Councilman: No diversity guarantee with big council

CARSON CITY -- Councilman Larry Brown told the Assembly Government Affairs Committee today there is no guarantee there will be minority representation if the Las Vegas City Council is expanded from four to six members.

The growth in Las Vegas is away from the downtown area and towards the west and north, Brown said. "It would be very difficult to say there would be a person representing a race, creed or color."

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, said the "sphere of influence" of blacks and Hispanics has been lessened when the boundaries of the wards were redrawn.

The two races were put in the same district, and they "pitted against each other." The most recent example, he said is that the city established early voting in the Hispanic community and not in the black section of the city.

The committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 274, which would ask voters on the June election whether to expand the council. It would be mandatory if the voters approve.

Neal, who sponsored the bill, said he thinks the council is opposed to the move because it is placing an "astronomical" cost on adding two council members. "That means they want the voters to defeat this," he said.

Brown said he supported the ballot question. At present he said the council wards are supposed to represent 100,000 people. But there's variation of as much as 23 percent. An expanded council would mean each member would represent 75,000 to 80,000 residents.

"But you would not see much change in the downtown" representation, he said.

The minority population has grown in every part of the city, he said. "There's been a tremendous assimilation of race," he said. At the same time, the population in downtown Las Vegas has been falling.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, a co-sponsor of the bill, said that while the expansion will not guarantee minority representatives, it gives minorities an opportunity.

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