North Las Vegas council to act on judge position, elections change Dec. 21

The fate of North Las Vegas’ city elections probably will be determined Dec. 21, with a decision on whether to eliminate a judge’s position on the city’s Municipal Court.

With no discussion, the council on Wednesday night read for the record a pair of ordinances dealing with both issues. A vote was not taken.

In two weeks, the council is expected to discuss whether to terminate the seat held by Municipal Court Judge Catherine Ramsey, who was barred from seeking re-election next year after admitting to seven charges of professional misconduct.

Ending the judicial seat will lead to $365,821 in immediate savings from salaries for the judge and an assistant, city officials said. North Las Vegas Municipal Court is seeing a declining caseload: It handled 25,439 misdemeanor and traffic cases in 2015, down from 46,338 cases in 2005, according to the most recent records provided by the city.

The council also will consider on Dec. 21 whether to hold city election during an even-year cycle starting in 2020 as a way to decrease costs and increase voter participation.

North Las Vegas is projected to pay $325,914 to Clark County to run the 2017 primary election in April and the general election in June, according to the city clerk’s office. The county would not charge the city if North Las Vegas moves its municipal election to even-numbered year.

Last month, the council agreed to end the practice of operating more than 20 polling places and instead offer a yet-to-be-determined number of voting centers. The move is expected to cut payment to the county by 21.4 percent to $256,179.

Mesquite has changed to even-year elections, and a similar move is under consideration in Las Vegas. Henderson city officials are studying whether to change its election schedule or have voters cast their ballots by mail as a way to save money.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.