Residents in Henderson, NLV vie for city council appointments

By Jeff Pope, Jeremy Twitchell

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 | 12:51 p.m.

The Henderson City Clerk’s office has certified 16 residents who filed interest statements for the appointment to fill the final two years of newly elected Mayor Andy Hafen’s Ward 2 council seat.

The appointment is scheduled for a special City Council meeting next Wednesday, following public statements from each candidate.

The list includes the founder of a public relations firm that does business with the city, a planning commissioner, the former board president of the Sun City Anthem Community Association, a prominent developer and two former City Council candidates.

The candidates are: Daniel (DJ) Allen, Mark Arredondo, Sally Bomotti, Brandon Casutt, Casey Cohen, Kevinn Donovan, Michael Lamoreaux, Debra March, Richard Miller, Stan Olsen, Devin Reiss, Roland Sansone, Craig Schweisinger, Emanuel Tortora, Thomas Wagner and Favil West.

Henderson City Clerk Monica Simmons said she was surprised by the response, particularly on the last day of filing, when 11 candidates filed -- seven of them in the last hour.

“Based on the inquiries we initially received, I wasn’t expecting this kind of response,” Simmons said. “But it’s good to see so many people interested in serving.”

The City Council will receive the information packets that each candidate submitted later today, Simmons said, and several of the candidates have requested face-to-face meetings with council members prior to the July 8 meeting.

At that meeting, Simmons said, candidates will be selected in a random order to give a three-minute presentation and council members will be able to ask follow-up questions if they wish.

“I would imagine that the Council will be pretty much knowledgeable about these candidates by the time they enter that meeting, and they certainly have the opportunity to do those follow-up questions as well,” she said. The candidates’ information packets will be posted on the city’s Web site, www.cityofhenderson.com, Wednesday morning.

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In North Las Vegas, council members will appoint a fifth member to fill the Ward 4 seat vacated by Mayor-elect Shari Buck.

North Las Vegas Ward 4 residents have until 5 p.m. today to file an application with the City Clerk. Twenty people have filed applications so far.

The seat is vacant because Buck, who has represented the ward since 1999, was elected mayor on June 2. She begins her four-year term on Wednesday.

The Council will appoint Buck’s replacement on July 15 to serve out the remaining two years of her council term.

Those who have filed so far are: Nicholas H. Anderson, Barbara Jean Buttell, P. Jo Cato, Richard Cherchio, Danielle N. Custodio, Dean P. Dennis, Jacqueline Edwards, Regina N. Ford, Sarah Humphreys, Ruth L. Johnson, Delbert E. Leavitt, L. Dean Leavitt, Phyllis Levy, William R. O’Melia, Mark D. Pallans, Laura E. Perkins, Richard Sadler, Suhair Susan Sayegh, Thomas A. Stocks and Jason E. Torres.