Mayoral hopefuls offer growing-pains remedies

Erin Neff

Thursday, April 1, 1999 | 11:14 a.m.

Candidates for Las Vegas mayor are pointing to traffic, pollution, crime, and infrastructure problems and saying that the 50 percent growth over the past 10 years is not solely to blame.

For more ball fields, for decent commuting times to work, for good public schools, for better roads and neighborhood services, for increased crime reduction -- the answer, they say, is better management of growth.

City Councilman Arnie Adamsen, developer Mark Fine, criminal defense attorney Oscar Goodman, radio host Frank LaSpina and former Henderson Mayor Cruz Olague -- the five leaders among nine mayoral candidates -- all vow to manage growth if they're elected.

They differ on how much of a burden developers, residents and businesses must shoulder.

Adamsen, 49, said he would give the city a B plus for its efforts to manage the growth and plan for future service, infrastructure and transportation needs.

"The reason I wouldn't give us a higher grade is because of the lack of funding from the RTC (Regional Transportation Commission) and the state," Adamsen, who has been on City Council since 1987, said. "We've done the planning and we've never gotten credit for it."

Adamsen's district includes Summerlin, the master-planned community most cite as the proverbial city on the hill when it comes to parks, roads and separation of residential and commercial zones.

Although Adamsen said he is pleased with the city's efforts in Summerlin and with the planned 2,000-acre Town Center development in the northwest, he realizes that not all growth can be master-planned. As a result, he lauds the city's efforts to control density and limit the commercial impact on neighborhoods from new development.

He admits more can be done to increase funding available for parks, mass transit and fire services. He would support a Legislature-imposed impact fee on developers to pay for such infrastructure, although he says, "It's people buying the houses that pay impact fees, not the developers."

Adamsen is sold on private-public partnerships to fund park construction -- one of the city's most pressing needs.

"We've got all the land in the world," Adamsen said of some 2,100 acres of Bureau of Land Management property leased to the city for parks construction. "We don't have the money."

Fine, 53, whose development credentials include Summerlin and Green Valley, said he is not certain that imposing higher impact fees on developers is needed.

"Everybody keeps talking about impact fees, but the developers are paying impact fees right now," Fine, president of Mark L. Fine & Associates, said. He also said he opposes higher property taxes.

Instead, he said he would work to eliminate duplication of government services in an effort to improve efficiency and save money. He also said he would work with the Clark County School District and the private sector to come up with ways to provide more park space.

Fine said he favors building a regional park funded through a bond issue. He also said planners need to find sites for parks before development encroaches on an area.

Goodman, 59, credits his legal representation of mobsters Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro and other well-known clients for giving him the backbone to deal with a tough issue like growth.

"I think I am the bad boy as far as the developers are concerned," Goodman said. "But I'm interested in the citizens of Las Vegas and you have to be tough."

For Goodman, that means coming right out in favor of assessing impact fees on developers for new housing projects in an effort to offset the services that the new residents will require.

"I will not raise taxes because the people pay enough," Goodman said. "I favor imposing substantial impact fees and I'm not afraid to say that."

Without some form of revenue to pay for police and fire services and for parks, roads and sewers, the city will further sink into what Goodman laments as a downward spiral where people will "need an appointment to use the parks because you can't get in."

"What Las Vegas forgets sometimes is that we're a major city; we're not a cow town," Goodman added. "You can't say that these problems are insolvable, but you've got to be willing to do something."

In addition to impact fees, Goodman said he would offer tax breaks to businesses willing to invest downtown in an effort to revitalize the older areas of the city even as most of the development is occurring in the northwest part of town.

He said he favors express lanes for those who carpool, similar to those popular in Southern California, in an effort to alleviate traffic congestion and its associated air pollution.

LaSpina, 50, who has devoted many of his radio shows to growth and related issues, said that perhaps there is no answer to the problem.

"As a 30-year resident, selfishly, I would have been happy if someone put a belt around the city in 1969 and said no development beyond this point," LaSpina said. "But we have the growth and the traffic and the truthful answer is that maybe there is no magic solution."

While LaSpina isn't convinced traffic can be alleviated given the continued population increases, he is interested in ways to fund needed services.

He would not rule out leveling higher impact fees on developers or increasing the gaming tax.

"I'm keeping an open mind on that one," LaSpina said. "I'd like to have the gaming executives make their case to me."

But he said that consolidating city and Clark County services and government would save enough money and reduce taxes enough to help offset the need for additional services.

LaSpina also said he favors donating land to private developers to construct parks.

Olague, 64, doesn't agree with Adamsen's high marks for the city in its growth-managing efforts.

"They've been a rubber stamp for developers," said Olague, who was mayor of Henderson from 1973-1975. "The outlying areas have become a paradise for the developers. Now we're paying for it because instead of fixing the roads, a lot of money has to be expended to go out to those distances."

Olague's most controversial stance is imposing a moratorium on all building permits "until we finish the roads and have a chance to catch up."

"Right now they just stamp it, and stamp it and stamp it and we can't control it," Olague said.

He said he would favor increased impact fees and park fees on developers in an effort to solve the shortage in recreational facilities citywide. He also favors shaking up city management by hiring employees from cities like San Diego, which he said has done a good job revitalizing its downtown and managing growth.

"The only way to resolve everything is to put consolidation on the ballot," Olague said. "That would give us savings and make taxes more equitable."