Knappster: Monorail HQ plays blame game over falling tire

By George Knapp

Reports of unidentified flying objects have been pouring in from residents of the Koval-Flamingo area. Eyewitnesses say they saw a strange circular object fly through the air last week before it crashed to the ground just east of the Strip. Could Las Vegas have its own version of the Roswell Incident in the works?

Sadly, the UFO turned out to be a UFT--unidentified flying tire. The 60-pound wheel didn't fall from the heavens. Instead, it fell from the monorail train. Luckily, no one on the ground got beaned and the train didn't take a header off its elevated track. That said, when pieces of a high-tech train start raining down on neighborhoods, it might be a good time to take stock of where things stand.

Readers of this space know that Knappster is not a fan of the monorail project, not because mass transit isn't a worthwhile goal, but because of the sneaky way its backers have shoved this thing down our collective throat, and because the project seems to represent a Full Employment Initiative for the friends, relatives and political cronies of the late Bob Broadbent, the monorail's founder. I suppose it would be like shooting fish in a barrel to go ahead and attack the monorail again after its little mechanical snafu caused a five-day shutdown. Yep, that seems just too darned easy. So by all means, let's do it anyway.

Monorail officials figure they lost $480,000 in revenue by shutting down during a major convention and during one of the busiest weekends of the year. They lost around $100,000 a day, but they're kinda used to it since the project has been losing tens of thousands of dollars every day since it opened in July. Strangely enough, our city did not grind to a standstill because of a lack of monorail service. In fact, people who drive near the Strip corridor saw no difference at all in either the traffic level or air quality. So much for whether we can get along without it.

True to form, the monorail PR machine turned last week's mechanical fiasco into a real coup for we locals. Oh yes indeedy, this was a triumph, not a near tragedy. Sure, someone might have had his skull crushed by a flying tire, but disaster was averted because monorail executives are passionately devoted to public safety. It's true. They and public safety have become quite an item. Some busybodies in the monorail front office are beginning to suspect there is some hanky-panky going on between the execs and public safety, so deep is their passion.

A news release was sent out, explaining that the suspension of monorail service occurred because of the company's stringent safety procedures. It didn't happen because pieces of a train fell off. It happened because it's all part of routine safety procedures. The news release, by the way, was sent out on a letterhead that contains the slogan of the LV Monorail. "It's more than transportation," the slogan reads. "It's a real trip."

I'll say.

Here's why I think it's okay to kick the monorail while it's down. The company was very quick to blame the flying wheel problem on monorail employees. First, it was announced that technicians who were supposed to be monitoring the system failed to shut it down even after warning lights went nuts. It was all their fault, the company said. Now we've heard that it was also the fault of factory workers in Canada because they improperly installed the wheel in the first place. Shame on you, Canadian factory workers. You might also recall that when the doors of one monorail train came flying open a few weeks ago for no apparent reason, the problem was also blamed on employees who weren't doing their jobs. I don't remember for sure whether an employee was blamed when another chunk of train fell off during tests before the monorail opened, but I would have to guess an unnamed worker ended up taking it in the shorts for that one.

Are monorail employees really this incompetent? And if so, who hired them? Or could it be that they are being blamed for mistakes made by persons at much higher levels? I'm sure that Bombardier, the operator and principal builder of the monorail, is getting a little tired of being dumped on, especially after the company and its partner already had to eat $11 million in fines because the monorail opened six months later than planned. The day may come when monorail employees and contractors get fed up with taking all the blame whenever something goes wrong. On that day, we hope to hear some interesting stories about what really goes on over there.

One other point to make about the flying wheel incident. While the PR Machine found time later that same day to send a release to news operations, it basically ignored everyone else. No calls were made to taxi companies to tell them the train was shut down for a while. A local TV station called the Regional Transportation Commission on the afternoon of the incident. The RTC said it had received a "courtesy call" from the monorail that afternoon, informing it of what had happened. The RTC noted that it has nothing to do with the monorail, so there is no requirement for the county agency to be informed of any problems.

So if the RTC has nothing to do with the monorail and has no oversight of the project, then why is it airing TV commercials that praise and promote the new train system? You've probably seen the ads since they've been running all over the tube. The RTC explained that even though it has no stake in the monorail project, it supports the concept of mass transit. And besides, RTC said, it didn't cost anything to tack on a mention of the monorail in the commercials it was already going to air.

We should all be so lucky to have the RTC spend public dollars promoting our various private projects. Wonder if the RTC could spare some time in its next ad barrage to promote the Mercury and its stable of bizarre columnists? After all, our slogan over here is "It's more than a newspaper. It's a real trip." Catchy, no? Ours is also a public service, provided in the guise of a private enterprise. So how about it, RTC?

The reality is that the RTC is fully behind the so-called "private" monorail and always has been. This column has previously provided a diagram of the byzantine connections between monorail execs and well-placed public officials, many of whom are bound together by blood, by marriage, by religious preferences and by business associations. It comes as no surprise whatsoever that RTC is committing tens of millions of public dollars to the oversight of the monorail's downtown extension, yet another public favor for a supposedly private enterprise. So no, it's no surprise that the RTC was protective of its friends at the monorail, even when pieces of trains start falling to the ground.

Names and faces

Clark County Sheriff Bill Young knows exactly what he wants to do with the money that would be raised if the public approves a police bond ballot advisory question in November. Young spelled it out to Knappster during a meeting at a friendly neighborhood gathering place a few days ago. Spending the money on more cops would be easy enough, but if the advisory is rejected by voters, things could get ugly. Watch this space for details next week. ... Local attorney Bob Massi, who has been burning up the airwaves on the Fox Network with his analysis segments during the Scott Peterson trial, was all set to head for Eagle, Colo. Massi was handed the plum assignment as analyst for the Kobe Bryant rape trial. When the charges were dropped, Massi's gig was canceled, although the network has promised him other assignments as they come up. ... Potential Woodwards and Bernsteins are in town this weekend for the annual convention of the Investigative Reporters and Editors 2004 conference at the MGM Grand. The Las Vegas journalism community will be well-represented during IRE discussions. First amendment attorney Dominic Gentile will offer his sage advice to the reporters. Columnists John L. Smith and Jon Ralston have also been invited to speak. KVBC owner Jim Rogers and his investigative reporter, Darcy Spears, are also scheduled to make presentations. And even Knappster will be given a platform to talk about reporting about the new face of organized crime. Ah, memories. (The public can attend the sessions and hear from some of the best reporters in the country, but there is a fee.). ... Wow, if you think the Ted Binion saga has its share of interesting characters and intricate subplots, you should read the soap opera that unfolds nightly on a website devoted to all things Binion. The site, DesertJustice.com, regularly features catfights between different Binion factions, and it gets pretty nasty. One anonymous writer recently took a swipe at the ethics of local crime writer Cathy Scott. Scott wasted no time in suggesting that the website, populated by folks who seemingly have too much free time on their hands, should cast no stones in her direction or else be ready to face the music. The message seems to have gotten through. ... A billboard on Industrial Road north of Sahara really has caught my attention. It advertises a gambling hall called "The Ho," described as "Your Get Lucky" casino. With such a name, I would think so. Is this a new name for the venerable Westward Ho? Anyone know?