Las Vegas municipal candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the vote in a primary election win office outright. As a result, a handful of popular local officials likely won't have to worry about campaigning past the April 3 primary, for which early voting is already under way.
However, because only two candidates are seeking the Ward 3 seat on the Las Vegas City Council, the primary vote is essentially a general election; the top vote-getter is assured of victory. Ward 3 voters will choose between incumbent Gary Reese, seeking his fourth and final four-year term, and local homeless advocate Joe Sacco.
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Mr. Sacco, a four-year resident of the ward and 13-year resident of the valley, is a union stagehand with a passion for helping the downtrodden. The political novice believes it's unacceptable that so many homeless people are allowed to refuse services offered by governments and charities. He favors a more heavy-handed, costly approach with the hard-core, mentally ill homeless: "Government has a responsibility to take care of the people who can't take care of themselves."
Mr. Sacco offers some valid criticisms of Mr. Reese's tenure, particularly the incumbent's backing of the pork-fat Big League Dreams project at Freedom Park, in which the city is bonding construction of replicated Major League Baseball stadiums, then handing the project over to a private company that will charge admission to facility users. Mr. Reese also supported letting "city partners" Boyd Gaming and Bill Walters have land once owned by the public for nickels on the dollar at the expense of taxpayers.
That said, Mr. Reese has been a strong advocate for his constituents, who live in some of the oldest neighborhoods in the valley. And unlike many of his former colleagues in local government, who have used their elected offices to enrich themselves and move to areas nowhere near the unwashed masses in their districts, Mr. Reese remains true to his roots, happily cutting hair in his barber shop at Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road.
Mr. Sacco's energy is admirable, but he's not far removed from run-ins with UNLV police, and the homeless issue is not a top priority for Ward 3 or the city proper.
Ward 3 voters should return Mr. Reese to the City Council.
