I’ve been hanging back on piping up in the already well-reported upon fray of the Las Vegas City Council Ward 3 primary election which, as the world has learned, features rebuked former Congressman Ruben Kihuen. Not that I’m disinterested. In fact, the extreme opposite. I love and live Ward 3. The politics, issues, characters, history. Indeed, it’s the one part of the ever-expanding, Greater-Las Vegas Valley where I’m never lost. The easy, throwback grid of most of my life.

I have old school/old shul cred when it comes to Ward 3 – literally. I went to preschool on 17th and Oakey at the old Temple Beth Shalom synagogue. That was my family’s place of worship, too, and where I spent most of my formative years through my senior year at Valley High School. Which is not in Ward 3, nor in the City of Las Vegas. In fact, it’s across the center traffic lanes of Sahara Avenue, which is the jurisdictional dividing line between the city and the vast and dominant unincorporated Clark County.

Most folks don’t realize that distinction, but it is mighty in terms of the money and the power (the county has way more of both). The city often struggles to establish relevance in the region, while most people assume it controls all the levers. It doesn’t. But that doesn’t make it any less essential in the discussion of all things Southern Nevada, even as the county has often made it clear that the city is not necessarily welcome.

I’d like to focus on the importance of the upcoming election even as the most wide-reaching government services — education, law enforcement and social services — are dominated by county entities. The city and county have a bond and a confluence, even if both refuse to play nice or even collaborate on issues of mutual concern. People (especially outsiders) say “Las Vegas” and mean the whole Las Vegas Valley, and well – it is what it is. Las Vegas (the city) matters.

***

By a matter of a few blocks, my family technically lived in “the County” in our apartment complex behind the former Riviera Hotel. My dad walked to work as a dealer at the former Sahara Hotel. I had no idea I was under the weighty thumb of the county (and further in the seemingly superfluous county township of Winchester). That split seemed just plain silly to a 12-year-old, especially as I repeatedly walked to classes at Fremont Jr. High, got music from Odyssey Records, ate pastrami at Foxy’s Firehouse Deli — all in modern day Ward 3. My family ate a lot of meals at the Fremont Hotel Buffet, dropped off donations twice a year at Child Haven, went junior league bowling at the Showboat hotel — also all in Ward 3.

While I didn’t know it had a name—er, number, Ward 3 was my home.

The designation for me became official when I moved into the John S. Park historic downtown neighborhood in 2000. For the past few years, I’ve served as the elected president of my neighborhood (don’t say “homeowners”) association. You may also recognize me from my many 1 a.m. appearances on Public Access TV pleading before the Planning Commission (where some refer to me as “judge”) or ranting at the City Council about short-term home rentals, Huntridge Circle Park, squatters, and over-development/under-development/secret development in all the wrong and/or right places in Ward 3.

In 2003, I was appointed for a short stretch as a Las Vegas Municipal Court judge that covered all six Las Vegas wards (hence my nickname). My present-day law office is in Ward 3. I go to court daily as an attorney, here. I’m seen at all the many coffeehouses in the ward. I go to the bars, the restaurants. I walk, bike, live and breathe the area.

You could say I’m a creaky fixture in Ward 3. And in my years I’ve learned a lot about the history, struggles, triumphs and challenges to the (arguably) most intriguing ward in the city. At least the downtown part. That’s where most of my focus has been trained, anyhow. But there’s the eastern part of ward, too, that goes all the way out to Nellis Blvd. The ward is an odd shape. A controversial product of seemingly race-based gerrymandering that occurred in the 1990s that once, but no longer, included West Las Vegas.

Currently, its a triangle around downtown that runs along the I-15 to about Sahara Avenue adjacent to a rectangle up to Owens down to Sahara. It’s a big ward, but not a populous one; neither is it comprised of a lot of people who get out and vote. In our last ward election, Councilman Bob Coffin only needed 1,478 votes out of the 2,587 cast to win it outright in the primary. In the more heated election before that Coffin needed about 2,500 votes to capture 51 percent. So yeah, not really big numbers.

And yet now in the 2019 municipal election cycle, the only race in Southern Nevada being repeatedly reported on (nationally even), is Ward 3. I literally have no idea who’s running for the, what is it, Liege Lord of North Las Vegas or the Vicar of Henderson? Ward 3 is getting virtually all the media action.

Home of the Arts District, the Golden Nugget, Atomic Liquors, Zappos, Pawn Stars, the Stratosphere, the county and city Jails, the Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, what's left of the Huntridge Theater, the Clark County Regional Justice Center and Family Court. Locale of the Tony Roma’s restaurant parking lot where Frank Rosenthal’s car was blown up in 1982. Where the Stratosphere caught fire in 1993. Where all the popular parades ramble along and those traffic displacing “fun” runs route.

It’s also a flash point for how the city is or isn’t contending with growing homelessness and the squatter population; a juicy lamb chop for developers hungry for the “hot area” to build and build with abandon or maybe occasionally with a thoughtful plan; a place with low-income, mid-income and high-mid income folks (not too many super-richies here) and high-rise dwellers mixed together but segregated street by street; home of a few at-risk schools and some gang activity; home of the Las Vegas Academy and only a handful of proper, well-run city green spaces; also the locale of the main DMV office and some old school treasures like the Italian-American club.

There’s a ton of Airbnb’s, and some great new restaurants, bars and coffee houses. We’re about to endure an experiment on Fremont Street called “form based code.”

***

All eyes are on Ward 3, but not for ANY of that. Not for any of the big issues the candidates are discussing, either. Nor for the small gossip floating around the electorate fast and furious like a cicada who just sucked all the caffeine out of a delicious Vesta coffee roasted bean (also in Ward 3).

The reason we’re being so talked about as a geographic region of the insular city that does NOT include the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip is because lots and lots of people who don’t live in our Ward (joining quite a few others who do) really care about making sure ONE candidate doesn’t get elected (Ruben Kihuen), or that another one does (Olivia Diaz), or that a third one who isn’t as well-known outside the ward, or to use a Las Vegas proper euphemism “juiced,” gets her time in the light (Melissa Clary). 

Still, there are seven candidates running and the neighbors are starting to get a little nervous that the attention and discussion is not about the things most important to the livability and sustainability of the official set of boundaries inside which we all call home, but overwhelmingly about personalities and outside politics. There is no consensus amongst at least my neighbors of what is going to happen except for sure that our older ward for the first time in at least 20 years is going to be represented by someone under the age of 55. And while all seven candidates come with varying degrees of charms and/or skills and/or flaws – it’s clear by now that only the above-named three seem to have a chance to make it out of the primary for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of organization, funding and pre-campaign support.

I have respect for the other four candidates and their ideas and hope they continue to participate as citizens in fixing the many challenges they’ve identified on the campaign trail. Restaurateur Mingo Collaso, casino worker Shawn Mooneyham, special education teacher Aaron Bautista and former Parks Commissioner David Lopez have all fought hard for a place in the voters’ minds but this was simply a weird year to run for this office. None idly put their names in – they ran like they were ready to win, and kudos to all of them. Any one of them has the potential to be a great public servant, staff member or ward leader and advocate.

So where does all this leave the race to represent Ward 3?

We need a good representative who is committed to the people, duh. Who can stand up to the arrogant wish-lists of developers but at the same time encourage new development. Who can also stand up to the growing conservatism on the, er, troubled City Council — and especially the suburban interests who see little benefit in our urban core infrastructure. Who can speak to the large Hispanic population and the younger demographic seeking out the funky allure of our burgeoning (finally) downtown and to the older demographic who have been in the Ward for generations. Who can understand that the city can’t go at homelessness alone, but needs all the stakeholders involved – even as the city has little to no power over key players like the Metropolitan Police Department or Clark County social services. Who is committed to useable green spaces for all residents in the ward, and also to transparency and streamlined business licensing. Who might speak to a municipal court and jail system that is way too under the radar. Who can find a solution to the short-term rental civil war and abject poverty and low-performing schools. Who can support historic preservation in the oldest part of the city and improve freaking walkability on a seemingly endless grid of dilapidated and ADA-hostile sidewalks.

This column is not an endorsement (or a condemnation) of any candidate vying to be my neighborhood’s representative, nor any kind of prediction (other than that one or two of the three candidates mentioned above will come out of the primary). Ample ink has been devoted to Ruben Kihuen’s quick return to politics after his abrupt and prickly departure, and to the growing list of prominent names calling for his voluntary removal from the race. There’s no need to pile on to already the well-reported, odious conduct, which is devoted to the reality of this race.

If local journalists cared more about the ward’s actual issues more than they cared about Kihuen’s issues, you might hear about the good and bad of all the candidates.

For example, you might hear how Olivia Diaz is a teacher with sincere hopes for better educational outcomes from the city’s interventions, and how she would be the first Latina on the Las Vegas City Council (from a heavily Hispanic district no less). You might also hear about the circumstances surrounding her abrupt and never sufficiently explained departure from the Legislature (her district did encompass a significant portion of Ward 3) right after she was re-elected. And you might hear about the impact (or potential expected paybacks) of so many national figures and unions breaking from tradition and injecting themselves into this small local election?

You might also hear how Melissa Clary is a strong advocate for historic preservation and probably the candidate most aware of city issues after her experiences working with and for governmental entities like the City of Las Vegas. Or that some voters seem off-put by her claims of being instrumental in accomplishments where her connection may only have been tangential or even divisive.

You might even hear how the now-polarizing Ruben Kihuen was, after all, the first immigrant to Nevada later elected to represent parts of Ward 3 in the Legislature — and then get elected to the U.S. Congress, providing hope to many young people in the ward, despite how those accomplishments have been rightfully overshadowed by his loathsome conduct. Or you might hear how as congressman he didn’t jurisdictionally represent any part of Ward 3, and how he currently lives in an isolated high rise on the most southern boundary of the ward that might as well be on the Las Vegas Strip. 

This is the stuff we should be talking about, but alas, instead we are hyper-focused on No Means No Ruben (or Anyone But Ruben). And it’s not fair to the residents of Ward 3 who will not only have to work with the ultimate winner, but who also will have to rely on that person to advocate for them/us.

That’s why, along with many other committed and dedicated neighbors, I helped organize a meeting with Nevadans For the Common Good so that all the candidates – even the one(s) people may despise – were asked to commit to focusing on the interests of the Ward 3 neighbors and working with us. It was a unique forum designed not to include political speeches but to get the candidates to realize that, for whomever prevails, we are organized, active, interested and important. All seven candidates showed up, and all seven said yes to every commitment we requested. 

That was a victory for the neighborhood — and we won’t let the winner forget the promises.

We need a leader to help figure out where Mayor Goodman is on our issues, to stand up to Michelle Fiore and Stavros Anthony and whatever possible nightmare person/situation might replace Steve Seroka, to join with the winners of the other urban core districts of Ward 1 and 5. We need a councilman or councilwoman who will stand with us in our day-to-day life, long after the primary on April 2 and the general election on June 11.

Update at 8:00 a.m. on 4/1/19:  This column has been corrected to say that while Kihuen was the first DREAMer elected to major office in Nevada, he did not participate in DACA program.

8:51 a.m.:  While he did apply for and gain citizenship after his family immigrated to the U.S., Kihuen was not technically a DREAMer. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services began accepting applications for DACA on August 15, 2012. 

Dayvid Figler is a private criminal defense attorney based in Las Vegas. He previously served as an associate attorney representing indigent defendants charged with murder for the Clark County Special Public Defender’s office. During his legal tenure, he served a brief appointment as a Las Vegas Municipal Court judge. Figler has been cited as a noted legal expert in many places including the New York Times, National Public Radio, Newsweek, USA Today, Court TV and the Los Angeles Times. His award-winning radio essays have appeared on KNPR as well as on NPR’s All Things Considered program.