Henderson council to consider 3 finalists for Ward 2 seat

The Henderson City Council has chosen three finalists to attend a special meeting Thursday to fill the Ward 2 seat.

In total, nine people applied to fill the seat of Mayor-elect Debra March, who is replacing term-limited Mayor Andy Hafen.

They are Dan Shaw, president and CEO of Rustler Investments and chairman of the Clark County Planning Commission; Orlando L. Sanchez, deputy city manager for the city of Las Vegas; and William Bokelmann, foundation manager for the Henderson Chamber of Commerce.

Shaw said he is vying for the position because he hopes to “add his knowledge and expertise to the council.”

“I’d like to see the city continue to grow and diversify our base with quality jobs and bring in more outside job opportunities,” Shaw said. “I also want to continue to expand higher education and push safety to continue leading as one of the safest communities in the nation.”

If selected to fill the vacancy, Sanchez said that “public safety, quality of life, addressing aging infrastructure, economic development and open and honest transparency.” would be his priorities.

”As city councilman I will take a balanced, educated, common-sense approach that involves community engagement and transparency in all decisions to continue to make the city of Henderson, America’s premier community,” he said.

Bokelmann could not be reached Thursday or Friday, but wrote in a letter to the mayor and council that his background as an officer in the U.S. Army as well as his participation on other boards gives him “the leadership qualities needed to be an excellent City Council member and continue moving our beloved city forward.”

Six other people applied for the position: Bradley Arthur Sensibaugh, a regional representative for U.S. Sen. Dean Heller; Zeke O’Leary, a retired housing remodeler; Patrick Kang, owner of Kang & Associates Law Group; Linda Hawse, a retired court administrator for Henderson Township Justice Court; Howard Galin, a retired school administrator from New York City; David Kallas, the former executive director and director of government affairs for the Police Protective Association.

The special meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday in the city’s council chambers, 240 S. Water St. The meeting is open to the public and will be live-streamed.

Each nominee will be given three minutes to provide an overview, followed by five questions from the mayor and council and a two-minute closing statement.

March is set to be sworn-in as mayor June 20. During the regular meeting, the mayor and council are expected to make an appointment to fill the vacancy.

The deadline to fill the seat is Aug. 19.

Contact Sandy Lopez at slopez@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4686. Follow @JournalismSandy on Twitter.