Justice race could get quite costly
Graham TV spot to attack Leavitt over 1998 road incident
A race for Las Vegas justice of the peace and could become one of the most expensive judicial races the valley has ever seen, and two of the leading candidates are digging into their campaign coffers for what’s turning into a heated contest.
Former Regent James Dean Leavitt, Chief Deputy District Attorney Elana Graham and private attorney Vincent Ginn are vying to replace Deborah Lippis, who stepped down from the Department 1 seat in September after more than 25 years.
Leavitt approached campaign manager Tom Letizia about the job almost a year ago as rumors of Lippis’ retirement started to emerge.
After Graham joined the race in January, she and campaign manager David Thomas dug deep into Leavitt’s past. They plan to run a campaign ad starting Thursday that references a 20-year-old incident in Oregon.
Ginn has not responded to phone calls from the Las Vegas Review-journal, and his opponents say he has not attended campaign functions.
COURT RACE
the northwest ward she represents, where multiple plans to redevelop open spaces have been proposed.
The Badlands developers and their attorneys opposed the open space regulations, contending the rules unfairly single out the 250-acre former golf course. Las Vegas city planning staff have said the new regulations pertain to a number of properties within the city.
Development denied
Later on Wednesday, the council voted 5-2 to strike a series of development applications that proposed spreading single-family homes
across the Badlands property.
Seroka contended the general plan amendment the developer submitted was too similar to the one the council voted down June 21 and fell within the city’s yearlong “cooling off ” period. Goodman and Fiore cast the only votes against striking the Badlands items from Wednesday’s agenda.
Both the developer and his opponents have sued the city over the plans. Lowie told city officials Wednesday to expect more litigation over the open space ordinance and his development applications.
City officials said Lowie could submit a new round of development applications at any time.
A previous version of the open space development ordinance called
for developers to hold seven mandatory meetings with stakeholders. The new rule cut the required number of meetings to one but encourages public engagement beyond the single required meeting.
Goodman said she could have supported the single-meeting rule but was against the requirement for a summary report documenting the public engagement, because it may often focus too heavily on the opposition. Adding rules will also slow the process, Goodman said.
“I’m about streamlining business and less government,” Goodman said.
Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @Journo_jamie_ on Twitter.