John Stephens 41-year-old sees his candidacy as David taking on an incumbent Goliath William Robinson 66-year-old hopes his constituents will return him for seventh and final term

John Stephens characterizes his campaign for North Las Vegas City Council as a contest between David and Goliath.

Incumbent City Councilman William Robinson "is an icon," Stephens said. "He's the mayor pro tem. I can't measure how much support he has."

Still, Stephens, a 41-year-old Las Vegas Library assistant, likes his chances for winning Ward 2.

"I feel good," Stephens said while on a break from campaigning. "I love getting out there, walking door to door. I have a lot of enthusiasm and I love meeting people."

Robinson, meanwhile, never takes a campaign for granted -- even against a political newbie.

"The only way I know how to run is scared," the six-term councilman said. "Any person that puts their name on a ballot to run for office becomes a viable candidate as far as I'm concerned."

Stephens, a 20-year resident of North Las Vegas and a lifelong Southern Nevada resident, caught a break when a third candidate for the seat recently withdrew. Since only two candidates are running, both Stephens and Robinson will automatically proceed to the general election.

Robinson, 66, hopes his experience will help bring him a seventh and final term. Should he win, he'll be forced to retire when that term expires in 2011 because of term limits adopted by the city in the late 1990s.

Called by some the "grandfather" or "the grand old man" of the council, Robinson first took office in 1983. Since then, the city has quadrupled in population and has become the second-fastest-growing large city in America.

Robinson said city officials have handled such phenomenal growth "as well as anyone possibly can."

"When you've got that robust of growth, it's just hard to put a handle on it," he said. "When you step back and start looking at it from a ward perspective, you'd have to say there's some improvement needed" in Ward 2.

Stephens was more critical, saying the older neighborhoods of Ward 2 have been neglected in favor of newer, more affluent areas.

"We need someone who's going to go out and try to stimulate some kind of growth in older neighborhoods," he said. "You can't forget about the whole community that was here first."

Ward 2 roughly encompasses neighborhoods south of Cheyenne Avenue and north of Lake Mead Boulevard, between Las Vegas Boulevard and Rancho Drive; and neighborhoods north of Cheyenne and south of Washburn Road, between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Allen Lane.

Stephens blamed citywide voting for the disparity between neighborhoods old and new.

"When you're running at-large, you say, 'OK, we'll develop in Aliante, we'll keep going further out north and west.' In Ward 2, we have to take the less attractive part of the growth.'"

But voters last year overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative opting for single-ward voting, in which City Council members other than the mayor are elected only by voters in their district.

It has changed the way politics are done in the city, Robinson said.

"It created a different atmosphere in how we do business," he said. "You now become the king of your own castle, so to speak. You have to deliver to those residents" of your ward.

Stephens criticized Robinson for being unaware that several half-way houses for sex offenders were operating in the city, and for not taking enough responsibility for them. Neighbors were outraged when they discovered the transitional homes were in their communities.

"He dropped the ball," Stephens said. "He wasn't paying attention."

But Robinson, who held two public meetings about the issue and vowed to move the offenders out, said he did what was necessary as soon as he became aware of the problem.

"I listened to the citizens," he said. "God knows I did what I thought was right."

Nevada's Division of Parole and Probation has been moving the offenders out of the transitional homes, citing licensing concerns and the outrage among neighbors.

Robinson said that if re-elected he will focus on his constituents' desire for more businesses in the district.

"They're crying for stores," he said. "On Las Vegas Boulevard, across from the Silver Nugget, there's going to be a major shopping center in there."

Stephens said he will work to bring a new hospital to the city. He also wants to hire a liaison.

"I feel there should be someone in the office while we're at board meetings or out in the city," he said. "There should be someone taking those phone calls, getting back in touch with constituents."

Stephens said he would have to look at the city's budget to determine how to pay for the liaison.

"We can get money together for that," he said.