Term limits issue splits voters

When early voters went to the polls Monday, they didn't get a chance to cast a vote for or against term limiting elected officials.

But that didn't stop them from voicing their approval or disapproval for the term-limit initiative petition passed by voters in 1996 -- an initiative that the Nevada Supreme Court ruled Friday made 21 elected officials, including Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, ineligible to run for re-election.

"If a person is competent and ethical and stays away from the dangers and temptations associated with public office -- and doesn't just go through the motions of the job after being there for a long time -- then he or she should be able to remain in office," said 67-year-old retired chemist Frank Tuozzo after he voted at the Solera Anthem Community Center in Henderson.

"If the official is just rendering lip service, people are going to find that out and vote the individual out," Tuozzo said.

Tuozzo said he finds it a disservice to the community that a man with Woodbury's "exemplary credentials" no longer could run for the office he has held since 1981. The man who stood next to Tuozzo outside the community center, Leland Britos, couldn't have disagreed more.

"I voted for term limits years ago, and I still think they're a great idea," said the 65-year-old Britos, who serves on the board of directors for Solera Anthem, an upscale Henderson development. "What happens is that officials get entrenched and then they listen to only certain people. That's why a lot of young people haven't voted."

The term limits measure that Britos and a majority of other Nevadans voted for in 1996 restricted elected officials to 12 years in office.

Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled that the clock for term limits started ticking in 1996 for local elected officials. But 13 veteran lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, can run again because their term-limits clock started running at a later time.

Other local officials affected by the ruling include university system Regents Thalia Dondero and Howard Rosenberg and Clark County School Board members Ruth Johnson and Mary Beth Scow.

The fact that Woodbury was tossed off the ballot drew the most attention from voters Monday.

"I'm not saying Woodbury didn't do a good job," Britos said. "But he had his chance. You get new blood in there and the person has to listen to more people. He can run for another office now."

After 82-year-old Gloria O'Dell voted at the Albertsons at the corner of Green Valley Parkway and Sunset Road, she wasn't pleased.

"It's a shame he (Woodbury) and Thalia (Dondero) can't run any more," she said. "When you get good people in office, you hate to see them have to leave office. If people don't want them, they can vote them out. Bruce Woodbury was so calm and so honest. That's the kind of man we need. And Thalia listened to people."

Soon after Don Jones, a 36-year-old technical writer, cast his ballot at the Las Vegas Outlet Center at the Boulevard, he talked about how thankful he is Woodbury is term limited. Roads aren't kept up, he said.

And permits for building simple projects in a resident's backyard, such as a Tiki thatched hut, can take six weeks.

"I wonder if it takes casinos that long," Jones said.

He also thinks that the county commissioner hasn't been as vigilant as necessary in dealing with the Strip.

Jones said there is not enough Las Vegas police presence to stop illegal sales of counterfeit merchandise from occurring on pedestrian walkways.

"I wrote Commissioner Woodbury about it, and he replied that he doesn't go to the Strip that much," Jones said. "I think that a commissioner who is really in touch should know more about what's going on at a place where so much money is involved. He can get more police presence."

When Francis Russell, 71, finished voting at the Solera Anthem Community Center, he didn't have anything bad to say about Woodbury. But he did want him out of office.

"Twelve years is enough," the former Philadelphia police officer said. "It's time to give young people a chance, time to hear some new ideas."

Phyllis and Paul Schreiman, who voted after Russell, felt the same way.

"If somebody is in office too long," said Phyllis Schreiman, 69, "they don't take their work as seriously. They become complacent."

Paul Schreiman, 73, has a suggestion for Woodbury.

"When you're as popular as he is, you should be running for other things," he said.

Contact reporter Paul Harasim at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2908.