The Las Vegas Citizen
1998
Ann Reynolds, editor... Sam Dehne, publisher
Deep in the heart of tax season... and other political musings...
Tax season is sort of like living in a different country for three and a half months. I was stopped by a policeman the other night on my way home from the office because I had forgotten to renew my license plates. . .I had to think a minute because I had been living in 1997 all day, but sure enough, it was March, and it wasn't yesterday that I had put aside the registration notice, it was two months ago. At least I had renewed my insurance. I even did a load of laundry a couple of weeks ago. . .now I'm back to buying underwear. But I have checked my e-mail a couple of times, and I've noticed a few billboards, and I've saved the notice about where my new polling place is. When April 15 hits, my wheels will still be spinning even though I've run out of road. At that point it will be time to seriously discuss the importance of electing Joe Neal Governor of Nevada. This can't be an expensive campaign, it has to be a campaign for the heart of Nevada, a word of mouth campaign, a campaign that simply ignores the boring and tiresome rhetoric in the casino/developer script.
I have no right to discuss Senator Neal's goals, but I am very interested in how he plans to balance the rights of small business owners with the needs of Nevada's labor force. If we nurture small business, and I think Nevada must do that, then we must also draw the line between allowing small business to exist and allowing huge corporations to totally exploit workers.
Nevada needs corporation money, but we have allowed our employment laws to deteriorate to the point where Nevada workers have no dignity and few rights. Any advantage that small business owners have gained by having the right to pay cheap wages is eaten up by having to compete with gaming corporations for every aspect of our economy. Unions are currently strong in Southern Nevada, but this is more to the advantage of the union than the state. Out of state workers flock here for union jobs while Nevada workers slave away in the casino industry, hustling tips and facing constant layoffs. Many of the current construction projects that include residential casinos in the plot plans are built with Nevada labor at cut rate prices. The union knows about it and tolerates it, and yet state contracts (paid for with Nevada tax dollars) offer scale wages to out of state workers when resident quotas aren't met.
And I don't know if the anti-waste dump movement has noticed, but the federal government is building the waste dump at Yucca mountain. The cause of defeating the dump went down the tubes when Howard Cannon lost the Senate race to Chic Hecht in the early 80s. The rest is just shouting, and the people shouting about the dump the loudest are the politicians that are selling the state's natural resources and employment rights to casino/development. If we don't recognize the advent of hazardous waste as a serious industry in Nevada, then we will lose control of the hazardous waste. It will fall to numerous small contractors who will not pay well and who will not follow regulations, and will go bankrupt at the same rate as those illustrious individuals who build Las Vegas swimming pools . It's already happening.
We need to make some serious deals about who will be allowed to run casinos, what they will pay their employees, what kind of businesses can be included in casino complexes, and where casinos will be tolerated. These decisions should be made by elected officials, and anyone affiliated with the casino industry should be excluded from the discussion. They should be excluded from election. We should lengthen the residency requirement for voting, and forbid policy making by non-elected officials.
We need to make some serious deals about who can handle hazardous waste of any kind, what the pay scale has to be, and how long you can live in the state before you are certified to work in this industry. The unions can prosper here and still respect Nevada's taxpayers and Nevada's unique needs. At the very least the construction industry in Nevada can be stopped from blatant abuse of union regulations when it is convenient for the casino/developer interests.
Guinn will not confront these issues, any more than Jan Jones will confront them. Russo probably has no idea what I'm talking about. Taxing dealers tips isn't the issue. Paying dealers is the issue. Anyone who thinks that dealers tips are gifts has obviously never tried not tipping a dealer. Dealers income should be paid by casinos, not squeezed out of gamblers by emotional extortion. Our next Governor will be from Las Vegas, (unless, Heaven forbid, we elect Russo, who lives in LA), so let's elect someone who thinks for himself.
What is going on in Las Vegas will affect every aspect of life in Nevada. If we don't regulate the gaming and hazardous waste industries, then Nevada will truly be a wasteland, morally and economically as well as physically. The betrayal of Nevada's citizens by its elected officials is business as usual in Las Vegas. We have a chance to survive as a state that prizes freedom and nurtures its young people. We will not have another one. Let's get to know Joe Neal.
Ann Reynolds
We are about to hear the decision of the County Commission regarding whether or not we will be handed a sales tax increase without putting the issue on the ballot. This increase will be used as a down payment on a huge expansion that was deemed "necessary" by an advisory board made up of developers, casino interests, bureaucrats, and hand-picked citizens who were interested in making the growth go smoothly and rapidly so that property values don't go up.
It is not a foregone conclusion that such a scenario is in the best interests of the people who are working and raising children in the Las Vegas Valley. Growth and casino expansion and low property values are perhaps in the interest of senior citizens who come here and live on a fixed income, but these are not the people who will be the backbone of the future of Nevada. Nevada needs a stable and dependable work force that can provide a cultural base that will attract real industry, and a real economic future based on something besides a resident population that is addicted to video poker.
The sales tax is a public subsidy of casino and developer interests. It won't increase revenue from tourists. The way for the public to benefit from tourist dollars is to raise the tax on the gambling industry. To say that tourists aren't paying their share is clouding the issue. The tourists leave plenty of money at the tables and slots. It is the casinos that aren't paying their share.
We need to down-size the current water project so that it includes the necessary repairs to the existing system. Public funding of water systems should include upgrading of existing systems. Developers should pay the lion's share of any future building. We should incorporate centralized living that would require fewer freeways, more busses, and more centralized and better-built housing that would be cheaper and easier to heat and cool. We need gaming-free residence areas close to the Strip. We need a moratorium on gambling permits. We need to prohibit anyone who is directly profiting from gambling from running for public office, because abstaining on gambling issues defeats the purpose of being a legislator in Nevada.
The chaos of a loose and de-centralized bureaucracy that rubber-stamps gambling and encourages gambling addiction among new residents is self-perpetuating. We will never get a grip on regional planning until we decide to regulate gambling. Gambling is the antithesis of planning. As fast as we grow, that is how fast the bottom will crash when the pyramid game comes to an end, and the rats will leave the ship just as fast as they are now moving in. This valley is at its limits already. Until we have the courage to stop public subsidy of casinos, we will never diversify the economy to the point where we have a responsible and steady growth that will sustain itself.
I urge the County Commission to make the truly responsible decision. Put the sales tax on the ballot, and re-draw the Water Authority's expansion to include necessary repairs. Set up the expansion and water service to new single-family housing so that it is paid for as it is built, by the corporations that are building. Recommend an increase in gambling taxes. Stop issuing gambling permits, and protect the interests of tourist-oriented gambling on the Strip and Downtown. Protect the interests of the young people and working families. These are the people that want property values to increase, and these are the people that will be here when the bill comes due on the debt load that we will be saddled with. The sales tax isn't tiny. It's a down payment on decades of foreclosures, bankruptcies, flooding, illiteracy, pollution, addiction, and despair. The tough decision is the one that recognizes reality. Say no to the rich guys, and say yes to the future. Ann Reynolds
Rampant Growth Serves the Gambling Industry (A letter to Commisioner Gates of Las Vegas) Click here to Read.
There is not Enough Water. And Much of What There Is Is Tainted. "Click" here to Read Doctor Paulson's Report on Las Vegas Water System
We need laws against casino involvement.
The laws concerning income from casinos should reflect the fact that the main job of Nevada legislators is regulation of the casino business. The RJ article about Mayor Jones gambling stocks has two points that bother me in addition to the amounts and percentages of casino stock that the mayor owns.
First, she has voted on the issues, and her votes have often been the sole voice against expansion of casinos into residential areas. Does this reflect her concern for these areas, or does it reflect her concern for these areas competing with her investments in the Downtown and Strip areas? The Santa Fe, however, is a local-oriented casino. Whether or not she violated the law, the law needs to be changed to be extremely picky on these issues. We don't need public officials who are up to their knees in gaming stocks. If we ban Jones voting on casino expansion in residential areas, then we have rid ourselves of the one person who has consistently voted against this expansion. She should help to create a law that bans anyone profiting from the casino business from running for public office, then she should sell the stock, and then her vote would be meaningful and ethical. As it is, she is vulnerable to the powerful forces of propaganda that the casinos are capable of producing.
Matthew Callister was defeated in his re-election campaign after his tardy return of campaign contributions from the casino industry. Brown was elected with huge casino contributions, even though his platform promised to limit neighborhood casinos, (but he changed his mind when the actual approvals for casino expansion came before him). Gates on the County Commission received criticism after she voted against a casino project, and she was criticized for collusion with casino owners. All this brings me to the second thing that is especially disturbing about this article.
Defeating politicians who have actively taken a stand against casinos, and attacking them from the standpoint of being corrupted by the casinos may be emerging as a pattern. Yes, Callister was late in returning the campaign contributions, but he did return them. (It's rather obvious at this point that Brown didn't.) Gates has mentioned that the laws have to be more fairly defined. And yes, Mayor Jones owns casino stock, but she did vote against the casino expansion in Summerlin. Will she be the next casualty of "anti-casino" sentiment, thereby ridding the city council of all opposition to neighborhood casino expansion?
And the remarks from city attorney Jerbic are idiotic. "'Not every small interest creates conflict,' he said, adding in jest, 'Do you have an interest in 7-Eleven because you buy a stick of gum there?'"
Let's get serious about regulating gambling before it's too late. Owning a casino stock is not even remotely related to buying a stick of gum from a 7-ll store, and this is not a "jesting" matter. We need laws that require legislators to be uninvolved with the gambling business. (If we legalize drugs, will we elect drug dealers to the State Legislature?) Legal gambling is a very dangerous and potentially corrupting entity, let's stop pretending that it isn't. Regulating gambling requires objectivity and credibility. Our current laws do not provide that, so let's tighten the screws. Booting Mayor Jones out of office at this point wouldn't give us more control over gambling, but if she sold her gambling stocks and acted like we are in a war for the financial solvency of the State of Nevada, she might make governor in the next century. Callister could come back strong against Brown if he has the heart for it. Gates may save her seat on the council if she stops playing ego games and shows some nerve when it comes to regulating the Strip instead of getting rich off of it. We need a show of hands in Southern Nevada, and it will begin with politicians who are willing to deal out the casinos, and stop this coy little game in its tracks. Ann Reynolds
Former Mayor Seastrand Passed Away the other day...
A few short years ago I met a friend, this friend was a kind gentle man
in his mid 60's who didn't have a lot of money and lived a modest
livestyle. He is a man of honesty, a man of true honor, a man of trust,
a man of his word, a man that stood for something, and a man who stood
for right. These qualities are hard things to find in any man let alone
a politician, a man who made a decision to do for others for a living.
This man restored a faith and belief in a political process to me, that
I had written off as a completely corrupt and dishonest process.
We all lost that friend this week when, Jim Seastrand the Former Mayor
of North Las Vegas passed on to the Celestial Kingdom last Sunday. No
one worked harder in building the City of North Las Vegas than THE
MAYOR. Everywhere you look in North Las Vegas you will see his signature
of over 23 plus years of service to the whole Las Vegas community not
just North Las Vegas. So I'm sure when we get to heaven we will see his
work there also.
I will miss my friend Jim very much. I will miss his smile, his kindness
and the way he could brighten up the day. It will be hard for me not
being able to pick up the phone to call Jim, maybe asking for his advice
on something or just to say hello. It will be even harder for me to not
be able to listen to his wisdom or hear his laughter. I will miss saying
no thanks I have already eaten but thanks anyway MAYOR, or okay okay
I'll take a piece of melon.
History will show us what a great community leader Jim Seastrand was
but I'm telling you politics aside, what a great friend and person he
was. He always had kind things to say and was willing to take the time
to listen. He always tried building up a persons confidences and his
word was gold. He believed in God, family values, community involvement,
and the American way. Your Honor The Mayor Jim Seastrand will surely be
missed but nothing like the friend I'll miss the friend I had in Jim. We
will miss you Jim good-bye and god bless.
Thank you Rosel, Scott, Doug, Russ, Pam, and the whole Seastrand clan
for sharing him with us we appreciate you doing so.
The Winne Family
399-0144
It's disturbing to listen to Mr. Brown, recently-elected member of the Las Vegas City Council, talk about traffic and parking spaces, as if those are the issues that confront a neighborhood that has recently accepted, without being consulted, a major casino in its environs. This is a bureaucratic approach to a moral issue. Of course the casino can provide more parking space and a wider access road if that is the problem... and if that is the only problem, then adding a few hundred more rooms will pay for even more parking, and even more public asphalt.
The problem is a bit more basic, however, and I find it difficult to believe that Mr. Brown isn't aware of that. A local casino, especially one remotely located in a large housing development, will depend on the residents of that community to supply its revenue. I suppose that the residents of that community currently work either in the construction industry, or in an existing gambling facility, or in a public or private service sector. I'm not aware of an employment crisis in Summerlin, I am under the impression that those people have jobs, or perhaps they are retired. There are probably a lot of young people who live there that will work in a casino, but the environment is not a desirable one for a young person, because of the ever-present cigarette smoke, if for no other reason. These are preliminary statements, addressed to the "providing jobs" issue. Rather like bringing coals to Newcastle. Jobs are not the reason those casinos are going in. Those casinos are going in because it gives the corporate local casino industry easy access to new and affluent resident's money. Period.
Casinos directly compete with families for the money and time of the family providers. The casino environment, as a tourist environment, provides a rare and stimulating experience designed to produce a nice fantasy of foolishness and juvenile irresponsibility. A playground for adults that are tired of thinking about their responsibilities all the time. Is this news to any of you? This creates an ILLUSION, may I spell that for you, Mr. Brown? Any local casino that pays out more in wages than it takes in from the people in the community has to make that up in tourist dollars, thus truly creating a traffic problem, and thus truly competing with the Strip and downtown. We are destroying the economy of Nevada.
People that live in this environment must control their gambling or they cannot pay their bills. For a local casino to publicize this fact would go against every marketing instinct of a normal business, yet it is the kind of knowledge that is gained through experience, often too late learned by people that neglect their children and their rent payment because they are one of the people at a casino that are "always winning."
The people that live here can have a normal family life working in service jobs or small businesses if these businesses aren't forced to compete with slot machines at every turn. And the current rampant growth that supports these huge casino maws isn't necessary with a tourist-oriented casino industry that pays its share of taxes. The Strip can afford more taxes, especially if they aren't forced to compete with huge neighborhood casinos that cut into the affluent local newcomers as well as the tourist trade. I'm sick of cigarettes in grocery stores. I'm bored and angered by local advertising that is blatantly false. But I am especially disheartened by the swarm of elected officials who have translated representing the State of Nevada into representing the interests of corporate local casinos, who work the residential areas like a herds of cows, milking the laws and ordinances to their own advantage, wooing senior income with depressed real estate prices (which is subsidized by existing residents), and refusing to pay more taxes by saying, "Jobs," in the legislature every two years.
Many of our children are not graduating from high-school. Our population of homeless women and children continues to grow. Runaways from across the nation are attracted to the "easy" life, and literally sold on the streets. Our rate of unwed teenage mothers is among the highest in the nation. We need to make it more difficult for fathers and husbands to neglect their families, and we need to make it less necessary for women to support their families alone. We can do this by stopping the issuance of local gambling permits. We need to tax the Tourist-oriented casino industry to subsidize the police force and the special education that is required to monitor the vulnerable youth that are trapped here.
Gambling is addictive, debilitating, and a lot of fun until your money runs out. We have lost our perspective on what gambling is. We are selling the limited resources of our desert to faceless corporations who have no loyalty to the state, no interest in dealing with the problems that they leave in their wake, and no access to a human conscience. It's a difficult issue, one that won't be solved with asphalt. We are watching a siphoning of money from the middle class, creating a larger poor population. The lack of regulation of the gambling industry is directly responsible. The foreclosures, the bankruptcies, the neglected children, the drug addiction, the illness from cigarettes and alcohol, are all public problems that cost huge amounts of tax money and inflated insurance premiums to deal with. The State of Nevada has no source of funds for this type of nightmare, which is more ominous with every "job" that is created here in the local gambling business. That's the issue, Mr. Brown. Ann Reynolds
A Fool's Fairy Tale
An urban legend is the modern equivalent of a folk tale. Examples
would be the story where the CIA funded the drug market. . .or the
one where the lady writes "Welcome to the World of Aids" on the
mirror in red lipstick . .(that one happens to the friend of someone's
cousin, but never to someone that we know.)
A popular urban legend in Nevada is the happy gambler who knows
how to play. This person supports himself like the guy in the Station
Casino's ad, and lives a life of carefree nonchalance, buying trinkets
for his wife, and making sly quips like Maverick on a sixties Sunday
afternoon as he shows his stuff at video poker. And such is the
mystique of Nevada.
In actuality, this person who knows the odds owns a few slot machines,
and is greatly dependent on a rapid growth rate to maintain his lifestyle.
He owns a friendly neighborhood bar close to a casino, and his customers
are casino employees who have cash to spend every day. He catches the
fringe of the casino economy, cashing in on the person who wants to be
assured of his dignity but hasn't yet admitted to himself that he is losing
more than he can afford. His prize customer is the one without family
obligations who has no where else to spend his money.
Even if his customers are rude and drunk, he is very nice to them as long
as they play. And if they smoke and drink at his grocery store slot machines,
then he is nice to them as they smoke and drink and play. The grocery
store customers? If the slot play is good enough, who needs them? And if
slot players can be intimidated into tipping enough, they can even help pay
his employees.
And as this philosophy of local gambling as a viable economy becomes
more and more accepted, we harvest the wealth of newcomers, letting
state and federal welfare programs take up the slack. Tax these people,
these small casino owners? Why, to do so would be to drive them out
of business.
And if we place limits on available land, then the investments of long time
residents might turn out to be worthless. They bet long ago that the gambling
business would go on forever, and that the party would never end. But there
is an aspect of the gambling business that comes into play here. Sometimes
you lose. We cannot legislate that any business investment that involves
gambling or growth will automatically prosper. There is a point where the
survival of the State involves providing a climate where hard-working people
can form a viable and moral community, providing services for each other, and
regulating the gambling industry. The State of Nevada cannot afford to bail
out every person (including every lawmaker) who decides to make a living
fleecing his neighbor.
Every gambler knows that sometimes you lose. And any state or community
government that would take on this business without sense enough not to
victimize its own residents deserves to lose. There was once a code of ethics
in Nevada that the good part of living here involves a core of decency
that states that casinos are to be regulated carefully, not worshipped. That
casinos are to entertain tourists, not to make corporations rich at the expense
of family life and neighborhood integrity. That living here requires intense
responsibility and self discipline. Is that now just a legend?
When we come to the end of this stacked deck we will have no community.
It's time for the legislators to represent the people that live here, and to
support honest business endeavors. The growth will be slower, the gambling
business will be more compact and very taxable, life will be hard and lean
like life in Nevada should be, and the state economy will survive past 2015.
We live in a desert. We had better start acting like it. Ann Reynolds
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