Recently re-elected North Las Vegas councilman calls for community growth

North Las Vegas Ward 4 Councilman Richard Cherchio was elected on April 7.

He became involved with civic duty shortly after the 9/11 attacks. As a sign of unity and respect, the New York native wanted to fly an American flag on his property maintained by a homeowner association. When he was told he could not get approval for flying the flag, he became inspired to become a community advocate. Through his actions, he helped in passing H.R. 42, also known as the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005.

He was appointed to the North Las Vegas City Council from 2009-2011. Although he ran again in 2011, he lost by a single vote to local dentist Wade Wagner.

That did not stop Cherchio from staying active in his community.

In 2010, he founded the North Las Vegas Volunteers in Police Services Citizen's Patrol Program to help coordinate volunteer activities and make communities safer. He continues to volunteer with the program.

Currently, he serves and volunteers with nine organizations, including the North Las Vegas Alliance of Homeowner Associations and Concerned Citizens, the North Las Vegas Community Veterans Commission, Nellis Air Force Base P4 initiative, the Protectors of Tule Springs, Volunteers in Police Services, the Citizens Police Academy Alumni North, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Friends of the North Las Vegas Library District, and the Parks Homeowner Association.

View recently sat down with Cherchio for a question-and-answer session.

Why did you decide to seek this position as North Las Vegas Ward 4 Councilman?

What really got me going was starting the North Las Vegas Alliance of HOAs and Concerned Citizens in 2004 and getting involved with the police citizen academy. It led me to realize that if you really want to accomplish something that you feel needs to be accomplished, then you have to be at the table. To me, of course, that meant being on City Council. This is an important, yet underrated, position. We have such an impact, which can be either good or bad. I also like having day-to-day contact with people versus being a state-level assemblyperson. I like having the ability to address concerns in almost real time. Being a councilperson allows me to do that.

You lost the 2011 election to Wade Wagner by one vote. How does it feel to get this seat back?

It's an amazing feeling because God has a strange way of working. Although I lost that election, it gave me an opportunity to still stay involved with the community. It also allowed people to use me as a poster child when it comes to how important their votes are. When I decided to run again this year, a lot of those people who didn't vote said they were sorry because they didn't think that I was going to have a problem. I didn't take it personal.

What did you learn in your precious experience as Ward 4 Councilman that you believe will help you this year?

I made a lot of contacts during that time, which gave me the foundation to understand what people's concerns were. I learned that it's better to go to community meetings, and aside from answering questions, I try to bring City Hall to them. I understand that it can be hard for people to come out to a city meeting at 7 p.m., so I'd rather bring myself to them at different community events. I am an on-the-road councilman. I'd rather be out on the field going to where the issues are so that I can put a face to a problem.

You mentioned that while you were campaigning on the street, you went door-to-door asking residents what are their concerns. What were some of the top responses?

I broke them down here (points to a binder) by code enforcements, park concerns, etc. When it comes to safety, there are many concerns about stoplights, road problems and speeding. When it comes to our libraries, we have more fiscal problems.

How would you compare the issues that Ward 4 faced in your previous term to now?

It was a different environment and a different economy back then. There was a lot of uncertainty with people's jobs and mistrust, and some decisions had to be made that were difficult. For me, it was always very hard to choose which group was more important. Clearly public safety, police and firefighters are very important to citizens, but so are other services, such as roads, parks and libraries. It was very difficult for me to say to one group you're less important and have to be fired.

The biggest thing that we were dealing with in my mind was the rapid unfettered growth, which some considered to be a wave of prosperity. I had a concern that it would eventually turn into a tsunami of destruction. You can't have unfettered growth without the infrastructure in place to serve those people coming here. We needed to be a little more prudent of what we were approving and have the ability to let residents know what was being planned right next to them.

On the flip side, now we have slowed down, and we're trying to get businesses in here. Our staff is maybe one-third of what we had then. Now we're looking to get back on our feet financially, and I think we're heading in right direction.

As a longtime resident, what do you feel could be improved in North Las Vegas?

We need to add policeman, of course, and there's been a delay with new development and the maintenance of our parks. We need to get restaurants in here. It's a lot for people to drive to outside of North Las Vegas for what should be right here. We don't want residents to drive to Las Vegas to go to Red Lobster or Whole Foods or Trader Joe's. Having these types of places right here contributes to the quality of life. In the future, I'd like to see these amenities available to us, including a medical center.

What is the biggest issue that Ward 4 faces, and as Ward 4 Councilman, what do you plan to do about the issue?

One thing that really concerns me is how well we address all of the graffiti and (illegal) signage problems. We hired a company to clean it up, but every day, I see new graffiti or signage. We're still trying to figure out how to properly address this and hold people accountable for their actions. Ordinances must be tough to take care of our residents' quality of life.

What are your goals for your term?

If I could leave a small mark of accomplishment in North Las Vegas, it would be in the areas of proper development, animal rights, public safety and our veterans.

In terms of animal rights, my goal is to create a no-kill shelter here. I'd like to bring together a lot of these local animal rescues groups to see how to work with The Animal Foundation to assist in getting these animals homes and microchipped. Right now, we have animals that are found on the street, but they are not strays; they're just lost. Many don't have collars, and they aren't microchipped because residents don't have the money for it. I want to see how we could work together to address these needs and find animals homes.

When it comes to public safety, I really rely on our residents to be my eyes and ears. When they open up a complaint with the city, it is tracked by the ward's councilperson. They will be notified of the progress and of when it's resolved. I'm also continuing my work with the VIPS program, and we're speaking to our traffic department to see about getting more crosswalk signs by school traffic lights.

Ward 4 has a couple of things that makes it stand out from other wards. It's one of the larger wards with undeveloped land, which also causes concerns with residents when it comes to project planning. I want the developers to talk to residents about what their plans are and address any concerns that residents may have. With the development of the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument and the Villages at Tule Springs, we want to make sure residents are kept up-to-date with what's happening around them.

And then the fourth issue that's really important to me is our veterans. Ward 4 doesn't have a veterans hospital. I'm looking to work with the nonprofit Life After Active Duty to advocate for a brick-and-mortar resource center for veterans.

Do you have any personal projects planned?

Every day, there's something new. Right now, I'm looking to adopt a school, probably Legacy High School or Mojave. I want to work closely with the school personnel to see how we can work out a partnership with the community and children. I also plan to develop a Ward 4 newsletter to keep residents updated on what's happening in their area and hold a Coffee with a Councilman event on a monthly or bimonthly basis in the future.

What is your vision for the future of North Las Vegas?

I truly believe that North Las Vegas has — contrary to most people's beliefs — a bright future. We're probably the only municipality that has as much available land for development as anyone here in Southern Nevada. North Las Vegas has something to offer people — whether it be the Apex, UNLV campus or a medical resource center — all of those things will complement the new national monument very well. That's what I believe is really in store for us over the next 10 to 20 years.

What would you like residents to know?

A lot of people don't know about the importance of their councilmembers in day-to-day life. They look past us like we're a piece of glass. They don't know what we're there for except to make decisions once or twice a week at City Council meetings. I recently met with people who had a problem with school buses that were speeding. People can go ahead and call the school district, but I always felt that their first point of contact should be their elected official. We're the ones who were elected to take care of their needs. I could make a call to the school district for them, and you can bet that I will get an answer by the end of the day.

— To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy.