Seaman slams Las Vegas ordinance review

Las Vegas elected officials will now need to run proposed city ordinances by executive staff for research before they’re brought forward for public discussion and a vote, under a change approved on Wednesday.

The City Council voted 6-1 Wednesday to adopt the resolution, which Councilwoman Victoria Seaman contended usurps power from elected officials.

Seaman, who is running for mayor, said the new policy would allow the city manager to be involved in all briefings, with the ability to endorse ordinances.

“In my opinion, the recommending committee and open-meeting laws are obsolete by allowing (the city manager) to act as a taxpayer-funded lobbyist in a non-public forum when you’re not an elected official,” Seaman said.

“I can’t support, and I will be voting ‘no’ on this resolution for this and many other reasons,” she added.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman took “full ownership” for the proposal, and called the process a “stop gap” to prevent waste of staff time on uninformed proposed ordinances.

“This was not something that emanated or a power grab or anything from city management, it came from me,” Goodman said.

Currently, up to three council members can propose laws to the city manager, city attorney or department directors.

Without extensive vetting, the ordinances are drafted and circulated internally before they’re placed for public discussions, City Manager Jorge Cervantes said.

Under the new policy, the proposals will first be submitted to the offices of the city manager and city attorney who will prepare contextual reports on the issue’s history, previous City Council actions, financial impacts and possible legal challenges, assistant city attorney Jeff Dorocak said.

The research would then be shared with the entire council before ordinances are placed on recommending committee and City Council agendas, he said.

Ultimately, the ordinance sponsors would still have the power to push it forward, despite any apprehensions, they said.

“Neither the city attorney nor the city manager have the authority to deny any council person (the ability) to put an item on the agenda, and this doesn’t change that,” Cervantes said.

The change originally applied only to single-sponsor laws, but was amended to include proposals requested by multiple council members. Councilwoman Nancy Brune suggested the change.

The mayor and the five council members who voted for the resolution spoke in support of the change.

“The weight of responsibility of making a law that affects people’s lives, we cannot carry it lightly,” Councilman Brian Knudsen said. “We have to listen, we have to educate ourselves, we have to be informed; take that information and make the best decision possible, but we can’t do that without a lack of information up front.”

The change could delay ordinance proposals for up to two weeks, but could save time down the line if the laws are well-researched, Dorocak said.

“This will save our citizens thousands of dollars in tax money and staff time from being used in any type of reactionary idea,” Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske said.

Even with five years experience in the council, mayoral candidate Councilman Cedric Crear said elected officials can’t be experts in all topics.

“There’s a lot of history that goes on to a lot of those things,” said Crear, who has also announced a bid for mayor. “I would like to understand that.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.