By Arnold M. Knightly, Editor

I was looking through the new City Council agenda when something caught my eye I hadn’t noticed before. Under the Public Comments item the following had been placed:

“No person shall address the City Council without first being recognized by the Mayor or the
Presiding Officer. All remarks shall be addressed to the City Council as a whole, not to
any individual member of the Council, of the audience, or of the City staff. After being
recognized by the Mayor or the Presiding Officer, each person shall come to the podium
and provide his/her name for the record. Each person has up to five minutes to speak on
a specific agenda item or to speak during Public Comment. The time limit may be
extended at the discretion of the Mayor or the Presiding Officer. All comments made
during the regular meeting on a specific agenda item must pertain to that agenda item. No
comments may be made on any other subject. Comments made during the Public
Comment period of the agenda may be on any subject. There shall be no personal attacks
against the Mayor, members of the City Council, the City staff, or any other individual. No
person, other than members of the City Council and the person who has the floor, shall be
permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member of the Council
without the permission of the Mayor or Presiding Officer. Questions to City Council
members or City staff may not be asked without being recognized by the Mayor or
Presiding Officer. Anyone wishing to submit exhibits on any City Council agenda item
should make every effort to provide the City Clerk with eight (8) copies of said exhibits in
advance of the meeting.”

I looked back through past agendas and found that it had only started appearing with the June 14 agenda for the City Council meeting.

The city’s efforts to prominently display public comment rules came after local attorney Tracy Strickland challenged the policy during the May 24 Council meeting.

Strickland, the husband of former City Councilwoman Linda Strickland, started by discussing the then-pending issue of electing a city attorney before being interrupted by Councilman Cam Walker asking the legality of discussing a ballot question that had yet to be voted on during public comment.

Tracy Strickland cited the city’s own public comment document saying he “could speak on any topic that deals with any issues with the city.”

Mayor Roger Tobler responded by stating that in the past he has not allowed discussion on actual candidates and that people have discussed ballot questions in the past, so he let Tracy Strickland continue.

After making his argument for electing a city attorney for nearly six minutes, Tobler informed Tracy Strickland that his time was up, to which Tracy Strickland responded, “There are no time limits in public comment.”

This started a back-and-forth between Tracy Strickland and Tobler, with the mayor stating it is the policy of the city to limit public comments to five minutes.

“You have to publish that,” Tracy Strickland said. “In fact, I think your city attorney would agree because it’s provided, you don’t have it in your agenda limiting public comment.”

Tobler said he would have the city attorney look into the issue, but admonished Tracy Strickland, who often attends Council meetings, for knowing “that we’ve always followed the five minute-rule.” Tobler added that five minutes have been the policy all eight years he’s been on the Council.

Before sitting down, Tracy Strickland responded, “Just because you’ve been doing it wrong all along doesn’t mean its right now.”

After a couple more exchanges Strickland relented and sat down, and now the policy is prominently posted. not hidden in backup materials.

Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

It was a fairly uneventful last City Council meeting for Council members Linda Strickland and Travis Chandler on Tuesday.

The city was presented with a couple of awards for its financial reporting, the June 7 election results were read by the city clerk, new regulations for noncommercial signs were adopted, minor changes were made to the city’s building and fire codes, and the lease agreement between the city and SolBio Energy, which defaulted on a lease last year, was officially terminated.

The meeting lasted about two hours, and aside from the plaques presented to Strickland and Chandler thanking them for their service by Mayor Roger Tobler, one may not have known they were on their way out.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

The City Council directed City Attorney Dave Olsen on Tuesday to appeal a Clark County District Court order to pay nearly $11,000 in attorneys fees for a group of residents sued by the city after sponsoring two ballot initiatives.

Tuesday’s decision came after the Council went into a closed session to discuss District Court Judge Susan Scann’s April 1 ruling that, by filing separate lawsuits against the defendants for two ballot initiatives they sponsored, the city had violated one of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure which protects against needless increases in the cost of litigation.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Local attorney Tracy Strickland was recently appointed by the Clark County Commission as one of the ombudspersons in the coroner’s inquest process, and will be representing the families of those who died in officer-involved incidents.

As an ombudsperson he will call witnesses and ask questions on behalf of the decedents’ families, who previously had no involvement in the inquests.

“Under the old process there was absolutely no representation of the decedent’s family,” Strickland said. “The idea is to give them some voice in the process.”

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

Councilpersons-elect Peggy Leavitt and Rod Woodbury watch election returns Tuesday night at the Boulder Dam Hotel. Woodbury received votes from nearly 60 percent of the voters and Leavitt was supported by 54 percent of the voters. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Mayor Roger Tobler won his bid for re-election in Tuesday’s primary and two City Council candidates also received enough votes to win their seats outright.

This is the first time since 1999, when the mayor’s job was changed from an appointed to an elected position, that a mayor has captured the seat in a primary election.

The two Council positions went to Rod Woodbury and Peggy Leavitt.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

By Arnold M. Knightly, Boulder City Review

The voters overwhelmingly threw their support behind the current mayor and two new faces on election night.

This election, the candidates with the best ability to raise money for their campaign won out Tuesday night.

Mayor Roger Tobler, left, and City Councilpersons-elect Peggy Leavitt and Rod Woodbury, on right, pose for a picture Tuesday night at the Boulder Dam Hotel. The three raised and spent the most money during their successful bids. Council candidate Rose Ann Rabiola Miele, middle, raised the fourth most money but was far behind the other three in cash and votes. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

It should cautioned however, that raising and spending money doesn’t always translate to victory.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

Mayor Roger Tobler and City Council candidates Rod Woodbury and Peggy Leavitt won big Tuesday night, ending speculation on the make-up of the city’s next government in the primary.

Tobler received 54.8 percent of the vote with challenger Councilwoman Linda Strickland getting 40.7 percent.

Woodbury got 2,689 votes, or 32 percent, in the Council race and Leavitt received 2,449,  or 29.1 percent.

However, both Woodbury and Leavitt recieved votes from more than 50 percent of the 4,517 voters to secure their seats.

Rose Ann Rabiola Miele finished third with 1,331, or 15.8 percent of the vote.

Lynn Goya finished fourth with  1,201, or 14.3 percent.

By Arnold M. Knightly, Boulder City Review

Note: This story was updated Thursday evening.

The campaign finance reports for the city’s upcoming elections show a wide gap between some of the candidates’ ability to raise and spend money during the primary election.

Tuesday will show if the dollars will translate to victories in the primary election, or if some candidates will have to push forward to the general election in June.

In the mayor’s race, Mayor Roger Tobler raised $25,392, including $5,000 from local resident Robert Draney, $2,500 from both the Woodbury Family Trust and the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtor.

Tobler spent $16,609 in the period, $14,892 of which went to advertising.

Mayoral candidate and City Councilwoman Linda Strickland raised $5,175 and spent $4,733.

Her largest contributors were a few $500 donations.

Mayoral candidate and handyman Zach Inman raised $1,300 and spent $1,543 with $728 going to advertising.

City Council candidate Rod Woodbury has raised more money than any candidate in either race. He has also spent more to win in the Council primary than did the other four Council candidates combined.

Woodbury raised $52,970 and spent $26,875 in the first reporting period, which ran from Jan. 1 to March 24.

Woodbury’s biggest donation was $5,000 from his mother, Rose Woodbury, and $5,000 from South Point hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

He also received $4,000 from Mike Ensign, a former gaming executive and father of U.S. Sen. John Ensign.

Woodbury also received a $5,000 loan from his father, former County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury.

Nearly $33,000 of the raised money came from individuals and businesses based outside Boulder City. However, some of the donors have business interests around the city, such as Ensign, whose family has an ownership stake in the Hacienda hotel-casino.

Of the $26,875 Woodbury spent, $18,510 went to advertising including signs, shirts and print advertising.

City Council Peggy Leavitt raised $23,890 and spent $13,705 during the period.

Leavitt, a retired social services administrator, received $2,500 donations from the Woodbury Family Trust, the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtor and the Hacienda hotel-casino.

Leavitt spent $12,158 on advertising and printing costs.

Council candidate Rose Ann Rabiola Miele raised $5,849 in the first period with $1,950 coming from Boulder City Disposal Inc., operator of the landfill on Utah Street.

She received four large contributions from entities based outside Boulder City totaling $1,300.

Miele, the former city public information officer, spent $4,220 during the period, $2,952 going to advertising.

Council candidate and writer Lynn Goya has raised $4,929 during the campaign. However, $3,004 came from the political action committee for the Plumbers & Pipefitters Union Local 525 in Las Vegas.

Goya, who was unsuccessful in her run for State Assembly last year, has spent $2,099 on advertising mostly related to printing cost.

Council candidate Linda Graham raised $1,109 and spent $657 in advertising. Graham, who is married to a minister at Grace Community Church, gathered contributions from individual donations around Boulder City.

The mayor has an annual salary of $13,894 and the City Council pays $11,211.

The reports cover contributions and expenses from Jan. 1 through March 24.

Early voting ends Friday with the primary election on Tuesday.

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

The Boulder City Landfill is running out of space due to what city officials say could be a typo on file with the Southern Nevada Health District.

Currently, the Southern Nevada Health District permits 10 acres for the landfill. The area, which has been forced to expand vertically, is expected to reach its limit in five or six months. In the meantime, the city has been working on receiving permitting for a 60-acre lateral expansion.

However, according to Public Works Director Scott Hansen and Councilwoman Linda Strickland, who also serves as the chair of the SNHD Board of Heath, it’s possible Boulder City’s permitting is supposed to be 100 acres.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member

By Arnold M. Knightly, Editor’s Desk

The campaign finance reports started arriving at the City Clerk’s office on Tuesday, the deadline for the first reporting period.

However, Mayor Roger Tobler and City Council candidate Rod Woodbury sent their reports by certified mail and weren’t expected to arrive until Wednesday afternoon after this newspaper goes to press.

…{+}

The rest of this article is available to premium members only.
Login or Become a member