Unions target North Las Vegas council incumbent

The mailer pictures a man in a ski mask and gloves, wielding a crowbar and poised to break into a house.

"Crime is exploding in your neighborhood," it says. "Richard Cherchio is to blame. ... The crime rate is up more than 50% in North Las Vegas."

The mailer, paid for by the city's police and firefighter unions, illustrates how bitter the race for the City Council's Ward 4 seat has become.

Cherchio, who was appointed to the seat in 2009, faces dentist Wade Wagner in the race. But his bigger battle is with the city's public safety unions, who have aggressively campaigned against him. The councilman butted heads with union leaders during contract concession talks and voted in favor of cuts to public safety.

"We support Wagner because he believes the basis of a successful city is a safe public," said Jeff Hurley, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1607. "You're not going to get people to move to North Las Vegas with high crime."

Cherchio said the unions will do anything "to take control of that council seat for the next four years," including distributing "despicable, sleazy" ads .

"I was getting calls from people, particularly elderly people, who were frightened" by the ad claiming crime has skyrocketed, he said. "People are thinking about moving."

Truth or spin

Crime is not up by 50 percent in North Las Vegas, according to the Police Department. But the South Area Command reported a 42 percent increase in residential burglaries this year over last, said Tim Bedwell, a police spokesman.

"We identified a specific area, including an apartment complex where several of these burglaries occurred," he said. "It's probably the same people doing those crimes."

Meanwhile, robberies were down 11 percent in the command, he said.

In the city's North Area Command, residential burglaries fell by 4 percent, and robberies were down 16 percent.

The unions linked the spike in residential burglaries in the south to Cherchio through his vote last year to lay off 44 North Las Vegas Detention Center workers after the jail lost about a third of its inmates to a new lockup for federal inmates in Pahrump.

The jail had to decrease its capacity, including the number of beds, after losing the federal contract. The decreased capacity did lead to more inmates being released early.

"Keep in mind these are all misdemeanors," Bedwell said. "It's just a matter of people on warrants who didn't pay their fines got off a little early."

And there's "no corresponding increase in crime that can be tied back to this in any way," he said.

Still, "you don't want people like that on the street," said Mike Yarter, president of the Police Officers Association. "When you make an action like that, there are repercussions."

City officials had no choice but to lay off workers when the federal contract was lost, Cherchio said. The City Council also has nothing to do with whether inmates get out of jail more quickly in North Las Vegas, he said.

"I'm not in favor of letting anyone out early. Nor was I involved in any of those decisions to let anyone out early or to mitigate their sentences. No council person was."

Anti-Cherchio mailers have been sent by the unions and by two political action committees formed by union leaders: Concerned Officers Preserving Safety and Citizens for Responsible Leadership & Ethics.

A North Las Vegas resident in early April filed a complaint with the state over the committees' failure to file contribution and expense reports .

Yarter, vice president of Concerned Officers Preserving Safety, said it was an oversight that was "immediately rectified." The secretary of state has asked the committee to pay a $1,375 penalty.

Scott Gorgon, with Citizens for Responsible Leadership & Ethics, did not return a call seeking comment. Gorgon also is secretary-treasurer of the firefighters union. State officials said they had received no response from the committee by Friday.

Wagner and the unions

The unions' actions have allowed Wagner "to look like Mr. Clean and not dirty his hands while they pump money and sleaze into the campaign," Cherchio said. "They are in bed together."

The unions "are going to want something in return. My job is to make tough, sometimes unpopular, decisions. I answer to nobody but the voters who put me there."

More than half the money Wagner raised toward his campaign during the first reporting period came from Las Vegas Valley public safety unions.

Wagner said he appreciates their support but will be beholden to no one but the taxpayers of North Las Vegas.

He said he has no control over the mailers the unions send out.

"I can't tell people what to send and what not to send," he said. "I want to focus on what I'm doing. I've kept my campaign positive."

Cherchio said Wagner doesn't have enough knowledge of the city's issues or the time to devote to the council job.

"Given the tough issues the city faces, just keeping up is a full-time job. I don't think he'll be able to make that commitment."

Wagner said he knows as much about the city's issues "as any average citizen and then some." As a dentist, he is able to make his own schedule and will allow time to deal with city business, he said.

Cherchio also has accused Wagner of dodging several opportunities to debate .

Wagner said scheduling conflicts have prevented his attendance at the events.

Whoever is elected will join the council at a difficult time for the cash-strapped city, which in recent years has undergone several rounds of budget cuts, service reductions and layoffs. The city is facing a $22.6 million shortfall for fiscal year 2012.

Wagner got 47 percent of the vote in the April primary, to Cherchio's 44 percent.

North Las Vegas City Council members serve four-year terms and are paid $41,827 a year.

The general election is June 7. Early voting begins Wednesday at City Hall, and at other locations on Saturday, and extends through June 3. Also up for election are North Las Vegas City Council Ward 2 and Municipal Judge Dept. 1.

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