Henderson council to review anti-arena petition

Henderson council members are scheduled to review a voter initiative petition Thursday that aims to place a publicly backed arena on the ballot in November.

How the council votes could determine whether the city gets sued.

The meeting comes two weeks after the city found the petition to be insufficient due to a procedural error. Council members will have the final say on the sufficiency of the petition.

An item also on the special meeting agenda acknowledges that the council’s decision could open the door to legal action. Council members will consider authorizing the city attorney’s office to either begin legal action or defend the city if the dispute goes to court.

Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, a political consultant serving as an adviser to the initiative effort, said opponents will file a lawsuit if the council upholds the city’s finding of insufficiency. She does not expect the council to vote in favor of the opponents.

“We plan on filing immediately in (Clark County) District Court,” she said Tuesday. The group has not yet retained an attorney, she said.

Not retroactive

Even if the initiative made it to Henderson ballots in November and voters approved the measure, the initiative would not stop the arena project from moving forward unless a court ruled otherwise, according to a fiscal impact report that is attached to Thursday’s agenda.

According to the report, new laws such as the one proposed in the petition generally apply only to future actions unless the law clearly says it was intended to be applied retro­actively.

In May, Henderson approved a project with the Golden Knights to replace the Henderson Pavilion with an arena that would host home games for the team’s minor-league affiliate, the Silver Knights. The total $84 million budget will be split evenly between the city and the team.

Opponents have criticized the arena location and the use of public money. The city has said the pavilion has many issues and is limited as an open-air venue.

The day before the project was approved, a group of residents filed paperwork to start the process of getting the project on the ballot. Opponents seek to amend the Henderson city charter to specifically bar the city from using any public money or assets to replace the Henderson Pavilion with an arena.

Enough signatures gathered

The group got more than the necessary number of valid signatures to move the process forward, but the petition was found insufficient because it did not meet a legal requirement to have a description on each signature page that outlines the effect of the initiative if it is approved by voters.

The group asked for the City Council to review the petition.

Signature pages did include the exact language arena opponents wanted to add to the charter: “The City of Henderson is hereby prohibited from contributing, investing or lending any of its revenue or assets, or those of its tax payers, for an American Hockey League (AHL) arena/events center at the Henderson Pavilion.”

John Dalrymple, spokesman for the group of opponents called the Henderson Coalition for Responsible Government, has called the city’s finding a “desperate ploy” to disregard the will of voters. Dalrymple said Tuesday that he also does not anticipate a favorable vote from the council.

The city has said it just wanted to make sure everyone involved followed the letter of the law.

“The fact that the initiative petition lacks a description of effect is not a technicality or mere formality that can be overlooked,” spokeswoman Kathleen Richards said in an email Tuesday.

In-person attendance at Thursday’s meeting is not allowed, but the public may participate virtually.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.