Las Vegas Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said a city redistricting consultant told her that her gerrymandered ward was political payback from her council colleagues, meant to teach her a lesson.

Tarkanian made the accusation during a public hearing Wednesday at City Hall on the proposed plan to redraw council district boundaries.

Judge Frederick P. Kessler, whom the city hired as a consultant on the process, said he did not remember making that statement.

"I have no recollection of that," he said.

The council voted 6-1, with Tarkanian casting the lone dissenting vote, to forward the proposed map for final approval on Aug. 2.

In the meantime, Mayor Oscar Goodman offered to be a go-between for the two council members who are fighting it out over the plan: Tarkanian and Mayor Pro Tem Gary Reese.

The most contentious issue is Tarkanian and Reese's disagreement over who represents part of downtown. Under the plan, Tarkanian would lose all of her ward's portion of downtown.

Tarkanian said Kessler told her and other staff that the vote would be 6-1 or 5-2 to approve the plan that would take away her portion of downtown.

"The reason why votes will be that way, is that council members stated they were friends with Councilman Reese," Tarkanian said Kessler told her. "This was retaliation for votes I have made."

Kessler said he was unaware of any divisions or voting alliances among council members and how that might affect redistricting.

Goodman said he had not heard any talk of retaliation against Tarkanian.

"I don't believe that's true," Goodman said. "That's inconsistent with what I know of the council."

City Council members have worked behind the scenes over the past several months to draw new boundaries, with the aim of balancing the fast-growing wards in the north and west with the older, slower-growing wards represented by Reese and Tarkanian.

Members of the City Council described it as a messy, political process, as precincts were traded between wards. "The process has been a very divisive process," Goodman said.

About 50 people attended the meeting Wednesday. An anonymous automated message sent to Ward 1 residents had stated that the "good ol' boys" were trying to attack Tarkanian.

All of those who spoke at the meeting, including residents, a lawyer representing developers and property owners, and business owners opposed the plan.

Some said they wanted to keep Tarkanian as their council representative. Others said that downtown should have three, instead of two, council members representing it. And still others criticized the process for not allowing the public to comment before Wednesday.

Under the redistricting plan that the City Council is considering, Reese's ward would become the largest, with 10 percent more of the population than Tarkanian's ward, which would be the smallest. Under federal law, the maximum population difference allowed between wards is 10 percent.

Other versions of the map that Kessler submitted to the City Council had Reese and Tarkanian sharing downtown.

When asked if there was room to compromise, Tarkanian said: "There were 17 maps. Ten of those compromised on downtown. I didn't turn down one of those."

Reese sat silent for most of the meeting. His only comments came when he read a short statement.

His ward had to grow west, because it is bordered by North Las Vegas or Clark County areas, he said. If his ward grew into Councilman Lawrence Weekly's ward, it would "dilute the racial makeup of the district." The other alternative was to grow into Tarkanian's ward. "Fairness and common sense made the second choice best," Reese said.

All of the 17 maps submitted to the city would pass legal challenge, Kessler said. The one chosen as the final map "was the one that I felt came closest to a consensus," he said.

Without naming names, Councilman Larry Brown said that an impasse had been reached as "certain positions became entrenched."

"We're not continuing dialogue," he said. "It's, 'I want it this way, or I'm not going to agree with anything.'"

Tarkanian has been on the short end of a number of votes, including her vote against the Bill Walters deal and her attempt to block a bar from adding slot machines at Meadows Mall.