Ross spokesman says recall effort will falter

The campaign to oust Las Vegas Ward 6 Councilman Steve Ross through a recall election will be dead before it gets to the ballot, a Ross spokesman said Thursday.

Steve Redlinger said he already has enough affidavits from people claiming to have been misled into signing recall papers and seeking to have their signatures removed to invalidate the petition that recall organizers filed at City Hall on Wednesday.

The petition, according to recall supporters, contained 1,146 signatures in support of a special election to oust Ross, 62 more than the 1,084 needed to force a vote.

"Enough people will remove their names from the petition that this will be null and void," Redlinger said.

Redlinger wouldn't show the affidavits to a reporter and said the documents will be shared with election officials as needed during the process of certifying the recall petition during upcoming weeks.

"We're not going to show it to anybody except to the proper authorities," Redlinger said. "I believe we have enough in hand already, based on the numbers I've been told."

Recall supporters have posted anti-Ross information on the Internet and advertised on television.

They cite a laundry list of problems they have with the councilman as reasons why voters should recall Ross before the scheduled conclusion of his term in 2013.

High on the list, according to recall supporters, are admonishments of Ross from the state Ethics Commission that said he should have disclosed his former job as secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council before voting on issues that could benefit member unions, such as building a new City Hall.

Other complaints cited by Ross opponents include his decision not to give back a City Council pay increase after saying he would and an accusation he refused to help Courtesy car dealership owner Joe Scala get a waiver to allow him to continue to do business in the Centennial Hills auto mall without the required affiliation with a manufacturer.

Ross supporters say the recall is an effort by lobbyist Lisa Mayo DeRiso, who has been a longstanding critic of the councilman, with support from Scala, who is still angry about having to close his dealership, which led to the layoff of about 30 workers.

The recall effort has divided voters in Ward 6, with some saying it isn't necessary and others clamoring for a chance to oust Ross.

"To have taxpayers pay for a recall election you would have to have much worse things happening," said resident Carolyn Brandom, who noted she was presented with the recall petition but declined to sign it. "I don't believe Councilman Ross has done anything that bad."

Renee Lella, a resident who organized opposition to a shooting park Ross supported and filed an ethics complaint against him, said she is an enthusiastic supporter of the recall effort.

"He should have abstained from any votes where he was voting to give a contract to a union contractor," Lella said. "It isn't two people against Steve Ross. It is the Ward 6 community realizing what he has done."

Now that the signatures have been turned in, it will be up to election officials, and possibly a court, to determine whether the petition is valid and should lead to a recall vote.

The Las Vegas city clerk and Clark County registrar of voters will review the petition for accuracy and count the signatures before seeking a sign-off from the secretary of state.

If the petition is certified, the city clerk will have 10 to 20 days to call for a special election, which could be held within 30 days.

That means if the petition survives challenges and there are no court-ordered delays, there could be a recall vote for Ward 6 by mid-November.

No one has submitted nominating papers for an alternative candidate to Ross. And by not yet forming a campaign organization to persuade voters not to recall him, Ross is betting the issue won't make it to the ballot.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to start spending money on things that may or may not happen," Redlinger said.

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