Henderson judge candidates face off; early voting starts Monday
Sandra Allred DiGiacomo said Henderson can do better than incumbent Judge Mark Stevens in the race for Henderson Municipal Court Judge Department 1.
“I think the people of Henderson agree we need a change,” DiGiacomo said. “In the primaries, there were a lot of people not voting for Stevens.”
Stevens, 50, and DiGiacomo, 44, were neck and neck in the primary election April 4. Stevens received 41.88 percent of the votes and DiGiacomo received 40.75 percent. The vote wasn’t so close in the two other Henderson races. Mayor Andy Hafen and City Councilman John Marz each obtained more than 50 percent of the vote and retained their seats.
In her ads, DiGiacomo referenced the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s 2011 Judging the Judges survey in which Stevens was given a 64 percent retention rate. He was the second lowest rated municipal court judge in the survey of attorneys.
“It is a $140,000-a-year position,” she said. “The taxpayer and the community deserve a better rated judge.”
Stevens doesn’t think the survey holds much weight.
“I think the numbers are skewed,” he said. “It is a relatively small number (of people surveyed) compared to the hundreds of attorneys who come before me. The attorneys and public defenders who appear before me are very supportive of my re-election. I’m also endorsed by the Henderson Police Association and former (Henderson) police chiefs.”
He also said that in most cases, people are dealing with him in tough circumstances.
“Fifty percent of the time, I’m ruling against someone,” he said. “It’s not a civil case where I can try to make both parties happy.”
He added that DiGiacomo should be campaigning on her own qualifications rather than going negative.
Both candidates have been touting their experience.
DiGiacomo, a Las Vegas native, is the chief deputy district attorney with the Clark County district attorney’s office, where she has worked since 1999.
She has also been a private attorney and unsuccessfully ran for the Henderson justice of the peace in 2009.
“I bring a different perspective,” DiGiacomo said. “I have done everything from prosecuting felonies to arguing in front of the Nevada Supreme Court.”
She said she has a good eye for identifying people in the courtroom who just need help getting their lives back on track, as opposed to those who have the potential to keep escalating criminal behavior.
Stevens has been an attorney with the Marine Corps, a private attorney, a police officer and worked at the city attorney’s office. He ran unopposed for Department 1 in 2007.
In his years as a judge, he said he has brought the length of time it takes to set trials from five or six months to 45 or 50 days.
“It took years to get it down,” he said.
DiGiacomo hopes to bring more efficiency to the court.
“I think people want it to be easier to complete the requirements,” she said. “They want to be able to get in and out of court.”
She suggests adding ways to pay fines online, making the system run faster.
Stevens said the court is working to improve online services.
His most recognized accomplishment was helping to start the Veterans Court, which helps offenders with a military background who might have committed misdemeanors because of difficulty readjusting to life after returning home.
Each year, the court — with three department judges — oversees about 100,000 traffic and misdemeanor crimes in Henderson, the second largest city in Nevada with more than 260,000 people.
Municipal Court judges serve six-year terms and earn an annual salary of $137,867.
Early voting is Monday through May 31.
The general election is June 4.
