Election 2015: Which North Las Vegas candidates can keep resurrection rolling?

By Conor Shine

Thursday, March 12, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The last time North Las Vegas held elections, it wasn't certain that there would even be a city for the council to govern.

That was in 2013, and the crippling effect of the recession and foreclosure epidemic was being felt most acutely in North Las Vegas. The problem was compounded by several costly capital projects the city committed to right before the crash.

North Las Vegas found itself so underwater that it broke its union contracts to save money in a move that a judge would later rule was illegal. With a crisis looming, the state was prepared to step in to take control of the city's finances unless the situation improved.

Two years later, the city's outlook is drastically different. A deal struck with unions last year averted insolvency, while a host of new projects including the Park Highlands housing development, the Tule Springs National Monument and a push to bring businesses to Apex industrial park offered hope for renewed economic growth.

Candidates running for two city council seats in the upcoming municipal election are looking to tap into that hope for a revival. All sing a similar tune about attracting new businesses and creating jobs as the cure for the city's financial woes.

Unlike other cities in the valley where challengers are making their case by opposing the actions of incumbent city councils, candidates in North Las Vegas widely endorse the progress the city has made in the last year and say they're running to help keep the positive momentum going.

In Ward 2, incumbent Pamela-Goynes Brown is attempting to stave off three challengers to win a second term on the council. Ward 4 incumbent Wade Wagner decided not to run for a second term, leaving the seat open in a contest that pits former city councilman Richard Cherchio against Matthew Anderson.

The city also has a municipal judge seat open, which Sean Hoeffgen is running for unopposed.

Early voting begins at City Hall on March 18 and starts at other locations on March 21, running through April 3. Voters can still register to vote by appearing in person at the city clerk's office by March 17. The primary election will be held on April 7. Any candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote will win the race outright and will not have to compete in the June general election.

Here's a look at what candidates in both city council races are saying:

Ward 2

Pamela Goynes-Brown

Goynes-Brown was elected to the council for the first time in 2011, right as the city's finances were crumbling.

"Things were changing really fast," she said.

But after four years on the council, Goynes-Brown said she had made it through the learning curve and was making progress in her ward. She'd like to stay on that trajectory for another term, and believes that electing someone else to replace her on the council would slow the ward down.

"We don't want that. We want to keep moving forward," she said. "If you understand how government works, it takes a long time to get things accomplished. My goal is to see things that were started in 2011 or even before I was on the council, I want to see those come to a close."

Goynes-Brown points to a $485,000 grant she helped secure to create a plan to develop businesses and housing in her "underserved" ward. A vice principal at Lomie Heard Elementary School, Goynes-Brown said she wants to continue working to improve the city's economic growth, which will eventually help boost the city's finances.

Goynes-Brown had raised $7,500 for her campaign at the start of the year, giving her an early advantage over the challengers. New campaign finance reports due out next week will provide an update on where money is flowing in the race, but Goynes-Brown's name recognition means she'll be tough to unseat. However, traditionally low voter turnout and a crowded field that could split the vote and force a general election runoff gives her challengers a chance.

Laura Perkins

Perhaps the strongest challenger to Goynes-Brown, Perkins draws on six years of experience as a North Las Vegas planning commissioner, which gives her a better grasp of how government works than most political newcomers (although Perkins did run unsuccessfully for the council once before in 1999).

Perkins said she felt her ward had been "ignored" by the city and wanted to be a vocal champion for her constituents.

"We make the front page news in North Las Vegas for our financial difficulties," she said. "But we have a lot to offer in land and amenities ... Nobody's going to know what you have unless you tell them."

She says she wants to bring more jobs with livable wages to North Las Vegas, along with continued improvements to infrastructure and public safety.

Perkins criticized Goynes-Brown for her recent support of a proposed apartment complex near the North Las Vegas airport. A previous apartment complex at the site was torn down due to crime problems, Perkins said, and putting another apartment complex in its place seems counterintuitive.

Perkins did vote to approve the apartment complex through her role on the planning commission, but said that was because the commission only reviews the technical details of a plan. She said she would have opposed it as a council member.

Perkins, a retired geographic information system technician for the Southern Nevada Health District, has not released a campaign finance report.

Richard Carreon

When he arrived in North Las Vegas in 2013 after 14 years in the Army, Carreon knew he wanted to find a way to get involved in his new community.

After getting to know his neighbors and attending various town hall meetings, Carreon said he didn't think his ward had the right representation and was running to be a more accessible councilperson.

His campaign has consisted of meeting voters at bus stops, dog parks and coffee shops, something he intends to continue if he's elected.

"I want to have open communications with the community on their terms, not ours," he said. "The lack of engagement (from residents) isn't from lack of care, they just don't have the time."

Carreon has identified five areas — jobs, public safety, education, health care and retirement — he says the city needs to address for its citizens to succeed.

"When people can't get those things done, everything else from buying a house to going on a vacation go out the window," he said.

He also wants to find a way to better connect various nonprofit groups providing services in the city to make it easier for residents to get help and improve their quality of life.

Carreon has not filed a campaign finance report.

Richard Moyer

Moyer is retired with 30 years of experience in the transportation industry. He unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the city council in 2011. He did not return a request for comment.

Ward 4

Since there are only two candidates, the victor in the April 7 primary will be declared the winner of the race and no general election will be held.

Richard Cherchio

Cherchio spent two years on the city council after being appointed to the post in 2009 but lost his re-election bid by a single vote to Wade Wagner in 2011 amid blistering attacks from the city's police and fire unions.

Cherchio calls the 2011 campaign a "learning experience" and, after making nice with the city's unions, is looking to reclaim his seat now that Wagner has decided not to run again.

His first two years on the council were marked by tough decisions, including a vote to cut employee pay and benefits.

"There's a lot of things I wanted to do while I was on the council that I really never got an opportunity to focus on," Cherchio said. "I used to come to work with a briefcase when I should have brought a fire extinguisher."

Cherchio said he supported Mayor John Lee's efforts to right the city's finances and set it on a path toward economic growth.

"I always believed the city could not cut itself out of this financial hole, it needed to grow out of it," he said.

Cherchio said he wants to find ways to reinvest in the city's libraries, parks and public safety functions that have been cut in recent years without having to raise property taxes.

He also wants to play a role representing the neighborhoods around the massive housing development planned at Park Highlands to make sure residents aren't negatively affected by all of the new construction.

A retired mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, Cherchio has not filed a campaign finance report.

Matthew Anderson

After 20 years working as a chiropractor in North Las Vegas, Anderson estimates he's met thousands of people living in his ward. Now, he wants to represent them on the city council.

"I thought the city council would be a nice opportunity to serve the community," he said.

Anderson's top priority is making sure North Las Vegas balances its budget, which he said it can accomplish by making it easier for businesses to open in the city. That would mean simplifying the business licensing process and putting together tools that help with things like land acquisitions.

"With higher paying jobs, we can attract whole communities that would relieve the tax burden so we don't have to increase them," he said.

Anderson points to his experience running a business as the distinguishing factor that sets him apart from Cherchio.

"I know what the ups and downs are with small businesses," Anderson said. "If no business experience is present on the council, they can't understand the struggles of businesses coming into the area."

Anderson has not filed a campaign finance report.