In the waning days of the municipal campaign, Las Vegas City Council Ward 5 candidates faced off Saturday, trying to separate themselves in a field of 10 hopefuls.
They harped on their campaign themes, and some fired barbs at one of the front-runners, Ricki Barlow, who has raised an impressive amount of money.
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Projections are for dismally low turnout in Ward 5 and the other municipal elections to be held Tuesday across Clark County.
The largely unfunded candidates at the forum Saturday are hoping that meetings with church leaders and knocking on doors can combat slick mailers.
At the Seven Seas Seafood Restaurant and Lounge, a longtime Ward 5 business, about two dozen audience members and six candidates for City Council showed up.
Those attending from the field of Ward 5 candidates were former Assemblyman Gene Collins, the Rev. Marion Bennett, former city employee Richard Blue, Sandra Summers-Armstrong and Katherine "Katie" Duncan. Near the end of the two-hour forum, Barlow showed up after walking neighborhoods to get out the vote.
The Ward 5 seat had been held by Lawrence Weekly since 1999. He was picked to fill a Clark County Commission seat, leaving the race wide-open at the last minute.
The development has led to some concern that with so many candidates, seven of whom are black, the historically black West Las Vegas community, which makes up much of the ward, could become divided.
"We don't need 10 people running and for them to wipe each other out," the Rev. Jess Scott said. "We're on a bonanza, and we don't know what to do with it."
Dr. James Tate, who moderated the forum sponsored by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, applauded the candidates who showed up and praised their ideas.
"The problem is, what happens if they don't win? Where do their ideas go?"
To that concern, the candidates promised to meet back at Seven Seas two weeks from Saturday to show unity.
If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote Tuesday, the top two vote-getters will go into a runoff held on June 5.
Collins pointed to his record of activism in the community.
Bennett said his plans were "not just based on talk. I've invested all my assets into West Las Vegas."
Blue said his platform dealt with public safety, attracting businesses into the ward and encouraging local businesses to expand, and bringing in affordable housing.
Summers-Armstrong talked about government accountability. And while she hasn't lived in the ward as long as some others, she said that gives her a unique perspective on its problems.
"It isn't inhibited by long relationships," she said. "I'm not tainted by others' views."
Duncan said she wanted to change Ward 5's image by relabeling it "Uptown Las Vegas" and getting a share of the room tax money that goes to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to promote Las Vegas.
"We need to go to the LVCVA and get our fair share of tourist revenue," she said.
Community members asked about how to keep kids out of gangs.
"The church ought to be the headlights," Bennett said.
Collins said he has worked on programs, such as coaching youth athletics, that give him a track record. "We're doing it. And we were doing it when I wasn't thinking about running for office," he said.
Summers-Armstrong said "it's more than giving people jobs. It's early intervention."
Blue said children needed to be given a vision of possessing other alternatives.
"We're told everyone in the community is at risk," he said. "There's not much hope beyond this afternoon."
Citizen Pat Brown asked about political corruption, and how they would be independent of Mayor Oscar Goodman and fight the rest of the council for the best interests of Ward 5.
Barlow and lawyer Stacie Truesdell, who was absent Saturday, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the other candidates have had to rely largely on grass-roots campaigns.
"We've been outspent, outmailed and out-called," Summers-Armstrong said.
A mailer she sent out began, "Dear Neighbor, This will be the only mailer that I can afford to send you."
