Former Mayor and Congressional candidate: John Lee in his voice!

Las Vegas Nevada

December 16, 2023

John Lee, former Nevada State Assembly, Nevada State Senator, North Las Vegas Mayor, and businessman, would like to be a Congressman for Nevada’s 4^th Congressional District, currently held by Congressman Steven Horsford.

In a compelling and personal interview of John Lee on the Veterans In Politics Internet talk-show Live on Facebook November 29, 2023, linked here: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZ0DxQccwY).

John Lee, in his own words on why he struggled with the two major political parties:

In 1994, after being Republican, a family man, a successful businessman, and an active member of my church for 20 years, I set an appointment to meet with members of the Clark County Republican Party at their headquarters. The meeting was to ask for their support as I had chosen to run for the state legislature in Assembly District # 3 against an incumbent Democrat.

I met the Board, which consisted of three members. After brief introductions and a question and answer period, I was told they were not interested in supporting me in that district. They had already chosen to help a woman. They then asked me if I would move my family to Henderson.

I would not uproot my children from their schools, friends, or my wife from the home we had recently finished building to get the Board’s support for this campaign run. I declined the option they offered.

As I was preparing to leave the office, one of the board members, whom I was somewhat acquainted with, pointed her finger at me and, in a menacing voice, said, “The day of the white, Mormon male is over.” She then commented that the new Republican Party would be more diverse, including more women and minority community members. I was stunned by her aggressive words toward me. She clarified that I did not represent what she wanted as a candidate!

I returned to my place of business, where I watched my employees putting their tools on the trucks as they worked, and I realized that people like her did not care about me or my employees. As I continued to think about what she had said, I thought maybe I’m not a Republican. Perhaps I am a Democrat. I then changed my party affiliation. I knew nothing about the Democratic Party but was looking for better people to surround myself with.

I then met with some folks from the Democratic Party who were more accepting of me and said their “tent” was big enough to include me. I have always been pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-business. They did not have issues with those beliefs at the time. The Democrat party has changed since I joined them; it is no longer the same party, and I no longer fit in. They let me know this in many ways. In 2021, I changed my party affiliation back to being Republican.

While I served in the legislature, I was always a voice of reason and supported issues on life, guns, and business. Even as a Democrat, I was awarded the NRA’s Legislator of the Year for the Nation in 2008 and the Legislator of the Year for the Nation by the Sportshooters of America that year, as well for spending ten years building the Clark County Shooting Park and for my work on gun laws and saving the annual Las Vegas Shot Show. Many times in the Senate, as bills that would be bad for business would be submitted, I made sure they were “shelved” as I was the Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee.

As a businessman, I knew the adverse impact they would have on our small businesses in Nevada. I spoke against bills that allowed or encouraged assisted suicides. I was honored by Cities and Counties magazine for my efforts to save North Las Vegas, Nevada, and the surrounding states from the economic damage that a bankrupt city would impose on our area when they named me as their 2016 Elected Official of the Year for the Nation.

The Chairman’s Award was given to me to recognize my efforts to bring more businesses to North Las Vegas to diversify our economy. I have always supported our police in their efforts to combat crime.

Despite our challenging circumstances, when I was Mayor, I got them all new cars, a new jail, an improved judicial system, and 10 million dollars for their needs. I told them I would support them and we would never “take a knee” while I was Mayor. I worked across the aisle to support good bills and had friends in both parties. Good ideas should be welcomed no matter where or who they come from!

I continued to make my living from my businesses rather than public service. I decided not to run for a third term as Mayor as I had already fixed the financial situation in North Las Vegas, which was now the fiscally most robust City in Nevada. Because of my decision, it has made it easier to be available to run for Congress when asked to do so.

I love my country and want to be a part of helping it. I want to protect it, our health, and our children from the dangers I see coming through our border from other nations that undermine us with illicit drugs and an invasion of illegal immigrants that we cannot afford. We do not know who they are or what their intentions here are. I want to help us to build our businesses and to protect their ideas and our American dollar from being replaced by another nation’s currency. I want to keep our Bill of Rights and Constitution as they are. Please help me to do so by supporting my campaign for CD4. Check out my website at JohnLeeforCongress.com.

John Lee, in his own words, tells the trials and tribulations as Mayor of North Las Vegas:

John Lee’s response: Policing in our world today, sadly, has become an underappreciated job, but I think it is among the most noble professions in the world — our brothers and sisters in blue run toward the emergency while others run away!

I had the pleasure of working with a fantastic police force in the City of North Las Vegas, firm in their dedicated service and servant’s hearts! I understand first-hand the challenges our brave officers face daily, and I’ve seen how a community can decline fast when leaders go soft on crime.

When I took over North Las Vegas, the City was known for the “Nasty Boys.” North Las Vegas had the highest crime rate in the state. People were afraid to come.

We turned that around. Just last month (October 2023), the City of North Las Vegas was named the second safest City in Nevada! WalletHub’s annual study that shows the safest cities in America placed North Las Vegas second after Henderson, ahead of Las Vegas and Reno.

Violent crime (murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault) dropped 32 percent during my administration! In 2014, there were 1,795 violent crimes committed in the City of North Las Vegas, according to Nevada Crime Statistics put out by the State of Nevada. In 2022, violent crimes in North Las Vegas had dropped by a third to 1,216. For comparison, Reno, which is a similar size, had 1,682 violent crimes last year.

That staggering turnaround does not result from letting criminals go free or taking it easy on crime! That is the result of strong leadership, innovative policy, investing resources to hire more officers and open more police stations, and making it clear, in no uncertain terms, that we will not stand for crime in our community.

While other cities like Baltimore and Oakland have decreased public safety budgets recently, my administration increased the City of North Las Vegas’ public safety budget by $10 million over eight years and added 200 new employees! I also approved 77 new police vehicles, bringing much-needed new equipment to officers and residents after years of purchasing freezes.

I opened a second court in North Las Vegas, hired a new judge who started a specialty program for veterans, and added magistrates, restoring essential public safety services stripped from our community!

My team returned jail services to North Las Vegas, which was critical! After a decade of outsourcing, we opened the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center in July 2020, even with COVID!

In addition, this increased the number of officers on the streets by 15 percent! We invested in the safety of our residents, cut down windshield time to get more officers out patrolling, and increased the resources in our neighborhoods.

Through programs at the jail and our municipal court, we were also able to reduce recidivism for petty crimes significantly. Jails and prisons are government facilities where you don’t want repeat customers!

The accomplishments are:

I opened a new police station at the Villages at Tule Springs (and opened a new fire station, too!).
Created a Veterans Treatment Court to help veterans get the resources they need so they don’t have to resort to crime.
I have hired hundreds of police officers, firefighters, paramedics, corrections officers, bailiffs, marshals, and other first responders.
I started the Vegas Valley Police Academy to improve the training of new police officers and speed up recruitment.
Launched the only night court in Nevada. For traffic offenses, to make it easier, people don’t have to take off work to find childcare.
I established a Technical Rescue Team to respond to highly technical incidents in confined spaces, at high angles, or in swift water.
An increased presence of officers in neighborhoods with new policing divisions and initiatives (COP – Community Oriented Policing – Program, etc.)
First in Nevada to drop U.S. citizenship requirement for youths participating in the NLVPD Explorer Program.
Ensured the police department represented the community – promoting the City’s first Hispanic police chief, first female police chief, and first black female police chief.
We opened the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center in July 2020 after it closed in 2012 during the previous administration’s budget crisis. We had been contracting with Lincoln County and Las Vegas for jail services but wanted to return to our community for better delivery and effectiveness. We have created more than 120 jobs for correctional officers, law enforcement technicians, and other public safety workers.
We opened a second court division in the Spring of 2020. We expanded the North Las Vegas Municipal Court to open a second court division, the Community Approach to Rehabilitation and Engagement (CARE) Court, which works with the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center to offer diversionary programs for veterans and those accused of low-level offenses. It includes several specialty court programs that Chief Judge Chris Lee runs in one courtroom.