Beers for City Council

The selection of Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Wolfson to fill the position of retiring District Attorney David Roger left the city's Ward 2 seat vacant. Unable to settle on an interim appointment, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Mr. Wolfson and two other council members voted to throw the rest of his term open to a March 20 special election -- early voting in the western ward is March 15 and 16.

The abbreviated campaign has attracted a wide field of candidates, several of whom could doubtless do the job. But standing above the field in both relevant experience and willingness to ask the hard questions is former state Sen. Bob Beers.

Mr. Beers, who served six years in the Assembly and four years in the state Senate, ran for governor in 2006 but lost the Republican primary to Rep. Jim Gibbons. He is now the managing partner of a Las Vegas accounting firm.

In Carson City, Mr. Beers says, lawmakers worried over the governor's proposed budget four hours a day, month after month, asking questions till they were sure they knew where every state dollar was going and why. On the other hand, such focus seems lacking on the City Council, Mr. Beers argues.

Mr. Beers, who would bring a much more business-friendly vision to the council and City Hall, is a genial fellow. Table-pounding and histrionics are not his style. But anyone who expects him to join in approving a city budget based on a 90-minute presentation may have another think coming.

Maybe that's why the 600-member Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285 -- rarely considered a natural friend of tight-fisted Republicans -- surprised even Mr. Beers with their wholehearted endorsement of his candidacy for the City Council last month.

"Mr. Beers is an advocate for limiting spending," firefighters union President Dean Fletcher said. "That's what we need at the local level. We need somebody there to look at the finances of the city. The essential services of government are to provide services to the citizens," Mr. Fletcher continued. "We believe he is the guy to do it."

Bob Beers is the real thing.