Four-term NLV councilman Robinson remains dedicated

His first marriage survived two unsuccessful attempts for a seat on the North Las Vegas City Council but ended during his 16 years in that post. A second attempt at matrimonial bliss met the same fate.

Now four-term City Councilman William Robinson is content as he boasts that his "wife and mistress" are the City Council and the people of North Las Vegas.

After putting in a full day as a high school counselor for the Clark County School District's Horizon Project South, Robinson comes "home" to his small office at City Hall -- he shares it with Councilwoman Stephanie Smith -- and works at preserving the bond he has built with his constituents since 1983.

He hopes the voters on May 4 will put him into the four-way June 8 runoff for one of two at-large seats that are up for grabs and sought by a field of 12 other candidates.

"I think the main reason I have lasted so long in this job is that I am responsive to the people of North Las Vegas, whether they are voters or not," Robinson said.

"When they bring a problem to you it may not be important to anyone else, but it is paramount to them. Therefore, it is paramount to me."

Political rhetoric? One could say so. But it sounds sincere coming from Robinson, who enters the race a favorite to retain his post. Just don't tell him that.

"Right now, as far as I am concerned, I have only one vote -- mine -- and that is providing that the print (on the ballot) is large enough and I punch the right hole," Robinson said.

Robinson has long addressed the issue of growth and meeting the needs brought on by population booms. When he first came to office, there were 35,000 people living in North Las Vegas. By 1995, that figure grew to 70,000. Today, it's an estimated 107,000 and climbing.

"Our growing pains are a priority. We are gaining 1,500 to 1,800 people a month," he said. "You have public safety issues, traffic problems and infrastructure. We also need regional malls and shopping centers."

Robinson makes no apologies for being low profile. He is not a great orator, nor does he strive to be.

"Actions speak louder," he shrugs. "Longevity speaks louder than talking loudly. What I simply try to do is make the right decisions, because what we do now will affect our grandchildren and great grandchildren."

Robinson and his fellow council members were feeling the impact of a previous council's actions when they voted unanimously last November to turn down NevStar's casino project at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Craig Road. "Thirty years ago this project was planned," Robinson said at the time. "Someone erred 30 years ago."

NevStar has since gone to court and won the right to go ahead with the casino. Still, Robinson's conscience is clear that he voted in the best interest of the city.

That is a quality that endears him to voters such as North Las Vegas resident Joanna Wesley, who says she supports Robinson because he has proven many times that he is not a team player and he is not afraid to vote against developers' projects.

"He's really the only person left (on the council) who is a humanitarian and believes in the voters," Wesley said.

Still, Robinson is no maverick. He knows there has to be some degree of teamwork.

"At this job you have 20 percent of the vote and 100 percent of the responsibility," he said. "One person cannot get things done. It has to be a collective unit."

Even in Robinson's life away from City Hall, a longtime friend says, it does not take a whole lot for his mind to drift back to his true love -- the city.

"We'll be sitting around talking about family or plans to make a fishing trip and the name of a business will come up and he will say, 'I wish we could get that business to come to North Las Vegas.' And I'll say, 'There you go again, Bill,' " former North Las Vegas planning commissioner and longtime friend Willis Floyd said.

Robinson admits that his work at City Hall is pretty much his personal life. He loves fishing but hasn't taken a fishing trip in quite awhile. He does make time, however, for his longtime hobby of vegetable gardening when he is at home.

"I think people appreciate Bill because he truly cares about the city and wants to make it as successful as Las Vegas and Henderson," said Floyd, a civilian employee in the North Las Vegas Police Department. "I often tell him, Bill, you can't change things all at once, just a little at a time."

Four years ago Robinson made a promise to bring more business and commercial growth to the older area of town. Today Robinson can point to a new dialysis center, Nevada Power's new building, a new Chamber of Commerce building and the refurbishing of Lake Mead Boulevard -- all in old "Northtown."

And the city is developing something that it has for so long lacked -- an image separate from that of being the unsavory part of the valley north of Las Vegas.

"A lot of that image problem, I felt, was created by misconceptions," Robinson said. "Still, things are starting to change. We are progressive and no longer take a back seat to anyone."

Robinson also says he won't take a back seat to anyone in the fight against crime.

In 1990 he campaigned hard to get the $13 million-plus jail bond passed. As a result, a 355-bed detention center was built.

SUN REPORTER Lisa Snedeker contributed to this story.

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