NLV: Ex-city manager Hinson tries to win council seat

A recent Friday afternoon found Linda Hinson handing out campaign literature in an older North Las Vegas neighborhood.

She's hoping to win a seat on the City Council from either longtime Councilman William Robinson or first-term Councilwoman Paula Brown, who are running at large for re-election to their four-year, nonpartisan posts.

A year ago, Hinson was handing out staff assignments and answering to the City Council -- the same council, with only Robinson supporting her -- that refused to renew her contract as city manager last July.

The mother of one and grandmother of three says her campaign is not about avenging her ouster.

"I don't hold grudges," Hinson said.

Her interaction with some of the council members at a legislative hearing earlier this month seems to bear out her words. Hinson cheerfully greeted her former bosses with smiles before they banded together to fight an amendment to the city charter.

While there are no shortages of private opinions about Hinson among City Hall workers, there is a lack of on-the-record comment. The Las Vegas Sun interviewed several city employees, but none wanted to go on the record and most would not reveal specific incidences that shaped their opinions.

Some described her bid for council as a sincere effort to serve the city's best interests. Others questioned her motives as city manager and are questioning the reasons behind her run for City Council.

Some officers within the police department, for example, claim that the main reason Chief Joey Tillmon was hired to replace Chief Alan Nelson was because Tillmon was Hinson's friend. They also claim that although Hinson was directed by the council to conduct a national search for a new police chief, she instead promoted Tillmon from within the department, which in part led to the loss of her job.

"She thought she could do what she wanted," one source said.

Hinson denies those allegations. She says one or two council members may have suggested that she look outside the city for a new police chief, but it was never "directed" by the whole council that she do so.

In fact, she said, for the first time in the city's history, she assembled a board of citizens to interview all the police chief candidates and recommend a finalist. The board recommended Tillmon, she said, and she agreed.

"Tillmon was hired fair and square," she said.

One of her supporters outside City Hall is 29-year resident Jeanette Butler, who has been helping Hinson campaign in the neighborhood off Pecos Road between Cheyenne Avenue and Lake Mead Boulevard.

Butler said she is helping Hinson because the City Council is ignoring her neighborhood.

Hinson said her top priorities as councilwoman would include revitalization of the mature areas like Butler's neighborhood.

"It's time for improvements," she said. "The current council isn't listening to the voters."

Hailing from Versailles, Mo., Hinson said her experience in government speaks for itself: she has held state and federal positions as well as jobs in the private sector. She and her husband moved to North Las Vegas from Aviano, Italy, where they were stationed at the U.S. Air Force base there.

Hinson said that if elected, she would: address quality of life issues such as public safety and transportation, seek alternatives to lower property taxes (North Las Vegas has the highest in the valley), and encourage high-tech businesses to locate in the city.

Hinson is up against 13 other candidates. The top four vote getters in the May 4 primary will advance to the June 8 general election.

Because her campaign is devoid of big contributions, she has spent about $1,500 of her own money on campaign literature, by her estimates. There will be no TV ads, no big billboards.

"Those things are too expensive," she said.

She may not need them. Hinson's stormy relationship with the city has made headlines over the past two years.

The first woman and the first black person to hold the city manager position in North Las Vegas, Hinson worked 19 years for the city. She became assistant city manager in 1988 and was promoted to city manager in 1994.

City Manager Pat Importuna, who was hired by Hinson and later replaced her, said he appreciates that Hinson hired him as deputy city manager.

"We had a very good working relationship when she was here as city manager," Importuna said.

In a 1997 closed-door meeting, the council unanimously voted to extend Hinson's contract for a year after reports that she was being pressured to step down.

At that time, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said she felt the need to move forward.

"We had a city to run," she said.

But when the council voted in July not to renew Hinson's contract and placed her on administrative leave until Oct. 1, Smith said it was because the council wanted to go in a new direction.

An overwhelmingly pro-Hinson audience at that meeting chastised the council. And Robinson questioned why the council did not give Hinson a performance evaluation before dismissing her.

Mayor Michael Montandon, who along with Smith was elected in 1997, said that because there were new council members, the city's administration should be put "through a refiner's fire."

The mayor said because of the city's rapid growth he wanted the City Council and the city manager to be proactive instead of managing by crisis.

It would not be the only time Hinson found herself under the scrutiny of city officials.

A North Las Vegas Police investigation into allegations of misconduct in office last year was resolved, however, without Hinson being charged with a crime.

Despite all the publicity, Hinson said name recognition is a problem for her.

"A lot of people don't know me," she said.

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