Knappster: Monorail's good-ol'-boy approach continues with Henderson rail line

By George Knapp

By almost any standard, you'd have to rank the Las Vegas monorail as the debacle of the year in Southern Nevada. It stunk worse than G-Sting, the Augustine impeachment and the Moncrief allegations combined, plus it was a story that provided moments of much-needed comic relief by starting up, then shutting down, starting up, then shutting down again, all the while raining pieces-parts like a mechanical McNugget.

The monorail has been a real godsend for pain-in-the-ass critics like yours truly because it is a seemingly endless source of goofy mistakes, ridiculous claims and incestuous, insider deal-making. Knappster recently received a copy of a monorail-themed Christmas poem ("Ball bearings were falling, and nuts and bolts too. You should have seen the size of that screw.") and if I told you who wrote it, you'd be tempted to think there is gunk in your ears. As the troubled train gets ready for yet another start-up, there are signs the community is ready to stop laughing and give the monorail another chance. My colleagues Geoff Schumacher and John L. Smith have both written columns arguing that while the project has been a mess so far, it still represents a step toward the future, and that we all need to get behind the idea of mass transit.

Fair enough. I'm willing to move on to other deserving topics, having milked this story for about as much as it can give. But before signing off on the monorail story, there are a few parting shots that need to be taken because there is more than a good chance that some of the monorail's mistakes might be repeated.

First, I want to remind readers why we were ticked off at this thing to begin with. It wasn't because of metal parts raining down on the streets. It's because of the sneaky way the project was put together, and the misleading fairy tales that were told to taxpayers. You and I have been told many times that the monorail is a freebie, a shiny new toy that didn't cost taxpayers ANYTHING. In common parlance, this is what's called a lie. The monorail was supposed to be a private project, financed entirely by casinos and private investors. But in the end it was the backing of the state's own bonding capacity that allowed the train's proponents to raise the money they needed.

The sneakiest part of the whole thing came during closed-door meetings with state and county officials at which secret deals were worked out to grant the monorail millions of dollars in tax breaks. Remember, this is supposedly a private project, one that isn't costing the public a dime, yet massive tax breaks were granted at both the state and county levels. (The deal with the county meant a loss of $3 million per year in property taxes.) Worst of all, no one ever bothered to inform the public. There was no notification whatsoever, no public discussion, no vote by any public officials, nothing. The only way the tax breaks came to light is because of a few TV news stories. And believe me, it wasn't easy to get the various parties to admit this stuff.

The other troublesome aspect of the monorail is the coziness between the principal players. Former airport boss Bob Broadbent brought several relatives and cronies into the monorail deal, used his friendships with former colleagues at the county and the state to pave the way, and then assured the world that the project was practically an act of charity that would reduce traffic and air pollution, and usher in a new era of transportation. I don't have to tell you how far off the mark all this was.

If the late Broadbent felt that his son-in-law and other pals from the airport were the best people available to usher in a new monorail system, that's fine. Hire them. But I think the argument could be made that while the monorail braintrust was strong on loyalty, the group was lacking in experience with anything even resembling an elevated train. Isn't it reasonable to suggest that this just might have something to do with the endless string of problems that have beset the train since the very beginning? (Monorail spokesmen have repeatedly put the entire blame for mechanical problems on the principal contractor, Bombardier. But they neglect to point out that this is the company that THEY chose, even though Bombardier had experienced similar problems with other transit systems it has built all over the world.)

Here's why I raise the nepotism-cronyism issue one more time. Back in October, a special steering committee was formed under the auspices of the Regional Transportation Commission (whose director, by the way, also worked for Bob Broadbent at the airport before landing the RTC job.) The steering committee will oversee RTC plans for a proposed rail line that will someday run between Las Vegas and Henderson and could cost in excess of $2 billion. So, who do you suppose was chosen as the chairman of the steering committee? A leading rail expert, perhaps? If I told you it was an advertising executive from the LV monorail, would you believe me? Well, it's true. Gary Johnson, who coincidentally once worked for Bob Broadbent at the airport and now handles advertising chores at the monorail, is the new chairman of the steering committee that will study how to build a high-tech train to Henderson.

I'm sure Mr. Johnson is a very capable ad man. I'm also sure that his relationships with the Monorail Clan didn't hurt his bid for the chairmanship. Is anyone ever going to ask some tough questions about all the series of cozy relationships that seem to permeate transportation planning in Southern Nevada?

One person who IS likely to ask some questions when she gets a chance is state Sen. Dina Titus. Titus has said in the past that she supports the monorail and wants to see it succeed, but she is suspicious of the clandestine games that have been played involving bigshots who all seem to be cut from the same cloth. During the last legislative session, Titus introduced a bill to require public audits of the monorail project so the taxpayers could see what was going on. The monorail honchos fought tooth and nail against any formal audit. Instead, they convinced lawmakerers that they would voluntarily open their books and submit an annual financial report. The Titus bill failed.

I've seen the monorail's financial report. It's ridiculous. It's packed with filler pages from a PowerPoint presentation, but conveniently leaves out information such as how much are all these guys being paid. That's the really odd thing about this project. Whenever the monorail wants help from the taxpayers in the form of huge tax breaks, the train's executives tell us it's a public project. But whenever anyone asks how much money they're all making, they say they don't have to tell us because this is a private business. Convenient, no?

Titus doesn't think a bill to require an audit would pass, since the monorail folks have a lot of juice at the state level. But as a new member of the Senate Finance Committee, she can request that monorail execs come forward and answer some basic questions.

"Obviously, in light of all the problems that have occurred, there needs to be some accountability and oversight, and the public needs to know what's going on with the monorail," Titus told me.

This is especially true since plans are in the works to expand the monorail with millions of dollars in public money, including federal grants and direct tax dollars from local coffers. I'm willing to back off on beating this dead horse and may even take a ride on the train one of these days, but if it turns out that some guy who washes the windows over at Monorail HQ is selected to head up the expansion project merely because he's related by marriage to the bosses or goes to the same church as all the other "transportation experts," then I would hope someone else out there would be willing to raise a stink.

Baseball games

Readers of this space may recall in recent months my request that locals submit possible names for a major league baseball team to be based in Henderson. (The Hooterville Hot Dogs was one suggestion.) This wasn't just for fun. Now, some hints about what might really be going on have surfaced.

Last Sunday, Las Vegas Sun columnist Brian Greenspun predicted that a new investor group, headed by a former player, Reggie Jackson, would surface soon and make its own bid for a big league team in Las Vegas. Lo and behold, the very next day, the very same Reggie Jackson told the Sun that he had put together an investment group to go after a team. Reggie declines to say who his partners might be. The Jackson group met with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman to talk about the situation.

Wonder what Oscar would say if the group told him its plans to bring a team to Southern Nevada do not necessarily include Las Vegas, that this team would be based instead in Henderson or, more specifically, Green Valley? No one is spelling it out, but I have a pretty good guess who the big-money players are behind Reggie Jackson's effort. If anyone can bring a ball club to this area, it's them. And even if the games are played in Green Valley, couldn't it still be called a Las Vegas team? The Dallas Cowboys play their home games in Irving. No one calls them the Irving Cowboys.

The argument could be made that our area isn't ready for a major league team. That said, I can't wait for it to happen.

Names and faces

NBC News is in town this week, working on a major story about the new federal law that will allow wild horses to be sold to slaughterhouses. NBC asked to interview Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign. Both lawmakers declined. ... It was cool to read the story about football great Randall Cunningham returning to UNLV to finish up his degree. But frankly I'm just as impressed with the story of Maria Nelson. She also graduated from UNLV this week with high marks, but it wasn't easy. Maria has a full-time job in the intensive care unit at Sunrise Hospital, does accounting for a local doctor and manages the books for her husband's business, in addition to carrying a full load in college. Congrats to all the graduates. ... When was the last time you heard a public official say no to a pay raise? Last week during a meeting of the Mesquite City Council, a suggestion was made to give a pay bump to Mayor Bill Nicholes, who is putting in full-time hours in his part-time job. Nicholes quickly nipped such talk in the bud and said he is more than compensated by the fun of doing the job. ... My hints over the past three weeks about a planned Ralph Lamb movie blew up in my face when another columnist, whose name is mentioned above, decided to skip the beating-around-the-bush approach taken by Knappster and just announced the damned thing. Now that the word is out, we will have more info in the near future. ... After 23 years with Metro Police, Sgt. Kevin Manning is hanging up his badge. Manning spent nearly 10 years in the homicide unit and earned a rock-solid reputation. ... Get 'em while they last: CDs of Mercury auto columnist Buffalo Jim Barrier singing your Christmas favorites.