Lawrence Weekly Former city councilman takes his seat representing District D on the County Commission

Lawrence Weekly thanked God, his family, supporters and former staffers on Tuesday after taking the oath of office as District D's new representative on the Clark County Commission.

"I am so honored to have this opportunity," Weekly, 42, said after being sworn in by District Judge Tim Williams.

The seven-year Las Vegas city councilman was tapped by Gov. Jim Gibbons to serve the remainder of Yvonne Atkinson Gates' term representing District D, which is generally centered around downtown and West Las Vegas. West Las Vegas is the area generally bordered by Carey Avenue on the north, Bonanza Road on the south, Interstate 15 on the east and Rancho Drive on the west.

Atkinson Gates resigned in January, saying she wanted to focus on her family, business and education.

In a speech before a packed audience in the County Commission chambers, Weekly saluted the colleagues he will vote alongside for the next two years.

"These are amazing people," said Weekly, who signaled out longtime Commissioner Bruce Woodbury as a role model.

"He's like an icon to me," he said. "I'm kind of star-struck when I look at him, like 'That's Bruce Woodbury!' "

Weekly vowed to work to restore the reputation of a political board tarnished by corruption convictions of four of his predecessors.

"I'm going to work very hard not to do anything crazy," he said.

Weekly is a native Nevadan, born in Reno and raised in Las Vegas. He graduated from Western High School in 1982, and received a bachelor's degree in communication from Louisiana's Grambling State University in 1987.

He is married with two children.

Weekly's seat on the City Council remains vacant, but 10 people are running to replace him.

The primary election is in April. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the vote, it will go to a June runoff between the top two vote-getters.

The council could appoint someone to the seat, either a caretaker who is not running or someone who is. Or they could leave it vacant. Mayor Oscar Goodman said the council will wait until after the April primary to make that decision.