City Council candidates agree on some issues, but also find contentious areas

The two candidates for Ward 3 on the Las Vegas City Council maintained a civil tone at a debate Tuesday and even agreed on several issues -- until they were allowed to question each other.

"I know my neighbors," began former state legislator Bob Coffin, referring to the allegation that his opponent, Adriana Martinez, hasn't met the residency requirement to run for the office.

"Ms. Martinez, do you know your neighbors?" Coffin asked. "Do you know your next-door neighbors?"

"Yes, I do," Martinez responded. "I am known in my neighborhood, and I am respected in my neighborhood."

"No you're not!" someone in the audience called out, and a semi-raucous scene ensued.

"I filmed you, and you weren't there," called out Bob Bellis, one of two people who filed a challenge to Martinez's candidacy based in part on a private investigator's videotape that showed Martinez spending very little time in her Ward 3 house in the period before filing for office. The challenge is tied up in debates over legal points and is pending before the Nevada Supreme Court.

"I have the guts to run for elected office," Martinez retorted. "And you're sitting there."

Bellis then walked outside for a bit as the moderator called for calm at the debate, which was held at the Mesquite Club, the oldest women's charitable organization in Nevada.

Martinez said that during the videotaped time period, she was working long hours at her City Council liaison job and helping care for her ailing mother. That's why she wasn't spending much time at home.

For her question, Martinez went into Coffin's legislative history and called up a bill he sponsored that called for levying a tax on legal brothels. At the time, he also said he was open to discussing the legalization of prostitution in Clark County, an idea Martinez derided and called bad for the community and the ward.

Coffin agreed with her.

"I don't favor legal prostitution. It's not a good idea," he said, adding that elected leaders should be willing to listen to any proposal, even if they don't support it.

The city has fallen down on the job of policing the illegal prostitution that does exist, Coffin added: "I will push for true enforcement of the massage laws. They will not become fronts for prostitution as they have been."

In other areas, the two candidates headed for the June 7 general election outlined similar positions.

Both of them support moving city elections into even-numbered years to coincide with elections for federal, state and county offices. Both are open to a downtown sports arena, provided taxpayers benefit and are not ponying up too much money.

They both promised to reopen Huntridge Circle Park immediately upon election, and both said the city needs to be more aggressive with the owners of foreclosed properties who let squatters and blight take over.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.