NLV Council appoints replacement for Ward 4 seat

By Jeff Pope

Published Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 5:26 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 8:57 p.m.

Good things come to those who wait, and the waiting paid off for Richard Cherchio.

After failing to win the 2007 election for the Ward 4 seat on the North Las Vegas City Council, Cherchio was appointed to the position tonight.

The council members spent nearly an hour trying to decide how they were going to appoint someone to the fifth and final council seat.

The four sitting members narrowed the list from 26 applicants to six finalists but were split down the middle in deciding the process to nominate someone and then who their new colleague would be.

The process gave him a few new grey hairs, Cherchio said, but was grateful he has the chance to serve the city.

“I’m constantly out there trying to bring people together, and I truly believe that I have that ability to make that bridge come together for different entities,” he said.

Cherchio will fill the remaining two years of the term of Shari Buck, who was elected mayor last month.

Cherchio, a 62-year-old retired postal worker, formed the non-profit North Las Vegas Alliance of Home Owners and Concerned Citizens a few years ago and serves on several citizen committees in the city.

The council was split on whether to appoint someone to be the caretaker of the seat, meaning that person would agree not to run in the 2011 election. But it eventually decided the appointed member should be able to run.

North Las Vegas Councilmen Robert Eliason and Will Robinson favored the caretaker position. Serving for two years gives the incumbent an edge when the seat comes up for election, Eliason said.

“We’re all impressed with the applicants in which we’ve got and I think the caretaker is the fairest way without giving a leg up to somebody,” he said.

Las Vegas appointed a caretaker to its Ward 4 City Council seat in December to replace Larry Brown. David Steinman served on an interim basis for six months until the June municipal election.

Buck said two years was too long to ask someone to serve and then not be able to run.

“Anybody who is willing to put their name in and file for city council, knows full well what that entails, the hours that it entails, being responsible for your ward and your city, absolutely deserves to run for office,” she said.

Holding a special election to let voters decide the seat could have cost $120,000, Buck said.

The council eventually decided on nominating the finalists one at a time. Cherchio’s name was the fifth one read. Two garnered no secondary support while the other two failed to receive a third and definitive vote.

Cherchio said he would not have accepted the nomination if it had been an interim position.

“It should be up to the residents in Ward 4 to either reelect or not reelect me when the time comes,” he said.

Following the dismal economy, Cherchio said, the most important issue facing the city is recovering from the recent growth spurt, which left a lack of infrastructure and a glut of half-built neighborhoods.

“They’re almost, I wouldn’t say slums in the making, but they have the potential to go downhill,” he said. “That’s my top concern right now and working with the city to evaluate what we need in those areas.”

The other finalists were Jo Cato, Richard Sadler, Laura Perkins, Jason Torres and Wade Wagner.

Wagner said he felt the process and the council’s decision were fair. Although he was disappointed he wasn’t nominated, Wade said he plans to run in 2011.

“I have no problem with how they did it,” he said. “I just hope they come together for the betterment of North Las Vegas.”