North Las Vegas, mayor grow up

People generally had the same reaction upon meeting the fledgling North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon 11 years ago.

"Everyone would come in and their faces would say, 'Where's your father?'" Montandon remembered about his early years in the mayor's seat, which he won at just 33 years old.

Now, though: "I don't get that anymore."

Like the city he represents, Montandon has grown up quite a bit since he was first elected in 1997.

About to enter his final year in office because of term limits adopted in 1996, Montandon often gets asked to reflect on his time at the helm of one of the nation's fastest growing cities.

"You can't help but be introspective when you see all the changes," he said on Wednesday in his City Hall office. "We went from 1974 to 1994 without adding an acre of new parks. Now, I can't imagine going a month. We're adding $50 million of new parks this year."

North Las Vegas's population was about 83,000 when Montandon took office, he said. Now, it's about 230,000.

Leading the city through such a phenomenal growth spurt has been incredible, the mayor said, and letting go is going to be difficult.

"I won't be able to stand it. I can hardly sit in a meeting of any sort and not want to chair the meeting. You can imagine, it drives my wife crazy."

Montandon was a relative newcomer to Nevada when he decided to run for mayor. He had moved to Southern Nevada with his wife and two children just five years earlier from his hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., for a job working in real estate appraisal.

He didn't aspire to public office, but his new job had him paying attention to zoning issues in North Las Vegas, a city once best known for its reputedly high crime rate and poverty. Montandon started getting interested in local politics.

"I thought, 'I'm going to find somebody who'd make a good City Council person,'" he said. Soon, "that person started to look like me."

Then, North Las Vegas Mayor James Seastrand decided not to seek re-election in 1997. The timing was right for Montandon, and he beat veteran Councilman Theron Goynes for the seat.

Montandon was re-elected in 2001 and 2005.

Now, the 44-year-old mayor splits his time between his office at City Hall and his job as vice president of business development for American Asphalt & Grading. His family has grown to five children, ranging in age from 10 to 19.

He feels like he'll be leaving office just when he has really "figured things out." He's not a fan of term limits.

"We've always had term limits; we call them elections," Montandon said.

Three North Las Vegas City Council members are expected to run for Montandon's seat.

"There's a lot of people who would do a good job," the mayor said. "I'm not going to get into the game" of recommending anybody.

The mayor said he's proud of how far North Las Vegas has come during his term. He's especially pleased with how the city has worked to quash its tough "Northtown" reputation.

"We've worked hard to make this a community people come to not by default," Montandon said. "People have a choice, and decide this is where they want to be."

The city's transformation began in the late 1980s, with development of the Eldorado master-planned community north of Ann Road. Its success tempted other builders to risk developing in the area and commercial properties to locate there. People kept coming and the city's rough reputation began to fade.

The master-planned Aliante community, which broke ground in 2003, added to the city's momentum.

A third master-planned community, Park Highlands, recently broke ground.

In 2004, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced plans for a full-service medical center on 154 acres near the intersection of Pecos Road and the northern Las Vegas Beltway. Another UNLV campus has also been proposed for federal land near the Beltway and Interstate 15.

The city also is converting Craig Ranch Golf Course into a sprawling regional park, and Montandon touts plans to build a new City Hall and sewer treatment plant.

But city leaders have been criticized for neglecting older areas of town in favor of developing neighborhoods.

Montandon welcomed such criticism, saying it's preferable to the apathy of the past.

"Now we build one new library and immediately people are saying, 'Why don't we have a new library in our neighborhood? Why are you biased toward that neighborhood?'"

The city in 1990 established a Redevelopment Agency to spruce up and attract new businesses to older neighborhoods. City officials say they plan to spend $1 billion on projects in the downtown area in the next decade.

But Montandon won't be mayor by then.

Instead, he plans to be holding some other public office.

"Washington would be fun," he said. "I'd love to be a congressman."

In the meantime, the mayor plans to go about the business of being mayor.

"I have to keep reminding people I'm here for another year," he said. "I've got plenty to keep me busy."

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