The unexpected departure of Yvonne Atkinson Gates from the Clark County Commission on Tuesday led to instant and intense political maneuvering as to who would succeed the 3 1/2-term commissioner.
Assemblyman Morse Arberry Jr., D-Las Vegas, wasn't being coy about whether he wanted the seat.
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"We're trying," he said. "We're working on it. I'm trying to work every avenue."
Arberry's was among several names being mentioned by political insiders Tuesday, the others being Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly and a little-known Clark County planning commissioner, Will Watson.
It is up to Gov. Jim Gibbons to appoint a new commissioner. By statute, he must appoint someone of the same party to serve out the term of Atkinson Gates, a Democrat whose fourth four-year term is next up for election in 2008.
Gibbons spokesman Brent Boynton said the governor was not available for comment Tuesday.
"He doesn't have anyone in mind," Boynton said. "He's going to be evaluating people very carefully."
Gibbons is encouraging interested people to write to him, Boynton said.
He said the governor would not be making any hasty decisions.
"It could take a little while," he said, declining to give a more specific time frame. "This is nothing that's going to be rushed into."
Insiders said there would be pressure on Gibbons to appoint a black person, or perhaps another minority, to replace Atkinson Gates, who is black.
The commission district is largely black and Hispanic. But there wasn't consensus on whether Gibbons would do better to name a placeholder or someone who would run for election next year.
Neither Weekly nor Watson returned phone calls Tuesday.
Weekly represents a council ward that overlaps Atkinson Gates' district. It covers mostly North Las Vegas and West Las Vegas, the historic black neighborhood generally bordered by Carey Avenue on the north, Bonanza Road on the south, Interstate 15 on the east and Rancho Drive on the west.
Watson is largely unknown within political circles but is said to be close to Atkinson Gates.
Arberry, an assemblyman since 1985 and president of a mortgage company, also represents a district that largely overlaps Atkinson Gates'. Arberry owns a second home that is outside both districts, and there have been questions in the past about his residency.
Commission District D is overwhelmingly Democratic, with more than 30,000 registered Democrats, less than 10,000 registered Republicans and about 6,000 nonpartisan voters.
Arberry said he had been talking to some of the district's influential interests and had gotten many of them to support his bid on Tuesday, including ministers, state Sen. Steven Horsford and former state Sen. Joe Neal.
"Yvonne and I and her husband have been friends for many years, and I would never run against her," Arberry said. "But now I could take her agenda and run with it and not drop the ball."
If he landed the commission appointment, Arberry would be giving up an influential position in the Legislature, where he chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
"That's the hard part. I've served almost 20 years in the Legislature," he said. "I wouldn't want my constituents to think I'm jumping ship. I would still represent them."
Horsford's name also was mentioned by some as a possible appointee, but the state Senate's assistant minority leader said that was idle speculation.
Not only was he not interested, Horsford said, but as a non-resident of the commission district, he wasn't eligible.
Horsford said he was a fan of Arberry but hadn't exclusively committed his support to his fellow Democratic legislator.
"I've talked to Assemblyman Arberry, and I think he's definitely qualified and would be well suited to serve that district," Horsford said. "But I don't know all the other candidates, so I think it would be premature" to back Arberry only.
Horsford said he would not expect Weekly to be interested in the seat.
"Councilman Weekly is up for re-election this spring and has a number of projects that are still going on at the city," Horsford said. "It would be a big decision, and I would be surprised to see that it was something he definitely wanted to do."
As for Watson, "I don't know him," Horsford said, and the prospect of such an appointment "just raises major concerns," because Watson is not prominently involved in the community.
"We can't have someone who doesn't know all the politics and the issues of that district," he said.
Horsford said he thought it was important to give the seat to a minority "to ensure that the voice on that commission is maintained."
Cordell Stokes, president of the Caucus of African American Nevadans, said the group would be holding an emergency leadership meeting Thursday to discuss the commission seat and get behind a candidate "who is not going to be self serving, who is going to be accessible. It's not just a black thing. It's for the people."
