Quick and Dirty: A notebook of news and politics

Growth panel gives cold shoulder to BC mayor

For most people who have lived somewhere other than the desert, Boulder City is a sensory orgasm of white picket fences, rustling leaves, active retirees and nuclear families. Statistically, the people who live there are healthier, smarter, wealthier and, in all likelihood, happier than their counterparts across the valley. In fact, the city is so perfect that it even has an Andy Griffith-meets-Norman Rockwell mayor, who's so charmingly good-natured that he actually believed his little ol' town's growth control ordinance could serve as a model for the Clark County Community Growth Task Force.

But Boulder City Mayor Robert Ferraro was swiftly disabused of this notion at Tuesday's Growth Task Force meeting by UNLV history Professor Hal Rothman, who called Boulder City a "castle surrounded by a moat" and suggested that it leeches off the economies of Henderson and Las Vegas. Mayor Ferraro then conceded that the cost of housing in his city is becoming increasingly restrictive and the model could not be applied to larger metropolises because Boulder City actually owns all of its own land. A few more committee members asked questions and Guy Hobbs broke into an impromptu economic treatise before Ferraro closed his presentation and retreated to his utopian kingdom to the south. Overall, the task force seemed less than enthused by his visit.

Yet had it connected Ferraro's assertions with a quality of life report by UNLV economics Professor Keith Schwer, the task force members might have developed a more complete picture of the psychological consequences of unchecked urban sprawl. Although the report indicated that many Las Vegans are at least reasonably pleased with their quality of life, it also noted that the great majority of them are very concerned about health care, crime, air pollution, traffic, education and growth. One survey in Schwer's study observed that less than 30 percent of Las Vegans think growth has been managed well in Southern Nevada. The clear indication is that these residents are just as concerned about their sociocultural well-being as they are about the economic impact of reduced growth. Now if only we could get someone other than the Boulder City mayor to understand that.--NB

Burning Man gets nod from The Man

This year's Burning Man will go off much like in previous years. Painted neo-hippies will dance across the desert with ritual verve; mad scientist types will pilot zany steampunk contraptions as if out of some Macy's Day Parade turned nightmare; artists will paint, sculpt, draw and sing with bacchanalian intensity; and, of course, there'll be lots of naked people hanging around drinking beer. What'll set apart this year's event, slated for Aug. 30-Sept. 6. in Northern Nevada's Black Rock Desert, is that Burning Man will be a little more grown up. Its latest mark of maturity: It recently secured a two-year permit from the Bureau of Land Management to put on its annual event. Doesn't sound like that big a deal, but folks at Burning Man consider it a major coup.

"It signifies acceptance," says Burning Man founder Larry Harvey, who brought the festival to Nevada in 1990. "It's very gratifying. It shows we've formed good relations with the state, county and federal agencies. And we've made friends in all the towns." Previously, Burning Man was only able to secure permits on a year-by-year basis from the BLM, perhaps a result of the counterculture festival's freewheeling, bohemian vibe. But over the years, Burning Man--nowadays a professionally run machine with a full staff--proved itself to both skeptics in the surrounding rural towns and government officials.

"It takes 10 years to break into any place," Harvey says. "But 1997 was the year people basically began finding out who we were. Everyone had made assumptions about us, which isn't unusual given human nature, but neither party was well-informed about the other. That was the year we really started working with people on the ground and formed good relations with them."

Building those good relations involves doing some things that might seem to run counter to the live-and-let-live vibe of Burning Man. For instance, he says, most attendees are scrupulous about cleaning up after themselves. "It's almost like you're watching the city evaporate," he says. Also, a no-vending rule inside the seven-square-mile encampment means revelers spend money in nearby towns such as Gerlach, which has helped soften any lingering suspicions about the annual festival.

"The funny thing is we went to a place that seemed beyond the world in order to preserve ourselves, and we had to learn about a whole world of politics and finance and business management," Harvey says. But Northern Nevada residents and bureaucrats have met them halfway. "After 10 years, people are finally getting it. It's not about libertine license or gaudy spectacle. It's not a rock concert. It's a real community."--AK

Bush critics get louder, bolder

Poor President Bush just can't catch a break these days. The Iraq war is going badly, and people all across this country are saying he's botched the whole thing. On top of that, he's up for re-election this year, and his opponent, John Kerry, isn't a pushover. Even worse for Bush, the Democratic Party faithful are all fired up, much more so than in 2000, and determined to do what it takes to boot him from the White House.

So poor George W. Bush is squirming a little bit, but it's even more interesting to see other Republican leaders get all squirrely over the prospect of a Democrat in the White House come November. When Democrats get mouthy now, which they are doing more and more, the GOPers regress to tired responses from the McCarthy era. It'd be funny if it weren't so sad and weak.

For example, last week Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., made some strong comments about Bush's performance as president. Here's a bit of what Pelosi said: "Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon."

She went further: "He has on his shoulders the deaths of many more troops, because he would not heed the advice of his own State Department of what to expect after May 1 when he...declared that major combat is over. The shallowness that he has brought to the office has not changed since he got there."

Well, as you can imagine, Republicans were freaked by Pelosi's insolent assessment of the commander-in-chief. But rather than debate the merits, they fell back on the well-worn contention that her condemnation of the president was "putting American lives at risk." That familiar line came from Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who went on to condemn Pelosi's "dangerous rhetoric."

This is McCarthyism, plain and simple. Next thing you know, DeLay will be scheduling hearings to root out all the Reds lurking behind bushes in Washington.

Of course, this is all just campaign pingpong, right? Surely Bush has the support of military types, those who understand the importance of using U.S. muscle to keep Third World countries in line.

Well, not quite. On "60 Minutes" Sunday night, retired Gen. Anthony Zinni let it all hang out in his frank assessment of Bush's Iraq escapade.

"There has been poor strategic thinking in this," Zinni said. "There has been poor operational planning and execution on the ground. And to think that we are going to say `stay the course,' the course is headed over Niagara Falls. I think it's time to change course a little bit, or at least to hold somebody responsible for putting you on this course. Because it's been a failure."

Zinni also addressed the contention of DeLay and others that critics need to keep their traps shut while troops are in harm's way. "There is one statement that bothers me more than anything else," he said. "And that's the idea that when the troops are in combat, everybody has to shut up. Imagine if we put troops in combat with a faulty rifle, and that rifle was malfunctioning, and troops were dying as a result. I can't think anyone would allow that to happen, that would not speak up. Well, what's the difference between a faulty plan and strategy that's getting just as many troops killed?"

Poor President Bush. He's getting it from all sides these days. Can't win for losing. Maybe he'll get a much-needed vacation this fall.--GS

Vegas' Golden boy of bowling dies

Someone familiar to longtime Las Vegans slipped quietly from the scene recently--so quietly that his death went largely unnoticed. Harry Golden was 79 and vice president of the Professional Bowling Association. For many years, Golden ran the PBA's tournaments and became known for announcing that the top-seeded player was "waiting in the wings to bowl just one match for the title..." He was known as "The Goose," and for good reason: At the time, bowling was golden. The Showboat Hotel regularly hosted a tournament, and Golden and the bowlers were frequent sights there and in the card room at the Union Plaza. Today, the Showboat and its tournament are no more, and the pro bowlers tour is less popular than it used to be. But when professional bowling was big, Golden had a lot to do with it.--MG