Redistricting plan for city includes two new wards

The ink from the computer printer had barely dried on a proposed Las Vegas redistricting plan before the posturing, attempted negotiations and life-changing family moves began in earnest.

At stake with the redrawn map of city districts -- including the addition of two new wards mandated by voters this June -- are two coveted appointments to the City Council.

Planning Commissioner Michael Mack wasted no time looking at the map and telling reporters he and his family would move to the new Ward 6 -- the northwestern most part of the city.

But another council contender, Nevada Power Co. executive Tony Dazzio, didn't see such opportunity on the map crafted by reapportionment expert Fred Kessler, a retired Wisconsin judge.

"I think I may have been drawn out of the lines," said Dazzio, a Ward 4 resident who reportedly had enough support on the council to win appointment if one in his ward comes open.

Dazzio and Planning Commissioner Craig Galati, who has expressed interest in a council seat in the past, live in the ward represented by Larry Brown. Galati said Friday he would not seek an appointment. Mack lives in Ward 2, represented by recently appointed Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald.

Some had hoped a redrawn map would place their homes in a new ward, allowing them to seek appointment without a move.

But for a few blocks on the map, Brown's Ward 4 seat could have been open. Ward 4 gained Sun City in Summerlin from Ward 2 and lost its northernmost half of the new Ward 6. But the precinct in which Brown lives sits on the border of Wards 4 and 6.

"If they took the border at Craig Road, I could go north and represent Ward 6," said Brown, who would remain a Ward 4 councilman under the current proposal.

Mayor Oscar Goodman stressed Friday that the map was simply the first step in the process.

"The city wants to know the citizens' input," Goodman said.

Kessler said he is generally pleased with the map he has created, but noted some decisions caused him "great angst."

The city's unprecedented "integration," as Kessler put it, made it impossible for him to craft any ward that has a majority of minorities.

Each of the six wards has a minimum 5.9 percent black population and a minimum 8.3 percent Hispanic population in a city whose overall population is 11 percent black and 12.5 percent Hispanic.

"I tried to create districts that reflect the minority group in that area," Kessler said. "I struggled to try to increase those percentages."

Ward 3 and the new Ward 5 will be the city's most diverse. Ward 3, which is held by Gary Reese, will be 11.1 percent black and 24.3 percent Hispanic.

The new Ward 5, which encompasses West Las Vegas, is 29.8 percent black and 14.1 percent Hispanic.

So far, the new Ward 5 seat has generated the most interest.

Reese's ward liaison Lawrence Weekly confirmed Friday he is interested in the seat. And he is not alone.

West Las Vegas native Uri Clinton, a Clark County social services mediator who recently graduated from Gonzaga University Law School on a scholarship, has a slick public relations campaign under way calling him "leadership for the new millennium."

Mujahid Ramadan, who works for Nevada Partners and is active in the Muslim community, also is interested, as is resident Al Gallegos, who is active in community boards and neighborhood issues.

Brown said he was surprised at the initial lack of interest from people who live in the new Ward 6. He said he would send the word out to neighborhood associations there to see if any of the active residents are interested.

Hispanics In Politics President Fernando Romero said he is considering seeking that appointment.

But first, he said, he wanted to look carefully at how the proposed maps affect the political chances for Hispanics.

"Does this pulverize the Hispanic community?" Romero asked, looking at the split in Hispanics between Wards 3 and 5. "Just off the top of my head, I can't answer that, but I'll be studying it."

Mack, who also is interested in the Ward 6 seat, would have to establish residency in that ward 30 days before the council makes its appointment under the city charter's regulations.

By law, the council must redraw the boundaries and appoint new council members by Jan. 1, 2000.

The proposed changes would lower the population in each ward to between 76,176 to 78,816 and theoretically allowing better representation.

"I basically lost half of my ward," Reese said. "But I think the true benefactor's going to be the residents."

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