Clerk gets 1,146 signatures for Ross recall

Dropping off eight white three-ring binders they said contained names of 1,146 of people who want to oust Las Vegas Ward 6 Councilman Steve Ross, recall organizers concluded the signature-gathering portion of their campaign Wednesday.

"We got 'em," organizer Marc Newman declared as he hoisted the binders in the air for onlookers at City Hall, where he and several other recall organizers deposited the signatures and affidavits testifying to their legitimacy with City Clerk Beverly Bridges.

If the petition survives scrutiny from Bridges, Clark County Registrar of Voters Larry Lomax and officials in the office of Secretary of State Ross Miller, Ward 6 voters could be asked to vote on whether to recall Ross by mid-November.

It would be the first recall of a city politician since voters ousted then-Ward 1 Councilwoman Janet Moncrief in 2005.

But it's not going to happen without a fight from Ross, who is laying the groundwork to challenge the veracity of the signatures.

"I have received dozens of calls and affidavits from residents in the ward detailing the lies and innuendo that the Committee to Recall has been spreading about me to gain the signatures of residents," Ross said in a statement.

The statement also repeatedly referred to "lobbyist Lisa Mayo DeRiso" and "used car dealer Joe Scala" as the primary movers behind the recall effort, suggesting the momentum behind the signature gathering isn't from the grass roots of Ward 6.

"Needless to say I will fight this effort being run by lobbyist Mayo DeRiso and used car dealer Scala, who don't even live in Ward 6, vigorously," Ross' statement read in part.

The recall effort has been in the works for months and can be traced back to a dispute between Ross and Scala over Scala's now defunct Courtesy auto dealership in the Centennial Hills area of the northwest Las Vegas district.

Scala, whose dealership did not maintain its franchise agreement with a manufacturer, faced a shutdown because the auto mall where the lot is located requires such an agreement as a means to prevent the proliferation of potentially shabby, unaffiliated car lots.

Scala's plan was an upscale dealership that would sell slightly used luxury cars with price tags upwards of $150,000.

Scala sought Ross' support for a waiver similar to what had been issued to other dealers in the area.

Without the waiver Scala was forced to shut down on Dec. 24, putting about 30 people out of work in the process.

"Steve Ross never created a job," recall supporter Mark Fierro, a Las Vegas communications consultant, said when asked Wednesday about the incident. "He put 30 people out of work on Christmas Eve."

Newman said state Ethics Commission opinions stating Ross wrongly voted on a new City Hall without disclosing ties to his former job with a trade union that could have benefited from the project and violation of a promise to give back a City Council pay raise were more important to people signing the petition than Scala's role.

"Steve Ross likes to make this about Joe Scala versus him," Newman said. "The voters didn't really think about Joe Scala when they signed this."

While recall organizers make an emotional case for their cause, they are still facing an uphill battle to oust Ross.

According to review of Nevada recalls posted in the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, just 31 of 108 recall attempts from 1993 to 2004 resulted in forcing an election.

Of those elections, 20 officials were recalled, the report said.

Recall opponents will have a chance to scrutinize the signatures for themselves and challenge them one-by-one, challenge the validity of the affidavits or make the case people who signed were misled with inaccurate information.

Despite the long odds, at least one Ross supporter acknowledged privately that a special election could spell trouble for the councilman.

The supporter said the struggling economy and anti-incumbent sentiment among many voters means "it is not the time" for a politician to be facing a recall vote.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.