North Las Vegas election a labor battle

The real battle for one North Las Vegas City Council seat this year isn't among the candidates.

Instead, it's between an incumbent and the city's public safety unions.

North Las Vegas's police and fire unions have been campaigning against Councilman Richard Cherchio, who voted for laying off corrections officers and has butted heads with union leaders during contract talks.

Cherchio, 64, hopes to keep the Ward 4 seat he was appointed to in 2009 after his predecessor, Shari Buck, was elected mayor.

The unions have endorsed dentist Wade Wagner, one of Cherchio's opponents. Also in the race is Goldie Pitchford, a 63-year-old library assistant and retired state administrator from New York. A fourth candidate, Richard L. Moyer, withdrew from the race.

The primary election is April 5. Early voting starts Wednesday at City Hall, and at other locations on Saturday, and extends through April 1. In races in which no candidate wins a majority, the top two finishers move on to the June 7 general election.

Union leaders have said they want residents to know public safety isn't Cherchio's priority. They also made political hay of an ethics complaint filed with the state against Cherchio over his failure to disclose several properties he owns, as required by law.

Cherchio said the omission was an oversight. He filed an amended disclosure form that includes the properties.

The matter has been resolved, according to the state's Commission on Ethics, which found the violation was not willful. No penalty was assessed against Cherchio.

Cherchio is a retired letter carrier who previously worked in Florida, where he was president of his local letter carriers union. He has lived in North Las Vegas since 2001.

His endorsements include the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Seniors United and Veterans in Politics.

He said his priority since being appointed to the council has been to balance the budget, while "understanding we have a salary structure that is difficult to sustain."

"Union leadership isn't happy about the tough decisions I've had to make and asking them to give something back to save our employees' jobs," he said, adding that "nobody wants to get rid of police officers or firefighters."

Cherchio said the unions favor Wagner because he is "agreeable to their wants and desires absent what's good for taxpayers."

North Las Vegas is dealing with a
$25 million shortfall. The city laid off 188 workers in June. An additional 44, all detention center workers, were let go in October after the detention center lost about a third of its inmates to a facility for federal inmates in Pahrump.

Mayor Shari Buck was the only council member to vote against the detention center layoffs, saying public safety is her priority.

Wagner, who grew up in Southern Nevada, said he would not support cuts to public safety. He said he is proud to be endorsed by North Las Vegas's police and firefighter unions.

"I don't see how that could be a bad thing," he said.

If elected, Wagner, 48, said he would focus on recruiting new businesses to the city and eliminating wasteful spending.

He criticized council members, including Cherchio, who recently voted for paying an architectural firm $500,000 to start developing a master plan for an "international business community" in the city.

"That was irresponsible, especially when you're laying off public safety people," Wagner said. "It was a waste. We know what we need to do: Be more hands-on promoting North Las Vegas to businesses."

Cherchio said Wagner doesn't know enough about the project to judge it accurately.

"We decided in this economy we need to go above and beyond and create a real, true picture of our vision," Cherchio said.

Wagner said as a council member he would "get out and market" the city himself. Maintaining public safety funding is an important draw to new businesses, he said.

Pitchford said council members have made decisions that wasted money, including approving a new $131 million City Hall and Civic Plaza slated for completion in October. Cherchio was not on the council when the project was approved.

"You're sending a message to people that, even though these are hard times, we need a new building," she said. "If the old building is holding up, why can't we use it until things get better?"

Pitchford retired to North Las Vegas with her husband seven years ago. She took a job at a local library to fill her time, she said. She has served as president of her homeowners association.

If elected she would focus on recruiting businesses to the city by offering incentives -- such as discounts on business licenses -- to those who agree to hire locals, she said.

To help save money, she would look at consolidating some services, such as after-school programs, between municipalities, an idea that Las Vegas and North Las Vegas leaders have begun discussing.

She also would look at making some full-time city jobs part-time and encouraging employees to start job sharing when practical.

North Las Vegas's City Council members serve four-year terms and earn $41,827 a year.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.