Quick and Dirty: a notebook of news and politics

Growth task force

The County Commission announced the 17 appointments to its Community Growth Initiative Task Force this week. It's an interesting list of names, the gathering of whom is likely to prompt some worthwhile discussions over the group's year-long existence. But while the task force is diverse in many ways, it is severely lacking in individuals who might actually propose slowing or stopping growth.

This stance--the slowing or stopping of growth--is what prompted creation of the task force in the first place. County commissioners and others have said they are concerned about the growing chorus of voices in the community calling for slowing or stopping growth; they suggested this had sparked the need to study the issue and reach some sensible solutions. Yet the 17-member task force, culled from a list of more than 200 nominees, appears to lack a single person representing this viewpoint.

In any case, some task force members to watch: UNLV history professor Hal Rothman, who isn't anti-growth but is capable of provocative, big-picture dialogue; Sierra Club rep Jane Feldman, who isn't anti-growth but will bring up salient environmental issues; and Summerlin citizen activist Gabriel Lither, who probably isn't anti-growth but was willing to take on Station Casinos over its Red Rock tower.--GS

Growing pains

There usually isn't much buzz at government meetings, but last week's Southern Nevada Water Authority session had more the vibe of a lottery drawing than a yawny civic huddle. Suits and reporters alike watched, listened and leaned forward in their seats as if--at any second--their winning number might be called.

The cliffhanger? The growth impact study presented to the water authority board by Hobbs, Ong and Associates. Amid all the bluster over drought and growth, the water authority had commissioned the study to see if controlling growth is a workable way to deal with drought. The answer: Bad things happen when you try to put the genie back into the bottle. A reprise of a piece of 1992 research, the study examined how Vegas would fare if it was hit by a 65 percent decrease in residential construction and recovered over a 10-year period. The hypothetical results--to no one's surprise--aren't pretty. As the study tells it, Las Vegas would lose up to $148 billion in economic output and more than $15 billion in taxes--about $3 billion of which would go into state and local coffers. It would also lose 1.3 million person-years of employment--in other words, the job of one person for one year.

"Few if any would be able to escape the impact," said Jeremy Aguero, who presented the study with Guy Hobbs.

He might as well have said boo! Because, in their own bureaucratic way, water authority officials were stunned by the study well after the meeting, delivering sound bites about it raising serious concerns and presenting issues we have to deal with. So, how serious is Las Vegas about addressing growth? The watercrats will tell you when they come back out of their shells.--AK

Splish splash

But last week's Southern Nevada Water Authority meeting wasn't all gloom and doom. In a spasm of mixed messages, the authority greenlighted a plan to decrease its dependence on the Colorado River by piping water to Southern Nevada from rural areas. By tapping groundwater in Clark, Lincoln and White Pine counties over the next 10 years, the authority hopes to lessen its dependence on the Colorado River. Now, Southern Nevada gets about 90 percent of its water from the Colorado River; by 2050, it wants to reduce that number to 60 percent, with 40 percent of our water coming from in-state resources.

Then the water authority replenished the turf removal rebate program fund to the tune of $8 million. The popular program, which helps residents offset the cost of replacing turf with desert landscaping, is expected to get $32 million next year.

But hold off on that applause. Then--what?--the authority gave residents and businesses permission to wash their cars (once a week, using trigger-style nozzles), use misters and turn on fountains again. The reasoning: We're all doing such a good job at conserving--according to officials, Las Vegans consumed less water last year than in 2002--that we deserve a little break. The revised rules must still get a final nod from local municipalities. But not all water authority board members were keen on the mixed messages, such as Myrna Williams and Amanda Cyphers, who stood out as one of the few officials to harbor the opinion that even the Strip fountains should be shut off.

"I'm the extremist of the group," Cyphers, a Henderson councilwoman, explained after the meeting. "I think all fountains should be shut off." Even on Strip properties that use their own well water or recycled groundwater? Yes. "I know that not running fountains isn't a huge water savings, but it would be an educational tool, a reminder that we are in a drought. People don't come here for the water features. If they wanted that, they'd go to the beach. You can't tell me that if they shut off the fountains, no one would come here. Las Vegas was successful long before they started building fountains."--AK

Pursuing Porter

While Democrats scramble to find a worthy opponent to take on freshman Rep. Jon Porter--with their hopes now focusing on either former gaming exec Tom Gallagher or state Sen. Dina Titus, neither of whom seems to have made his or her mind up yet--one Democrat has entered the vacuum and declared himself a candidate for the the 3rd Congressional District: Rick DeVoe.

Rick De-who? Exactly. The union construction worker and self-described progressive said he will challenge Porter on a host of issues. He says he's hoping to run against both Gallagher and Titus in a Democratic primary; it'd be a stepping stone to a higher public profile. "I don't have name recognition, I don't have credibility, I haven't been active in politics in Nevada," he admits. "I'm really starting from square one. I really need someone to defeat in the primary in order to establish that credibility."

DeVoe hopes to cobble together a platform based on opposition to the proposed Yucca Mountain nuke waste dump and fighting for gay rights. As for funding, the idealist hopes to run a grassroots campaign that will accept donations from any "legitimate source"--but will limit contributions to one dollar. "If I establish viability on the national level, the money will come," DeVoe says. "Porter hasn't distinguished himself. He's a rubber stamp for the president." The candidate recently launched his website, www.votedevoe.org--presumably built by many one-dollar contributions from himself.--AK

Euro's time

That vast netherworld that lies west of the Strip seems to enjoy restaurant openings every day, so this item might not seem so important over in Trendyland. But when a fashionable new eatery opens up in my neck of the woods, I figure it's worth a plug. On March 13, Euro's will hold its grand opening. It's on East Sahara, at Maryland Parkway, in a building that was once the Flame 2 and more recently was Polonez, a Polish bistro. The place will feature European cuisine, including Polish, Russian and Hungarian specialties, a full selection of hard-to-find beers and imported vodkas, and, of course, caviar. The new manager, Turk Atilla, has been around town forever and previously ran Tony L's, one of the most popular bars in town in the mid-'80s to early '90s. The grand opening party will feature free food, free booze, live music and a vibe that is far different from anything in that part of town. The party starts at 6 p.m. and the public is invited.--GK

Sun City fracas

Sun City Summerlin, still smarting over a special homeowners' association assessment, is facing a recall of board members and a legal migraine over who pays for the community's escalating costs. Two lawsuits have been filed in state courts and a federal suit is on the horizon, alleging the board violated the 14th Amendment. It's just another care-free day at this premier retirement community.

Resident Bob Hall would not confirm reports that he's planning to go to federal court to stop the imposition of the $700 levy. "I'm not going to say until it happens," he says. But Hall calls the levy a breach of the constitutional bar against changing contracts after the fact. The levy exceeds the percentage of increase allowed by the CC&Rs. "You cannot retroactively take away contract rights."

The levy was imposed in December by the board to make up for fund shortfalls, and without ratification by the residents. Three of the six members of the board who supported the levy were then voted out of office in the regular election earlier this year.

The remaining three who were not up for election this year now face a recall movement. Resident Darryl Snyder, who helped mail out the recall ballots, says he'll have little trouble getting the 400 signatures needed in this community of 14,000 people. "There's no question we'll make it." He says residents have undergone annual fee hikes that will reach $1,600 this year. "A lot of these folks can't afford it. All of a sudden they're looking at moving out."

Sun City's problem is due in part to declining revenues at its three golf courses. Maintenance costs on two courses may reach $2 million. How to make up for those shortfalls has split the community into golfers and nongolfers. Today, fewer than 10 percent of the residents play golf.

Board member Bernard Bronstein, who voted for the special assessment, calls the recall effort "the usual crap," referring to the long-standing political rancor at Sun City. He says the assessment is needed to maintain revenues from the golf courses, which total $300,000. The recall petitions must be gathered by March 15, after which the board must call an election.--LW

Artful response

When Contemporary Arts Collective president Diane Bush announced that the group's Annual Juried Show would be a Salon de Refuse--a traditional French exhibit that displays all art submitted for a show--she really had the best intentions. Little did she know that more than 300 pieces of art would be submitted during the contest's two-day drop-off period.

"Even though we planned to hang all unselected work," Bush says, "the overwhelming response from the art community prevented us from doing so. We really tried our best. The Arts Factory helped us find additional wall space in the stairwell, and even after the SEAT theatre volunteered wall space, we were still short of walls."

The CAC compromised by using every available inch of wall space, literally butting picture frames together. This year's show winners were Rick Metzler (first place and best of show), Sam Davis (second) and J.D. Hancock (third). Honorable mentions went to C.J. Pressma, Chad Brown, Jack Endeweldt and Bush.--NB

CCSN Chronicled

The controversy over seven regents firing CCSN President Ron Remington is getting national attention from the Chronicle of Higher Education, which might be called the news bible for colleges and universities. Reporter Jamilah Evelyn wrote a long article in the Feb. 27 issue, trying to explain what happened--and failing since, after all, the behavior of the seven regents and the chancellor is inexplicable. But the writer strove to be fair, pointing out that Chancellor Jane Nichols gave Remington a favorable evaluation, that Remington tried to almost triple John Cummings' salary to make it equivalent to what other lobbyists in the system made and that many questioned Cummings' role in the hiring of several people close to him. Unsurprisingly, the regents don't come off well: Tom Kirkpatrick said not allowing Remington and Cummings to speak wasn't an issue because "it wouldn't have changed my mind," and Mark Alden accused Doug Hill, a Sparks regent representing UNR, of threatening his re-election.

The one thing the article lacked was enough background: It could have explained that the regents have a history of embarrassing Nevada, and this is only the latest in a string of such examples of silliness.--MG