Rampant Growth Serves the Gambling Industry 5 July, 1997

Dear Commissioner Gates;

Assembly Bill 490 would indeed increase property values in the urban areas,
but casino owners and developers aren't the only people who own land there.
Thousands of home-owners own land in the development zone, too. By
encouraging the development of land that is already in reach of utility
service, we are saving the county the cost of roads to reach the
development, and we are supporting existing casinos.

By not controlling growth, which the County Commission and various other
civic entities have failed to do, we are threatening the livelihood of the
small, non-corporate casino as well as the livelihood of the non-casino
movie complexes and non-casino taverns and restaurants. I assume that the
Assembly Bill would not have garnered the support that it did without the
backing of the casino industry, but just because the existing casino
industry can gain from this circumstance doesn't in itself make it bad.
The sad part is the plight of the entrepenuner in Clark County who is at
risk because of the huge competition of local corporate gaming, which the
current local government has failed to recognize as predatory.

The legislature is responding to a condition which you fail to recognize,
and which you consistently fail to respond to. This action on the part of
the legislature is timely and necessary. An intelligent response to the
growth of the hotel industry is to encourage development downtown according
to the following guidelines.

First, we need affordable housing downtown. This housing can be union
built, and assisted with state money. It must be geared to the person who
is coming to town to assist the Strip and Downtown tourist-oriented
gambling business. This is the life-blood of our economy, not the
local-oriented corporate effort that siphons money from our local
population and competes with local business.

Second, the unions and the developers can be put to work in several ways.
They must demonstrate a proper percentage of Nevada residents in order to
qualify for public contracts. The initial contracts will involve the
reclamation of the wetlands, which is the only way to purify Lake Mead. As
the wetland project progresses, high-rise residential buildings can be
constructed around a central park area, giving the apartments good views,
and good insulation, and multi-use zoning, WHICH WILL NOT INCLUDE GAMING IN
ANY FORM. It will include small markets, excellent bus service to the
Strip, Downtown, and the University, as well as other entertainments that a
pedestrian population can enjoy in a convenient manner. I am not talking
about golf courses, there are plenty of golf courses near downtown. If
this area caters to the middle-income families that come here, then the
more affluent newcomers can afford the higher prices of the residential
areas. The park area could also include luxury apartments or condominiums
with adequate space for garaging cars near the casino centers. It would
also, of necessity, include a high percentage of resident police. This
would serve the needs of the hotel industry nicely, without taking
advantage of new residents, and without threatening the existence of small
business, which has long been a mainstay of the cultural base of community
life in Nevada. Access to business permits in this area could be made on a
preferential basis to any small business who has been hurt by the corporate
local gaming which seems to be the darling of the current regime. This
could serve as a nest for economic diversity and creativity. I envision
small theaters, galleries, and concerts, especially if it is given good
transportation options to the University. This enforcement of a non-gaming
zone near the center of the city would serve to diversify the economy while
assuring the prosperity of existing gambling districts.

Third, we have to institute and enforce strict building codes for these
residences. They cannot be slapped up, they have to be livable, private
apartments that can house families in a dignified manner, and they have to
be protected by resident police that are paid well and screened well. Both
of these areas, police integrity and enforcement of building codes, are
stains on the record of the current government administrations of Southern
Nevada. If home rule is your goal, then accept these responsibilities.
You are failing us.

Fourth, the regulation of growth in the valley must address critical issues
which the County Commission chooses to ignore. The water quality in Lake
Mead is at a critical point. Pretending that it isn't will lead to major
health problems. Do you drink the tap water here? I don't, even though it
is expensive not to, because it gives me a stomach ache. This has to be
addressed before we have a national scandal. Remember the building codes
before the fires on the Strip? Let's act now. Another problem with
continual development on the periphery of the city is that the dust in this
valley is especially fine, and difficult to control. The air quality is
not within standards for good health. This is only aggravated by the huge
amounts of carbon monoxide generated by more freeways to reach the new
housing developments on the edge of town.

Fifth, Mr. Vassiliadis claims that it is easy to pick on the gaming
industry. It is not easy. It is expensive, exhausting, humiliating, and
frustrating. The gaming industry has assumed the position of running this
state, and the legislature has simply begun to lay down some guidelines
which are sorely needed if we are going to survive the coming influx of
citizens. The County Commission has failed to make the difficult decisions
which are necessary in order to shield our community, and our state, from
the "market adjustment" which the gaming community predicts in about ten
years. This market adjustment will come about if we don't control the
natural tendencies of the gambling business, and the effects of this market
adjustment will be to confront a city with no jobs if all that we have
cultivated is jobs in gaming and construction. You and I both know that
it has happened before. This isn't easy. The County Commission has taken
the easy road. It is the legislature who is beginning to face the
highly-paid and cunningly deviating agents of the gambling lobby.

Sixth, we have to recognize the gambling business as predatory, and we have
to accept the consequences of not controlling their natural tendencies.
Gambling is dangerous and addictive. It is one thing to say that it is
restricted to adult behavior, but it is quite another to allow this crew of
opportunists to make their nest in our neighborhoods, and to set the
standards for our communities. Wake up. Any profits that a casino makes
is from the personal wealth of its customers. If its customers are
tourists, that is one thing. But a local casino profits at its neighbors
loss, and a successful casino, especially when we judge success by current
corporate standards, produces poverty in its wake. These people have to be
reminded of their status in the community. Gambling needs to be picked on
a lot more than it is. It is one thing to harbor gambling in a town of
500,000, when the proprietors make their money from tourists and spend
their money in town. It is quite another to offer up one and a half
million people as fodder for their mill as they export their profits out of
state. Commissioner Gates, growth under the current situation feeds the
gambling business. Controlling it in a sane and timely manner can save
this community. Do not fault the legislature for confronting this
situation. They have in the past benefited from it, but they did not cause
it, official policy in Clark County has caused it. You are wrong. Look
at, and admit it. The Commission is the Gambling business's tool. You are
in a position to augment the efforts of the legislature and present the
County with a progressive and meaningful plan for growth. Do that. And
put some teeth in it.

Sincerely,

Ann Reynolds, Editor, The Las Vegas Citizen internet magazine
Nevada native
Las Vegas resident.

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