Seeking the personal touch

The Ward 1 recall election hinges on which candidate best connects with residents

By Larry Wills

Las Vegas' Ward 1, well known for its political peculiarities, may be headed for another voter coup Tuesday.

City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief is in a fight for her political life as she battles a criminal indictment on campaign finance violations and accusations that she's an ineffective representative for the ward, which encompasses established areas of the city west of Interstate 15.

And facing a recall election isn't her only challenge. Two longtime residents, former School Board member Lois Tarkanian and activist Vicki Quinn, are running against the incumbent.

Worse, Moncrief is dogged by the ghost of her 2003 opponent, Mike McDonald, dubbed the Pothole Councilman, whom she defeated after a nasty campaign that was embroiled over an FBI probe. McDonald was a target of an investigation involving his alleged relationship with a local strip club owner and it cost him the election.

But McDonald is fondly remembered by some constituents.

"He was in tune," Tarkanian says. "I had people call this morning saying he knew the problems."

Quinn, a McDonald ally, agrees. "We've lost the personal touch. That needs to be addressed."

The two challengers say Moncrief has failed to develop a working relationship with other council members, to the detriment of Ward 1.

"All the money is being eaten up by Wards 5 and 6," Quinn says, referring to growing areas of the northwest valley. "My goals are camaraderie, communication and people skills. This ward has lost communication and accessibility to City Hall."

Tarkanian also addresses the communication issue. "I know those people," she says of the City Council. "In the school district, I worked with them. I am able to develop a consensus. I think what I bring are the experience and knowledge of working in a government entity. I worked with a $1.1 billion budget in the school district."

But Moncrief dismisses the criticism, insisting she's responsive to the Ward 1 voters. "I had 460 cards from citizens calling over everything from graffiti to dogs barking to a car without a tag on it to a crack on a sidewalk," the councilwoman says. "Every single issue was resolved."

She also points to her efforts to reduce the number of payday loan sharks and curbing the proliferation of billboards as benefiting her constituents.

As for the indictment, Moncrief believes she was a political target. "You know you've been set up. It's the good old boy system. There's a small group unhappy with me."

The incumbent's failure to stop the construction of a government building at Buffalo Drive and Del Rey Avenue last December has raised hackles among some voters. The Social Security Administration building will be next to hundreds of homes and is in an area originally zoned residential. The council approved the building in a 4-3 vote last December, despite protests from 300 residents. "I pleaded with him try to find another location," Moncrief says of the developer.

Critics maintain Moncrief failed to convince other council members to kill the proposal and cite it as an example of her inability to work with her peers. But last week, on KLAS Channel 8, Moncrief suggested it would be illegal for her to lobby other members of the council.

Moncrief also raised the specter of class warfare in the Alta Drive project between Valley View Boulevard and Rancho Drive, an area of upscale homes. The $1.8 million project, which installed sidewalks and a meandering road through the neighborhood, was completed when McDonald was councilman.

"That's too much money on one little road," she says. "It's a problem the ward is upset about." Moncrief has suggested the project was a sop to upscale land owners, to the detriment of the rest of the ward.

Quinn, who worked hard to get the project, disagrees.

"On Oct. 30, 1999, my children were hit by a car at 52 miles per hour," she says. She lobbied to have sidewalks installed and the road designed for lower speeds. And $300,000 of the project was paid by the residents in a special improvement district. "I take great pride in those sidewalks," she says.

Other issues include the explosion of graffiti and petty crimes in neighborhoods, along with better controls on growth.

"These precincts have many, many senior citizens," Tarkanian says. "Growth should be well-planned."

How the election will shake out is up to the oddsmakers. Tarkanian has strong name identification and has by far the most signs scattered through the ward. But early indications show that Quinn, a newcomer to politics, may have the edge. Moncrief believes she can garner 49 percent of the vote, but concedes there is no time to repeat her door-to-door campaign of 2003, which helped propel her into office. In that race, Moncrief personally walked the streets to win votes, which helped her in a ward with many residents with long memories, overcoming criticism that she moved into the ward simply to run for office. But that took her six months to accomplish and this election was announced less than four weeks ago. One report suggests she is lagging behind the challengers.

What all this will hinge on Tuesday is how many voters show up and how upset they are.

"This is the first time we have had a recall," City Clerk Ronni Ronemus says, declining to put an estimate on turnout. Eight polling places will be open Tuesday and early voting will be held Friday and Saturday. Combining the recall with a race among candidates, she says, is cost-effective since this election alone will cost $60,000. "We're doing it in one fell swoop."