April 15, 2026

Michelle Romero: Mayor of Malfeasance

Mayor Michelle Romero leads the highly compromised members of the Henderson City Council. She has accepted staggering monetary contributions from those purchasing approval from the City Council. Romero is “selling out” the residents of Henderson with her malfeasance.

Malfeasance is when a public official intentionally misuses their power for personal gain, such as accepting bribes or awarding contracts to favored companies. Malfeasance does not always involve a crime, but is a wrongful act that harms the public or violates trust. It's characterized by deliberate misconduct by someone in authority. 

During Romero’s reign as mayor, residential and commercial developers, businesses and corporations have enjoyed unfettered access to contracts, resources and funding during her tenure on the City Council. Access and approval are routinely purchased with little regard for the quality of life of Henderson residents and at the expense of taxpayers who will be burdened for decades.

Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero is seeking reelection to her position in the 2026 election. If history repeats, and she gains over 50% of the vote in the primary election this spring, there will be no contest in the general election this fall. So there is an urgency to alert Henderson voters to deep concerns regarding her integrity and ability.

Romero’s campaign war chest for her 2026 reelection bid was $726,800 as of January 15, 2026 for a local election. A ridiculous sum when compared to the amounts raised by the two leading candidates ($618,690 and $444,274) in the statewide election for Nevada Attorney General. Three additional sources of income include her salary ($60-70K) as mayor, public pension after retiring from employment with the City of Henderson and Michelle Romero Consulting.

Romero’s “double dip” (salary and pension) from Henderson is permissable. The undisclosed sources and amount of revenue from her “consultant” firm along with grossly disproportionate campaign contributions is malfeasance. Her income may be legal but is it ethical?

Two key questions arise concerning these immense monetary contributions. Why would such an exorbitant amount of money be directed toward Mayor Romero? Why does she accept it? Let’s follow the money!

This is not the first time that a concern has been raised about the corruption among members of the City Council. But staggering political payoffs have raised the bar in Henderson.

It is an open political secret that candidates for municipal and county offices in Clark County get paid back if they get elected. The majority of “contributions” come in after candidates have won their seats or run as incumbents. It is like betting on the winning horse after it is safely secured in the barn after the race.

The monetary advantage for incumbents seeking reelection to the Henderson City Council is substantial because their support and approval has already been secured. The appointment process has seated several members by the back door who then joined a team of compromised decision-makers and enjoyed the advantage of being elected as incumbents. Some members did it the old fashioned way by initially being elected but are still compromised.

All Henderson City Council members get “paid off” once they are seated and new money shifts toward them when the boundaries of wards are altered. Each member has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions in an effort to buy future political favors.

Mayor Romero has taken it to a whole new level through either a complete lack of conscience, self-awareness or both? Her finest leadership ability seems to be compromising the integrity of those around her. Romero’s history in Henderson suggests this trait is not newly developed.

Romero favored “at-large elections” for council seats in each city ward. “I personally think it’s one of the smartest things the city could do.” Even more prophetic, “You have to think about the city in every decision you make and don’t have council members fighting against each other.” Romero understood early in her political career the importance of having members share the wealth generated by a seat on the Henderson City Council.

A fly in the ointment is that Henderson Council members are now selected separately by voters in each ward. Although a much larger nuisance for Romero has been the rogue Council member who hasn’t completely fallen into her web of deceit.

Romero and other Council members receive regular payoffs from businesses and developers that expect preferential access and approval for contracts and agreements in Henderson. It is not a level playing field for businesses that do not “pay to play.” Competitors are frozen out.

Examples of regular contributors include the company that holds an exclusive franchise for waste disposal and recycling, towing companies that receive preferential calls when needed by the city police, restaurants that receive political shout-outs and preference as political venues, the gaming industry, developers and their attorneys. Similar to paying tribute to an emperor.

Business, development and legal requests must be approved by the Henderson City Council. Having received thousands of dollars from many of these parties, Council members are often faced with a “conflict of interest.” None are more “conflicted” than the mayor.

Romero’s most blatant competing interest are her ties to Las Vegas Paving. Contracts approved by the City of Henderson with Las Vegas Paving have run into tens, perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars. Mayor Romero’s admissions that her husband and son both work for Las Vegas Paving do not alleviate concerns over blatant corruption.

Las Vegas Paving has a sketchy history of procuring construction bid approvals around the Las Vegas valley; not always because of having the lowest bid. It has received a disproportionate share of contracts for work in the City of Henderson including the Galleria extension, Boulder Highway project and I-215 expansion. Frequent change orders and revisions during construction have padded initial budgets.

These two side-by-side signs on the shoulder of I-215 just before the Stephanie Exit headed west, paint a vivid image of how cozy the relationship between the City of Henderson and Las Vegas Paving exists.

                                        Photo #1 (at bottom)

Las Vegas Paving has contributed almost $1,000,000 so far to political candidates, mostly in southern Nevada. It is difficult to have confidence in their bids, actual construction costs and quality of work when compared with award winning competitors across the valley.

Las Vegas Paving lost a lawsuit to a competitor that was not awarded a contract despite a significantly lower bid and reimbursed legal fees for a Clark County Commissioner caught favoring its higher bid in a construction project. Lawsuits against Las Vegas Paving have cost taxpayers millions of dollars in litigation fees. Yet this blatant corruption continues.

Las Vegas Paving has given money directly to Mayor Romero, Henderson City Council members Monica Larson and Dan Stewart and is frequently rewarded with contracts approved by the Council. It is not a mirage when you see Las Vegas Paving trucks along the sides of seemingly every road project throughout Henderson. Every vote is compromised!

Las Vegas Paving also backdoors money by donating to political organizations like Las Vegas AGC Build PAC who then funnel funds directly to local politicians including Mayor Romero and City Council member Jim Seebock.

Seebock, who has an unusually close political relationship with Mayor Romero, followed her playbook and started his own consulting firm as well. Allegedly, two other Council members were encouraged to start consulting firms as well.

Monica Larson has made an interesting transition in her budding political career. After his corruption was thoroughly exposed, Dan Shaw (endorsed by Mayor Romero) was soundly defeated in the 2024 election for a Henderson City Council seat by Larson. There was optimism for many Henderson voters that Larson would help break up the corrupt coalition within the City Council of Romero, Stewart, Seebock and Shaw.

During the campaign, Larson labeled Shaw’s actions as “infuriating and despicable.” Larson expressed concerns that “campaign contribution and expense reports of the three council members up for election in the primary, the contributions are identical. It’s over 95% from big developers.”

It is astounding to see how quickly Larson has gone over to the “dark side.” Larson’s concerns seem to have been quickly alleviated as she has become a political clone of Shaw; voting for the same interests, taking money from the same sources and later praising him.

Running as an ally of ostracized City Council Member Carrie Cox, Larson switched teams and became a political chameleon that blends in with other grifters on the City Council. Larson reported campaign contributions of $347K + a few months after winning her seat, most of which came in after the election.

Mayor Romero also seems to orchestrate the sharing of campaign funds among City Council members, sans Cox. She openly supports and funds her colleagues of corruption during elections; they reciprocate to her. This election cycle has seen the transfer of funds from Seebock ($5,000), Stewart ($5,000) and Larson ($10,000) directly to Romero. Remember that Romero supported Shaw’s campaign against Larson in 2024.

Another disturbing relationship involves Trosper Public Relations which represents four members of the City Council and organizations intricately involved with the City of Henderson. Trosper, a political consultant/public relations firm, currently represents Romero, Seebock, Stewart and now Larson. Another phase of Larson’s political transition into the Romero faction.

At one time, Trosper represented the City of Henderson but denied a conflict of interest after having “assisted the political campaigns of Henderson City Council members.” Trosper resigned from the agreement with the City after it was revealed in a public records request by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Trosper represented Shaw in the 2024 election against Larson. Larson switched to Trosper after defeating Shaw. Romero openly campaigned for Shaw against Larson. Larson is now openly campaigning for Romero.

                                        Photo #2 (at bottom)

“I love the smell of corruption in the morning.” – Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore campaigning for Michelle Romero

Meanwhile, the corruption of Dan Shaw continues to haunt Henderson. The City of Henderson has an agreement with Philo Ventures, a Utah company associated with Dan Shaw (an advisory partner) for consulting on financial matters. City officials and/or Council members have hidden this agreement from the public and media outlets.

Philo Ventures describes itself as “a value creation vehicle focused on finding and capitalizing unique opportunities in distinct verticals.” It does not seem like a company that should be hired ”for financial efficiency consultancy services” or have any association with the disgraced, highly corrupt former council member.

The intent of this agreement, who approved it and why is it being covered-up should be fully exposed. “The city, however, would not provide the 8 News Now investigators with any specifics - or a copy - of the consulting agreement. Further, the city did not answer questions about associating with Shaw for the purposes of financial matters. In 2022, Shaw defended the first of four federal lawsuits alleging predatory lending practices at his payday loan company, Green Arrow Solutions.”

Shaw, has even had a street named after him in West Henderson. Who suggested and approved this travesty? We need to ask Mayor Romero, why is Dan Shaw allowed to continue to bilk the City of Henderson?

Another disturbing Trosper Public Relations connection includes the representation of Lakemoor Ventures and Broadbent, important players in the Three Kids Mine development, now known as the Lakemoor Canyon Redevelopment Area. A billion dollar scam funded by the taxpayers of Henderson, approved and supported by the Henderson City Council. Lakemoor and Broadbent, along with four of the City Council members, are represented by Trosper Public Relations.

This residential development was originally schemed up by Bob Unger, Chair of the Henderson Planning Commission and Michelle Romero, Henderson Redevelopment Manager back in 2009. Whether or not Unger and Romero could truly comprehend the very troubling environmental concerns of disturbing the toxic site, it is clear they understood how to rip off the taxpayers of Henderson.

The initial plan included private funding for cleanup and development by Lakemoor Ventures, controlled by Unger. Through political collusion and manipulation by Mayor Romero and Unger, the cleanup will be ”bankrolled by Henderson taxpayers“ for decades beyond its completion.

The present plan was unanimously approved by the Henderson City Council in November, 2023, with Mayor Romero conveniently absent from the meeting. The Council has continually ignored deep environmental concerns regarding the project.

The cleanup of the highly toxic former mine site (closed in 1961) was estimated by Unger to be $550 million in January, 2023. Cost of the cleanup, contracted to Broadbent, will be paid back to developers through transfer of the majority of property tax revenue generated by the new homes for more than forty years.

Significant environmental concerns came to light before and during the half-assed mitigation effort performed by Broadbent. There was incompetent, unresponsive oversight of the cleanup by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP). It will be a field day for litigators in the future when they hold the City of Henderson liable for illness and premature death related to exposure to toxins.

Neither organization seemed concerned over obvious health hazards such as exposure to toxic dust for workers, area residents or passersby. Broadbent’s $100’s of millions of revenue provide obvious reasons, but why is NDEP continually looking the other way?

The over 1200 acres of land at the Three Kids Mine site was obtained by the City of Henderson through purchase of private land, annexation and transfer of federal land. The entire site was then transferred over to Lakemoor, for free. Value of the land: 3000 lots x $100,000 (est.) = $300,000,000 + $550,000,000 (subsidized cleanup) = $850,000,000, not including infrastructure and other related costs eaten by the City of Henderson.

Unger has since sold out his interest to national builder Pulte Homes who has a questionable reputation in neighboring Lake Las Vegas. Pulte financed the cleanup and will now be the recipient of the property tax revenue generated by the new homes. How many millions of dollars did the conniving Unger shrewdly extract?

Model homes are currently rising from the toxic dust bin and infrastructure (power, roadwork, etc.) related to the development surround the project (funding by the City of Henderson?). Las Vegas Paving trucks can be seen along the side of Lake Mead Parkway engaged in the roadwork.

Let’s continue to follow the money! Political donations to Henderson City Council members by Lakemoor Ventures (Unger) include Romero $7,000, Seebock $11,000, Cox $4,000, and Shaw $5,000. Pulte provided payments to Romero $5,000, Seebock $5,000, Stewart $15,000, Shaw $15,000, Cox $15,000 and Larson $5,000. Every vote was purchased!

Small change to buy approval from corrupt, weak-willed politicians while raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. Big bucks to senseless, selfish individuals that lack ethical boundaries acting on behalf of whoever pays them. Corruption increases incompetence. Decisions made by the City Council have become increasingly incompetent and self-serving.

Mayor Romero was paid off by the Vegas Golden Knights after a minor league hockey arena was built in Henderson. The cost of the controversial arena ($84,000,000) was split between the City of Henderson and the hockey team.

Lake Las Vegas has provided consistent political and financial support to Romero ($10,000) and other City Council members ($55,000). Lake Las Vegas, controlled by the Lake Las Vegas Master Association, controlled by Raintree Investment Corporation has purchased consistent votes of approval.

Having already secured her support and influence, they held a campaign event for Romero. An event that, if not illegal, was certainly unethical.

                                    Mayor Michelle Romero
                       WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 18 • 2026
                                        5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
                                                HOSTED BY
                                          LAKE LAS VEGAS
           Come enjoy a meaningful discussion about what's
                              happening in our community.
                    HILTON LAKE LAS VEGAS RESORT & SPA
                                                  SALON 1
        1610 LAKE LAS VEGAS PKWY, HENDERSON, NV 89011
                                                RE-ELECT
                                                Michelle
                                               ROMERO
                                HENDERSON MAYOR 2026
         Paid for by The Committee to Elect Michelle Romero

                                        Photo #3 (at bottom)

Romero seems to relish cutting ribbons, pushing gold shovels into the ground or making public proclamations. She presents a somewhat polished professional image in media settings; except when facing questions regarding her ethics or rationale for actions when she then becomes defensive, confrontational or mute.

Closing Question: What will Michelle Romero do when her blatant corruption is questioned?

      • Try to ignore the issue with no comments.
      • Attempt to deflect the issue as partisan or biased.
      • Continue the coverup and hope it goes away.
      • Make it worse with denials of the obvious.

The Mayor of Malfeasance must be replaced. Her incompetent and corrupt leadership has led directly to current the budget woes of the City of Henderson and raises financial concerns far into the future.

Romero has lined her pockets at the expense of taxpayers in Henderson and should no longer hold office. Her self-serving actions and wanting ethics are an embarrassment to her family, friends, colleagues and community.

Michelle Romero has gone above and beyond in an effort to enrich herself and others around her. Voter indifference has put Henderson residents at a crossroads. There is a clear alternative for Mayor of Henderson.

                           Hollie Chadwick