Jim Gibson faces challengers in Clark County Commission race

Voters gave Jim Gibson three terms as Henderson’s mayor. Now the Democrat is asking them to keep him on the Clark County Commission.

Gibson, 70, filled a vacant commission seat last year at the request of Gov. Brian Sandoval. The attorney and business executive thinks his 12 years as mayor make him the right choice to continue holding the District G seat, which covers Henderson, Boulder City and unincorporated parts of the southeast Las Vegas Valley.

“People should vote for me because I have the experience,” Gibson said. “I’m the kind of person who will do what he says he is going to do.”

GOP candidate Cindy Lake, a 54-year-old Realtor and former Clark County Republican Party chairwoman, says voters should choose a change of pace from the all-Democrat commission.

“I am a strong fiscal conservative, and there are seven people on that board who are not,” she said. “Just because you have a lot of ‘experience,’ as my Democrat opponent claims to have, it doesn’t mean it’s good experience and it doesn’t mean it’s good for the people of Clark County.”

District G is the only commission race this year where voters will have an option outside the two major parties.

Libertarian candidate Doug Marsh, 53, said he is running with his own money to show he is beholden to no one but the voters.

“I offer a good, moderate approach to government without having to look at Political Action Committees,” he said.

Gibson platform

Gibson sees the western edge of his district, which borders the Strip from Flamingo Road south past McCarran International Airport, as underdeveloped and fertile for opening new businesses. And he’d like airport-owned land that is scattered about the county to be used to attract businesses.

“I’m really focused on doing what I can to help people find jobs, to retrofit infrastructure,” he said. “In the unincorporated part of my district, the kind of infrastructure that can build quality of life and a sense of belonging are lacking.”

As a whole the county can utilize some of Henderson’s strategies to achieve those goals, Gibson said. One example is the city giving local schools 30 percent of revenues derived from retail marijuana business license fees.

However, Gibson is not ready to see marijuana consumption lounges open their doors in the county. While he doesn’t oppose the idea, he wants the industry to present commissioners with a plan on where such businesses would go and how they would mitigate public risk, like patrons driving while impaired.

Gibson said he has fully addressed personal financial issues that arose following his failed gubernatorial bid in 2006. Many donors gave him the full amount of money allowed for both the primary and general elections, so he had to return half that money when he lost the Democratic primary. And Gibson said his campaign “overspent,” so he had to liquidate many of his assets and borrow money to pay back the donors.

In April 2012, local bank executive Selma Bartlett sued Gibson and his wife, alleging they owed her almost $763,000 in unpaid loans. The case was dismissed that June because it was settled out of court, Gibson said.

Later that year, Gibson and his wife received two federal liens from the Internal Revenue Service for almost $222,000 in unpaid income taxes from 2011. The liens were released in early 2015, records show.

“It was all related to debt that was connected to the campaign. I have fully repaid it all,” Gibson said. “It took longer than I would have liked, but I got it done.”

Lake platform

Lake sees less regulation as more freedom on marijuana and other issues. She also wants to reduce taxes and fees imposed on businesses.

“Let the free market reign, whether that be marijuana consumption lounges or anything else,” she said.

Lake said she will bring a needed voice of dissent to the commission.

“I see a lot of ‘yes’es and not enough questions,” she said of the current commission. “I think its OK to say ‘no’ more. When it comes to spending other people’s money, it has to happen.”

In her first term, Lake wants to hunt for government waste with a line-by-line audit of the county’s budget. She also will propose capping the hours of unused sick leave employees can accumulate and sell back at retirement.

Marsh platform

Marsh, a sports announcer, said the county should speed up its business licensing processes and “slow it down when it comes to tax increases.”

The government should spend its money improving infrastructure and transportation, Marsh said. He wants to stop offering subsidies to large corporations and industries, and he says continuing to raise the hotel room tax will hurt tourism.

“People come to Vegas for value, but if they kept getting nickled-and-dimed, it will affect our key industry,” he said. “We no longer have a monopoly on gambling, the state of Nevada, so we need to serve tourists to the best of our ability.”

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.