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By LYNNETTE CURTIS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Normally Shari Buck would be headed to the beach for a few days of R&R.
That’s where she goes each time she wins an election, as she did Tuesday night.
But this time, Buck is forgoing the vacation; as North Las Vegas’s mayor-elect, she has too much to do.
“I’ve got to meet with our economic development director, our chamber of commerce,” a breathless Buck said late Tuesday. “We’ve got to start strategizing how to bring more jobs to North Las Vegas.”
The 48-year-old North Las Vegas City Councilwoman comfortably met her goal of becoming the city’s next mayor.
The three-term councilwoman received 5,364 votes, or 55 percent of the tally. Her challenger, long-time City Councilman William Robinson, received 4,427 votes, or 45 percent.
Robinson couldn’t be reached for comment late Tuesday.
Buck, who has represented the city’s Ward 4 since 1999, will succeed outgoing Mayor Michael Montandon. Montandon couldn’t run again because of term limits.
Robinson, the city’s 69-year-old mayor pro tem, first took office in 1983. He is in the middle of his seventh term representing Ward 2, and can’t run again for the seat because of term limits adopted in the late 1990s.
Buck has known Robinson since she was a little girl, when he coached her brother’s Pop Warner football team.
“I’m appreciative of his service for the past 26 years,” she said. “I hope he feels he ran a good race.”
Throughout the campaign, Buck billed herself as the face of North Las Vegas’ future.
She also made political hay of controversy over a recently unearthed, 15-year-old FBI corruption investigation into Robinson, distributing mailers emphasizing the allegations. No charges were filed in the case.
Buck said she wasn’t sure whether the allegations helped her in the campaign, but she hoped voters had paid attention.
“People should know who they’re voting for,” she said. “It (the allegations) should have played a role.”
But voters interviewed by the Review-Journal on Tuesday said the controversy played no part in deciding for whom to vote. Some said they hadn’t heard about the investigation. Others said it was irrelevant because it happened so long ago and nothing came of it.
Some criticized Buck’s campaign for distributing the mailers emphasizing the allegations against Robinson, saying it made her appear desperate.
“When you bring something up today that happened years ago, you look like you’re afraid,” said Ken, a 50-year-old contractor who voted for Robinson at Cheyenne High School and declined to give his last name.
Buck supporters, too, said they didn’t take the controversy into account.
“I didn’t vote against the other guy, I voted for a Republican,” said 83-year-old Darlene, who voted at Sun City Aliante Tuesday afternoon and also declined to give her last name. “It’s about time we create some balance in this country, even if it’s just in this small race.”
The City Council race is nonpartisan, but informed voters know Buck is a Republican and Robinson a Democrat.
Buck takes the mayor’s seat at a difficult time for North Las Vegas.
The city, like other municipalities, has seen declining revenue during the recession. It had to cut about $16 million from its 2008-09 budget and has eliminated vacant positions.
Buck said she will actively recruit new businesses to the city to create jobs and raise revenue.
She outspent Robinson on campaigning, with $440,580 in campaign expenditures, compared with Robinson’s $374,158.
Two other North Las Vegas races also were decided Tuesday: Ward 3 on the City Council and a municipal judgeship.
Anita Wood, 45, a politically active stay-at-home mom, won the council seat that previously belonged to Stephanie Smith, who could not run again because of term limits. Wood received 1,650 votes, or 57 percent. Her challenger, small-business owner Angelo Carvalho, received 1,244 votes, 43 percent.
Wood ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2001. She has served on the city’s Planning Commission, the board of Neighborhood Housing Services of Southern Nevada, the city’s Citizens Advisory Committee and Utility Advisory Board.
For Municipal Court Department 2, incumbent Judge Sean Hoeffgen, 40, won a second term.
Hoeffgen received 5,369 votes, or 56 percent, while his challenger, local attorney Marsha Kimble-Simms, got 4,160 votes, or 44 percent.
Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.