Veto bill gets cool reception

      State lawmakers responded coolly Friday to Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones' quest for veto power over city legislation, saying they'd like to see more support for the idea before approving it.
      "At this point I have concerns about giving one individual more power," said Assembly Minority Whip Deanna Braunlin of Las Vegas. "I'd like to hear from the other councilmen."
      Besides Jones and a city employee, only one Las Vegas resident spoke in favor of Assembly Bill 238 at an Assembly Government Affairs Committee hearing in Las Vegas on Friday.
      Meanwhile, three of the city's four councilmen -- Matthew Callister, Arnie Adamsen and Gary Reese -- said they aren't ready to endorse the bill.
      Councilman Michael McDonald said he hadn't seen the proposal but didn't "have any real objections."
      Under the bill, the mayor would vote on city matters only in the case of a 2-2 tie. If a bill failed 3-1, the mayor could veto it and try to persuade one council member to switch votes and sustain the veto.
      A veto could be overridden by three members of the council.
      Jones said veto power will allow her to represent the broader interests of Las Vegas by focusing the public's attention on issues she opposes. Unlike City Council members, who are elected by ward, the mayor is elected citywide.
      "We need to give the public confidence that the person they elect as mayor is going to give them as strong a voice as possible," she said.
      For example, Jones recently was the only council member to vote against building casinos in a new development complex near Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.
      Vetoing the casinos, Jones said, would have allowed her to "force more discussion" and "to more strongly say, 'I believe this is a bad decision.' "
      But state Sen. Ann O'Connell, who chairs a committee that would need to approve the bill, has said veto power would give the mayor "undue influence."
      "At first blush, it's not a concept I would support," O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, said last week. She said Friday her stance hasn't changed.
      Several Las Vegas residents at Friday's hearing spoke against the veto proposal.
      Bill Adams, who served as city manager for two years starting in 1975, said of Jones, "She doesn't like the situation as it is. She wants to be boss."
      Adams suggested letting voters decide on veto power through a city referendum, an idea several committee members agreed might be appropriate.
      "I think a (change in government) should have voter approval," Adams told the committee, adding, "I see no reason to change. If the ladder isn't broken, don't fix it."
      Jones argued that several large cities, including Los Angeles and Boston, give their mayors veto power. So does Sparks, the city after which the veto legislation is modeled.
      "Las Vegas should be at least as progressive as Sparks," Jones said.
      But mayors of some large Southwestern cities, including Dallas and Phoenix, lack veto power. Those cities have similar forms of government to Las Vegas, where the mayor acts as a City Council member and a city manager executes laws passed by the council.
      Government Affairs Chairman Douglas Bache, D-Las Vegas, who favors the veto bill, said it likely will come up for a vote within two weeks.
      Meanwhile, a bill that some lawmakers said would be more useful in helping Las Vegas' government adjust to its population boom passed the Senate on Thursday. Senate Bill 38 would allow the city to increase the number of council seats.