Opponents of downtown city hall file court brief over election

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 | 4:27 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Opponents of a new city hall in downtown Las Vegas have told the Nevada Supreme Court it has the authority to order a special election if the dispute cannot be included on the June 2 municipal election ballot.

But the Las Vegas Taxpayer Accountability Committee and the Las Vegas Redevelopment Reform Committee, backed by the Culinary Union, said there is still time for the court to decide the issue in time for placing the question before the voters.

The groups collected more than 14,000 signatures on an initiative petition to force a public vote to block the city hall construction. But a district judge ruled the petition was defective and the issue did not qualify for the ballot.

The groups have appealed to the Supreme Court and their lawyer, Richard G. McCracken, said the court could avoid the extra legal hassle of ordering a special election by simply deciding the case so the voters will have a say on June 2.

The Las Vegas City Council has until late Thursday to file its answering brief.

The Supreme Court had asked both sides to file arguments on whether it has the authority to order a special election if it doesn’t decide the central issue of the validity of the initiative petition in time for the election.

McCracken wrote, “This court can avoid the difficult legal issues inherent in adopting an equitable elections rule by expediting this appeal and hearing the matter in time for the June 2, 2009 general city election.”

If the court can’t rule on the case, then McCracken says the majority of other courts have held the judiciary has the power to schedule an election.

He said the court should not decide to put the question on the election ballot in November 2010. He said the initiative is based on timeliness and “the injury of delay is readily apparent.”

“City officials are proposing to dramatically expand the amount of redevelopment activity in the city at the same time that a severe recession is curtailing needed public services,” said McCracken in his brief filed Tuesday.

“The city is also proposing to build a quarter-billion dollar city hall using lease-purchase financing so as to avoid any requirement of voter approval,” he said. “The city’s electors do not wish the city to do so as will be made clear when the measures go up for a vote.”

The city maintains the petitions to get the question before voters are invalid. And District Judge David Barker agreed. He ruled the initiative petition failed to inform those who signed the petition of the true impact. And he said the initiative improperly contained more than one subject.

He said those who signed the petition didn’t realize that passage would jeopardize existing redevelopment projects and their financing.

The city maintains the new city hall would cost $150 million, not the $267 million opponents claim. And it would revitalize downtown Las Vegas with 13,000 new jobs, according to supporters.