Veteran county clerk facing challenge for another term

The clerk’s office certifies notary publics and ministers, records fictitious firm names, accepts passport applications and issues all marriage licenses, which are an an integral part of Southern Nevada’s tourism economy. Last year, it brought in $2.6 billion and generated $88 million in tax revenue.

Goya, a Democratic candidate, is running against William Francis Young, a Republican and retired law enforcement official from Texas. Goya was first elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018.

Young, who has also worked as a mediator and health and life insurance agent, said one of his initiatives as clerk would be to recruit and retain employees with attractive pay and benefits, streamline services and improve communication and interaction with customers.

He also wants to work with county and state officials to authorize the issuing of marriage licenses around the clock, without adding to the expenses of the county.

Young’s plan is to authorize select casinos with chapels to issue certificates at their casino cages. Those people issuing certificates would be on the casinos’ payroll, not the county’s, he said.

“I want to kind of get back to the old Las Vegas that we we all knew in the younger days,” he said. “That fabulous time when you can come here 24/7, eat, drink and be merry, or get married today, 24 hours a day. And gamble, of course.”

But Goya said that issuing marriage licenses is so important to people’s lives that it is not something to be outsourced.

In 2006, the county ceased issuing marriage licenses around-the-clock during weekends and holidays. But there wasn’t much business during those early morning hours, and the current hours of 8 a.m. to midnight works and saves tax dollars, Goya said.

She described herself as a candidate who is innovative, persistent, honest and willing to listen.

Some of her accomplishments as clerk include securing $1.1 million per year to promote wedding tourism, a public private partnership to create the Las Vegas Wedding Chamber of Commerce and working with the state Legislature to protect consumers and ensure wedding integrity.

Earlier this year, the clerk’s office launched the award-winning website Weddings.Vegas, which showcases couples, locations and venues in the now-trademarked label “Wedding Capital of the World.”

The clerk also worked to create a comprehensive digital archive of county records since 1909. She said she hopes the Google-like search engine will be accessible to the public within the next year.

“If I see a problem, I’m a bulldog. It may take a number of years, like turning the wedding industry around,” she said. “But I’m kind of relentless, and eventually I make it happen.”

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.