(Chuck Muth) – In my book, the #1 issue confronting voters in Las Vegas is resolution of the Badlands golf course matter. City officials have screwed this issue up for years and the ongoing court losses could bankrupt the city or result in a massive tax hike.
City taxpayers are currently on the hook for around $250 million – with a handful of other cases for larger swaths of the property still in litigation. The court losses could easily top $500 million while the city’s general-fund reserves to pay the damages are less than $200 million.
Click here to read an extensive article on the threat to the city that was published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Sunday.
Two of the three leading candidates for mayor are current city council members – Cedric Crear and Victoria Seaman – who have been working on this issue for years without success. Crear has been an outright obstacle and Seaman has been ineffective.
Shelly Berkley would be an outsider who could possibly bring in new leadership to resolve the matter, but she also has a long record as a liberal Democrat in Congress. Bringing that philosophy into City Hall isn’t likely to be good overall for residents on other issues.
Now here’s the thing…
The last poll I saw from April showed that some 60 percent of voters were undecided in this race. The top three candidates – Berkley, Seaman, and Crear – were only pulling 16 percent, 12 percent, and 7 percent respectively. And early turnout figures show very little interest in this primary election.
So…
It’s a longshot but still possible for one of the dozen second-tier candidates to catch fire and move into one of the top two positions on June 11 and advance to the general election if no candidate gets 50 percent-plus-one.
But which one would have the best shot?
After watching this Channel 8 interview and reading this Nevada Globe interview, my recommendation for early voters would be Tera Anderson.
She certainly has the background and experience to do the job. She’s “been in land development, real estate development, economic development for the better part of 20 years in various capacities.”
In her interview with The Globe’s Megan Barth, Anderson noted…
“The Badlands is a reflection of the dangers of electing people who are out of their depth, who don’t have a command of the technical details that are important to draw upon when making decisions, and then casting votes on complex issues. …
“Currently, there is no accountability on these council people. It’s the taxpayer’s money that the developer is entitled to, based on the ruling from the Nevada Supreme Court.”
Anderson went on to single out the three leading candidates for criticism over the Badlands debacle…
“Two of the mayoral candidates, Councilman Crear and Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, are the very people responsible for this mess, yet somehow believe they deserve to be promoted to be the mayor of the City of Las Vegas? In the private sector, when you bankrupt an entity, you don’t get promoted. You get fired. …
“Our existing city council members who are running for mayor have been party to escalating and creating the very problem that the City of Las Vegas taxpayers are facing. Both of them have had either five or seven years to display their capabilities, and they haven’t done it. They are not equipped to solve the problem.
“Victoria Seaman…has stated numerous times on record that she ‘doesn’t think that this litigation is a valuable use of taxpayer dollars.’ That is actually accurate. What she conveniently leaves out is that more than 20 times over five years, she has voted in favor of pursuing the litigation. So where is the strength of conviction to vote according to what you say is your conscience?
“Seaman also espouses to bring bold leadership to the city, but she hasn’t been able to earn the respect of her colleagues on the council in the last five years to effectuate a result in her current capacity. What would lead any member of the community to reasonably believe she will be capable of doing so as mayor?
“…Shelley Berkley has said that she doesn’t agree with Councilman Crear’s position. She touts the fact that she has negotiation experience and that she can negotiate with a developer. Well, that is generic. There are no specifics. She, to my knowledge, has not articulated any specifics on how to unwind this.”
Pretty solid arguments. However, most people still don’t know anything about Tera. That doesn’t mean she’s a bad candidate or would make a bad mayor. Just means a bad campaign.
There are still two weeks before Election Day. But if I had to vote today for mayor of Las Vegas, I’d cast my ballot for Tera Anderson. If she can get into the general election in November, she’s got a shot.
Laughter is Still the Best Medicine
Carlo and Danny, two senior-aged men, were sitting on a park bench talking about what they thought heaven would be like.
“Do you think there’s baseball in Heaven?” Carlo asked.
Danny thought about it for a minute and replied, “I don’t know. But let’s make a deal — if I die first, I’ll come back and tell you if there’s baseball in Heaven, and if you die first, you do the same.”
They shook hands on it and sadly, a few months later, Carlo had a heart attack and died.
Soon afterward, Danny was sitting on the park bench by himself when he heard a voice whisper, “Danny… Danny… “
Danny responded, “Carlo! Is that you?”
“Yes, it is,” whispered Carlo’s ghost.
Danny, still amazed, asked, “So, is there baseball in Heaven?”
“Well,” said Carlo, “I’ve got good news and bad news.”
“Gimme the good news first,” said Danny.
“Well okay, there is baseball in Heaven.”
Danny said, “That’s great! What is the bad news?”
Carlo said, “You’re pitching on Friday.”
H/T: #614clinton
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Surveys show many lower income Americans are visiting fast food restaurants less because of the rising prices. When even eating at the Golden Arches has gotten too expensive for families to afford, you know Bidenflation is starting to really bite.” – Stephen Moore, Committee to Unleash Prosperity
Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News & Views and blogs at MuthsTruths.com. His views are his own.