whether his candidacy is valid by the end of the day.

If they are valid, Goynes’ name will appear on the ballot for the recall election, which will be held on Jan. 31, with early voting Jan. 26 and Jan. 27.

Goynes could not be immediately reached early this evening.

Voters in Ward 6 (see map) may register in person through 9 p.m. Saturday in the city clerk’s office, which is on the first floor of Las Vegas City Hall, 400 Stewart Ave.

The city clerk’s office is open for in-person voter registration and for extended hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday.

An earlier effort to force a recall election against Ross failed in August for lack of sufficient signatures, but the same group was able to force the recall last month.

The Committee to Recall Steve Ross submitted 1,189 signatures on Dec. 19 to the Nevada Secretary of State's office. The recall needed 1,084 signatures to qualify.

The "Toss Ross" recall has been pushed by Joe Scala, a car dealer who was denied a waiver to continue operating a dealership in Centennial Hills, which is in Ross’ ward.

Scala and his workers blame Ross for the closure. Ross says he tried to work with Scala to keep the business open and its workers employed but Scala refused to cooperate.

A Centennial Hills ordinance requires car dealerships to have a franchise agreement with an auto manufacturer, like Ford or Toyota. When the financial crisis hit in 2007 and 2008, many big auto manufacturers backed out of franchise deals, including one with Courtesy.

Ross and the City Council passed a measure to temporarily lift the requirement, but the stopgap expired in December 2010 and the Courtesy dealership closed.

Ross claims Scala "refused to comply with honest attempts to keep the doors open and...requested an inappropriate 'sweetheart' deal not available to any other dealer."

Ross said he refused to compromise his integrity or be intimidated, so he held his ground against Scala.

Ross won a second four-year term to represent Ward 6 in 2009 with 54.8 percent of the vote against his challenger, attorney Jennifer Taylor.

Ross ran for mayor earlier this year, but after finishing in fifth place in the primary, he endorsed Carolyn Goodman, who won the seat.