Henderson board votes in open

It was part disclosure, part do-over on Tuesday night, as Henderson City Council members affirmed their appointment of Debra March to the council, this time without the use of secret ballots.

The unanimous selection of March to represent Ward 2 came after council members revealed how they selected the former Henderson planning commissioner from a crop of 14 applicants.

March was picked at a July 8 special meeting during which the council used secret nominations to narrow the field to six and secret ballots to rank the finalists.

The Nevada attorney general's office is reviewing that process in response to an open meeting law complaint from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Henderson City Attorney Elizabeth Quillin said the city did nothing wrong and intends to contest the complaint.

The nominations and ballot results from July 8 were disclosed on Tuesday to avoid possible legal problems should March's appointment be cast in doubt later on, Quillin said.

March was sworn in immediately after her appointment was approved for the second time.

"Ms. March, congratulations once again," said Andy Hafen, whose election as mayor created the vacancy in Ward 2.

March will serve out the final two years of Hafen's unexpired council term.

For those of you scoring at home, here is how her selection came to pass:

Hafen and Councilwoman Gerri Schroder each nominated March and Stan Olsen; Councilwoman Kathleen Boutin nominated Michael Lamoreaux and Roland Sansone; and Councilman Steve Kirk nominated Thomas Wagner and Favil West.

Each council member then ranked the finalists in order of preference from first to sixth. On Hafen's ballot, the order read March, Olsen, Lamoreaux, Sansone, West, then Wagner. On Boutin's ballot it read Sansone, Lamoreaux, March, Wagner, West, then Olsen. Kirk's ballot read Wagner, March, West, Sansone, Lamoreaux, then Olsen. And Schroder's ballot read Olsen, March, Lamoreaux, Sansone, West, then Wagner.

City officials announced how the finalists ranked during the July 8 meeting, but at that time no information was given about which ballot came from which council member.

Henderson resident Karen Gray said she was disappointed by the council's secrecy.

"I don't have a problem with who was appointed, I have a problem with how it was done," Gray said during public comment on Tuesday. "I have a problem with secret ballots."

It is unclear whether Tuesday's disclosure will head off possible action by the attorney general's office.

Spokeswoman Edie Cartwright said the agency would rule on the Review-Journal's complaint within the next 60 days.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.