Knappster: Goldwater first serious candidate to campaign for growth controls

By George Knapp

Clark County Commission candidate David Goldwater is rolling the dice in true Las Vegas fashion, pinning his political hopes on one central issue, one pull of the slot handle. But it's hardly a foolhardy wager. The canny state assemblyman and his team of seasoned campaign advisers think they have a winner.

Goldwater made it clear this week that he thinks it's time Southern Nevada applied the brakes a bit to its runaway growth. Growth and its related issues will be the central theme of his campaign in the race for the District F seat. And it's about damned time someone stepped up to this plate.

"I think it's the first election I know of where a candidate said that getting a handle on growth is a primary goal," Goldwater told Knappster. "Depending on how the voting public reacts, this might be the last time anyone brings it up again."

Oh, don't count on it. Knowledgable sources say recent polls conducted for other races have detected major shifts in public perceptions of growth issues. More than 70 percent of locals now agree that growth does not pay for itself, which is a huge difference from just a few years ago. And while few people would favor stopping growth altogether, the percentage of those who want to see it slowed down numbers in the mid-70s. That's a phenomenal change and it explains, in part, why Goldwater would go so far out on this limb.

"It's not a question of IF we will grow. It's a question of HOW we will grow," he says.

Locals are finally getting sick of the congested traffic, dirty air, long lines, water shortages and overcrowded schools, and that's good. Data collected for the Las Vegas Perspectives 2004 report, issued two weeks ago, show that the longer people have lived here, the more they favor getting growth under control. But other data show that newer residents may also be on board the slower growth bandwagon. Call it "the treehouse effect," in which those who are already up in the treehouse want to pull up the rope so no one else can climb up.

Of course, there are powerful forces aligned in favor of continued sprawl. Developers, for one. Casinos, for another. Bankers, car dealers, grocery stores and other businesses are understandably fond of the hordes of new customers that pour into Las Vegas each month. Some of their servants in the public sector are only too happy to follow orders and accommodate the pro-growth forces. (Just ask state Sen. Dina Titus what it's like to take on the pro-growth juggernaut. Her proposal a few years ago to create a "ring around the valley" ran into a brick wall in Carson City.)

Goldwater's gambit will be an interesting experiment in Nevada political science. The next step will be to pin him down on just what measures he would be willing to take to get things under control.

CRC vs. Nevada Power--round two

As expected, the Colorado River Commission, a state agency, has fired back in its burgeoning legal battle against Nevada Power. CRC filed motions this week with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking the feds to force Nevada Power to pay CRC $5 million for what it calls energy imbalances that were created back in 2000.

The CRC motion is curious for a couple of reasons. For one thing, this same agency argued just two months ago that FERC had no jurisdiction to oversee its energy dealings. Now, it is asking FERC to jump into the deep end of the pool because the water is fine. Second, the CRC motion completely ignores the larger question of whether the agency conspired with Enron to rip off Nevada Power, its customers and the entire Western energy market. FERC has been investigating CRC for the past two years based on these allegations. Nevada Power has filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against CRC employees for their cozy relationships with Enron, relationships that are spelled out in thousands of taped conversations, tapes that have now been made public.

It would seem the CRC motion is an attempt to open a second front, or at a minimum, create a diversion from CRC's other legal problems. Nevada Power executives are almost chuckling, since CRC appears to be making the case that it DID, in fact, conspire with Enron and others to manipulate the market.

"For them to say that we owe them money for what they did is an admission that their actions were not inadvertent," says Walt Higgins of Sierra Pacific, the parent company of Nevada Power. "It's as if they admitted they stole money from our bank account, and now they're complaining because they didn't get to steal it all."

Nevada Power believes CRC and its various partners may owe upt to $45 million to the power company for its shenanigans with Enron. And just to show that this isn't merely a Nevada Power allegation, a conglomeration of California agencies and companies filed its own FERC brief a few days ago, alleging that CRC not only conspired with Enron, but that it played energy games with another nefarious partner, Powerex Corp. Expect to hear more about this explosive filing soon.

Names and faces

The arrest of conservative activist Janine Hansen in Reno a few days ago would seem to prove the point of our column of last week in which it was pointed out that the ongoing harrassment of signature gatherers has got to stop. For various officials to continue this pattern only adds credence to the position espoused by Hansen and her colleagues that government bureaucrats will stop at nothing to maintain their free-spending ways. ... It was nice to hear this week from the Behnen family's in-house PR organ. Somehow, the flack stated--with a straight face, we presume--that he is just appalled by lesser journalists who are somehow manipulated by evil forces in their reportage of the Ted Binion murder case. The veteran publicist, whose steady, pro-prosecution drumbeat was such a familiar feature of the first Binion trial, should be pleased that a second trial is looming. After all, corporate sponsors may authorize another book deal. ... Col. John Alexander wants to invite locals to a conference of some of the world's most courageous scientists. The Society for Scientific Exploration is holding its annual conference at the Tuscany from May 20-22. Speakers include a stunning lineup of scientific heavyweights, researchers who are courageous enough to tackle topics deemed unacceptable by colleagues. Famed UFO pioneer and author Dr. Jacques Vallee will team with physicist Dr. Eric Davis to talk about a scientific model for evaluating UFO incidents. Other researchers will tackle ESP, near-death experiences and related topics. The speakers are no flakes. They are the real deal. The public is invited, although there is a fee for attending lecture sessions. SSE has its own website if you want more information. ...While cruising the aisles in the Book Magician used bookstore a few days ago, Knappster spied a copy of the Vegas classic The Green Felt Jungle. Since one can never have too many copies of this fine book, I snagged it, then noticed there was a cryptic message written on the plastic sleeve. "Howard--Stay Away" the message read. I can only guess the message was meant for Howard Schwarz, owner of the Gambler's Book Club, a rival book seller. Howard has been known to covet good copies of this particular book.