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Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to make proposal to elect, rather than appoint, member
By Michael Squires and PAI of WBTI*1

Through the courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal, Public Administration Institution(PAI) of Washington Business and Technology Institute (WBTI) is pleased to post the following article:

Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

CITY COUNCIL OPENING: Special election considered

Mayor to make proposal to elect, rather than appoint, member*2

By MICHAEL SQUIRES
REVIEW-JOURNAL

The Las Vegas City Council appears ready to move forward with a special election this summer to fill the Ward 2 council seat vacated by Lynette Boggs McDonald.

Mayor Oscar Goodman will propose today that the council drop plans to appoint Boggs McDonald's replacement and instead allow the district's voters to make the decision. If Goodman's plan gains support, the council would vote on the proposal in a special meeting May 11.

"I think anytime you can give people the right to be heard, that's the more prudent way to go," the mayor said Tuesday. "We'll see whether the council goes along with that."

City Clerk Barbara Jo Ronemus has in recent days discussed the feasibility of a special election with the secretary of state's office and Clark County officials. Ronemus, who will report to the council today on the potential costs and timetable for a special election, declined to comment on specifics until after she gives her report.

However, a city source indicated the council will choose between a conventional election with polling at a limited number of Ward 2 sites and a through-the-mail election in which ballots would be mailed to the district's 34,000 active registered voters.

One timetable would schedule the winner-takes-all special election for June 22, with the newly elected member of the council taking office July 7. Candidates would file for office over three days later this month.

"With the timetable that I'm looking at and trying to accomplish, we'll have someone sworn in on July 7," Goodman said.

Another option, which would allow more time for candidate filing, would push the special election to July 20.

Estimated costs for the election range from $50,000 to $80,000.

Councilman Larry Brown, who supports a special election if the costs and timetable are reasonable, said he favors holding it as soon as possible because the winner will have to run again in next year's municipal election.

"If we drag this out beyond four or five months, then the winner will have to turn around and run in another four or five months," he said. "You don't want to split it up so it's a race and a race."

Councilwoman Janet Moncrief, who also said she supports a special election to fill the Ward 2 seat, said the council also needs to allow adequate time for candidates to campaign.

Under Goodman's proposal, there would be no need to appoint a caretaker to hold the seat until the special election, as some have speculated.

The city charter requires council vacancies be filled within 30 days. May 19 will mark 30 days since Boggs McDonald stepped down to accept an appointment to the Clark County Commission.

But, Goodman noted, the state statute that allows cities to use special elections in lieu of appointments supersedes the Las Vegas charter.

Since Boggs McDonald's resignation last month, the mayor and council have remarked on the large number of qualified candidates who have applied for the Ward 2 opening. More than a dozen candidates have submitted resumes and sat for interviews.

A few of the candidates include architect and former Planning Commissioner Craig Galati; Robert Genzer, the city's planning director and a 30-year City Hall veteran; Terry Garcia-Cahlan, a former city staffer and consultant to state agencies; and longtime attorney Steve Wolfson, who boasts endorsements from the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and two neighborhood groups.

"I got through all 16 interviews and there were three or four people who could do the job, no question," Brown said. "I think from the people's perspective it's (a special election) probably the safer way to go."

Councilman Michael Mack agreed.

"There's been so many qualified candidates, it's been difficult to choose one who has risen to the top," he said. "I think a special election, with the voice being heard from Ward 2 residents, would speak volumes to the needs of this community."

Councilman Gary Reese, who became disenchanted with the appointment process when he unsuccessfully sought an appointment before winning office in 1995, first initiated the city's consideration of a Ward 2 special election last week.

"I'm still in favor of a special election," he said Tuesday. "I've preached that since I tried to get an appointment."*3

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References

*1. PAI is the initial of Public Administration Institution of Wasngton Business and Technology Institute (WBTI).
*2. Squires, Michael. 'Mayor to make proposal to elect, rather than appoint, member,' "Las Vegas Review-Journal," (May 5, 2004), Las Vegas, Nevada: reviewjournal.com.
*3. Ibid.

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'Laws of Attraction' is way too sweet and way too predictable

By Carol Cling

Through the courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal, the following is a complete post from "This Week's NEON" of the newspaper. It is appeared today on its reviewjournal.com:

Friday, April 30, 2004
Copyright @ Las Vegas Review-Journal

MOVIE REVIEW: Sugar Shock

'Laws of Attraction' is way too sweet and way too predictable

By CAROL CLING
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Rival divorce attorneys Audrey Woods (Julianne Moore) and Daniel Rafferty (Pierce Brosnan) square off in 'Laws of Attraction."

When you're in a bubbly mood, there's nothing worse than flat champagne. (Or stale ginger ale, for that matter.)

Yet that's the overall impact -- or, more precisely, lack of impact -- "Laws of Attraction" makes.

It works hard to whip up a frothy, opposites-attract romance between two battling divorce lawyers we know are fated to be mated.

Not because there's any inherent chemistry or attraction between them, but that's what the script says, so that's what the movie does.

And is it ever frustrating to watch.

It's painful to see dramatic powerhouse Julianne Moore, one of the best actresses around (catch "Far From Heaven" or "The Hours" for proof), struggle to create something, anything, out of nothing.

It's even more painful to witness Moore fidget and fuss trying to drum up some comic chemistry with leading man Pierce Brosnan, who may be a dramatic lightweight but seems far more at home in the movie's fairy tale world.

Ms. Moore, we have two words for you: lighten up.

Unfortunately, director Peter Howitt ("Johnny English," "Sliding Doors") stole those two words for himself. Even more unfortunately, he seems to confuse lightness with lack of substance.

But it's not all his fault. After all, if it ain't on the page, it definitely ain't on the soundstage. And "Laws of Attraction" definitely ain't on the page.

The screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna ("Three to Tango") and "Steel Magnolias" playwright Robert Harling ("Soapdish," "The First Wives Club") quickly sets up its predictable premise: the ongoing war of words between uptight, upstanding Audrey Woods (Moore) and raffish Daniel Rafferty (Brosnan), who's never met a dirty trick he didn't like, in or out of the courtroom.

Quicker than you can say "Objection, your honor," Daniel's pursuing Audrey from bar to barroom, with Audrey protesting (a bit too loudly) all the way. And then a few drinks with, and a few winks from, Daniel warm her up -- until she sobers up, that is.

Their professional approach-avoidance tango reaches a climax when they find themselves on opposite sides of a tabloid-worthy divorce case pitting brainless rock star Thorne Jamison ("Underworld's" suitably screaming Michael Sheen) against his fashion designer wife Serena ("A Mighty Wind's" Parker Posey, more pouty than perky this time out).

The couple's legal wrangling centers on who gets custody of their ancient Irish castle where -- you guessed it -- Daniel and Audrey travel to interview the castle staff. Separately, of course, until each discovers that the magic of Ireland (not to mention the magic of Irish whiskey) can turn romantic fancies into realities.

Reluctant romance, of course, has been a comedic staple for centuries. And if you need a reminder of how effective -- and how effervescent -- it can be, may I refer you to the works of William Shakespeare? Or, perhaps, Woody Allen?

If only screenwriters McKenna and Harling had bothered to steal from the best all the way through. Instead, they start off with a classic (Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin's 1949 script for "Adam's Rib," which starred Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as squabbling attorney spouses) and go downhill from there, borrowing bits and pieces from so many movies that "Laws of Attraction" tastes like overcooked leftovers from multiple meals.

Indeed, they're so busy tossing tidbits into the plot pot they forget to add the most crucial ingredient: motivation, which might explain why the central characters do the myriad lunatic things they do. Yes, to paraphrase the great Martha and the Vandellas, love makes you do foolish things. But there's a difference between depicting foolish things and explaining them -- a difference "Laws of Attraction" clearly doesn't understand.

Director Howitt tries to distract us with some tired slapstick, but the frenetic pacing only serves to highlight the movie's curiously choppy quality.

And so does the Cuisinart-style editing. Somewhere, lying on the cutting-room floor, there may be scenes that explain why the movie's characters do the things they do and feel the way they feel. But you'd never know it from watching "Laws of Attraction."

Most of the fun the movie generates -- and we use the term "fun" loosely -- comes from its supporting characters, who don't have to do any heavy lifting to keep the story's gears grinding.

That enables Frances Fisher to score some genuine zingers as Audrey's mother, a serial divorcee as flighty as Audrey is focused. "Saturday Night Live" veteran Nora Dunn also has some fun with her role as a stern Judge Judy stand-in.

Both Moore and Brosnan prove effortlessly easy on the eyes, of course. But neither turns out to be easy on the brain -- or, even more crucially, the heart.

All too often, their relationship resembles the gooey, chewy Sno Balls for which they share an inexplicable predilection. (Maybe Brosnan got addicted to them while filming "The Mirror Has Two Faces" with Barbra Streisand, whose character ingested mass quantities of them.)

In short, it's puffy, tooth-numbingly sweet -- and full of empty calories.

Just like "Laws of Attraction" itself.

*****This Week's NEON

REVIEW
movie: "Laws of Attraction"
running time: 90 minutes
rating: PG-13; sexual situations, profanity
verdict: C
now playing: Cinedome, Colonnade, Neonopolis, Orleans, Rainbow, Rancho, Sam's Town, Showcase, Sunset, Texas, Village Square

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References

*1. Cling, Carol. '"Laws of Attraction" is way too sweet and way too predictable,' "Las Vegas Review-Journal," (May 4, 2004), Las Vega, Nevada: reviewjournal.com.
*2. Ibid.