Vegas mayor at odds with planing board over city growth

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 1998 | 9:19 a.m.

Jones criticized the Southern Nevada Strategic Planning Authority for allegedly glossing over serious traffic and infrastructure problems in a report it is making to the state Legislature on ways to manage Southern Nevada's explosive growth.

But North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon, a member of the planning board, defended the panel's work and said Jones is in no position to criticize the authority.

He said Jones has been to only a few meetings of the board.

"It's always better to criticize if you show up to help," Montandon said. "If she's going to come out and criticize the end product, then it's hard (for me) to sit by silently."

Jones said the board, created by the 1997 state Legislature, is not doing the job it was created to do.

"From what I see, the attitude is status quo," Jones said of the authority's work. In an interview, she added, "What really concerns me is when every committee says everything is fine. It's like the emperor's in new clothes -- we don't have any problems."

While Jones criticized the authority, City Manager Virginia Valentine presented the City Council with the findings of a five-member advisory panel the mayor appointed in February. The board's recommendations, which Valentine described as preliminary, included few details.

The panel, for example, called for the creation of two new committees to study issues that Jones identified in her February State of the City address. The group backed additional impact fees on homebuilders to pay for infrastructure, but said a committee should help decide how much the fees should be and how to implement them.

Valentine also advised the city to hire an outside consultant to conduct a fiscal impact analysis of all the city's growth-related needs. The firm would look at what level of services the city wants to provide, and then how much they would cost and how to pay for them.

"The city is acting on its own because I don't think the critical issues are being addressed," Jones said. The strategic planning authority is advisory and cannot implement new policies.

Jones was vague in her criticism of the authority's work, but said she would like it to take a hard look at traffic and impact fees, among other things.

The authority has recommended a tax freeze to pay for new school construction and said it opposes the development of a public monorail, advocating more roads instead. It has also reviewed master plans throughout the valley, and is conducting an infrastructure needs assessment.