Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Around the Silver State

Friday, Sept. 17, 1999 | 9:39 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the executive editor of the Las Vegas Sun

LAS VEGAS -- Is Wal-Mart's supermarket center fight at the Clark County Commission strictly a matter of union pressure? This is what some letter writers believe, but I'm not sure this is the whole picture.

A story from the Arizona Republic newspaper, and reprinted in the Sun last Tuesday, tells us that "city governments, neighborhood groups and grocery-union members in Arizona are throwing blockades in front of Wal-Mart's plans. They're fighting the supercenters, and killing off some of them, in guerrilla skirmishes around the country and around the state.

" 'People are catching on to what this is and understanding the impact,' grocery union spokesman Jim McLaughlin said. 'It's not just a union issue. It's a community issue. Every city in Arizona needs to make themselves aware of the impact these stores will have.' "

Last year Wal-Mart sold $137.6 billion of goods and has had expansion problems with residents, not just unions, nationwide. These battles have raged from Ithaca, N.Y., to San Leandro, Calif. It would be wise for all of us to take a close look at the successes and failures the "big boxes" and super warehouse-type stores have brought to communities.

"The Impact of Mega-Retail Discount Chains on Urban, Suburban, and Rural Economies," by Dr. Edward B. Shils of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, was published in the Real Estate Finance Journal/Spring 1998. This would be a good reading for local decision makers.

Hawthorne -- Mineral County Independent newspaper columnist Jack McCloskey took a clear shot at the growing practice of government turning operations over to private groups. Politicians, even in Nevada, see the advantages of clearing their own skirts of responsibility and maybe saving money by having a private company run prisons, parks, etc.

McCloskey points out that "Privatization, like penicillin, is supposed to be a cure-all. In the latter part of this century the trend has been for states to look to private sources for ways to change the operation of prisons."

The latest blowup of a privately run prison in New Mexico resulted in the deaths of four inmates and a guard. This resulted in the expensive transfer of 109 prisoners to Virginia, with New Mexico also paying $64 a day for their keep.

McCloskey notes that, "No information was given if the state and the private contracting prison operator will share the emergency expenses incurred, or if that is a responsibility of the privatization corporation."

Reno -- Would you believe that thousands of homes in Nevada's second largest city don't have water meters? Believe it. Despite a couple of very serious droughts in recent years, the Reno-Sparks area has water meters on about 24,000 homes, but more than 39,000 don't have meters.

The people in that area have been fighting the use of meters for 80 years. It was in 1919 that the Nevada Legislature, ruled by Northern Nevada, passed a law banning water meters in cities of more than 10,000 in population, which meant Reno.

About the only time the people in Washoe County get serious about water use is during periods of drought when lakes and streams dry up. As soon as it rains or there is a heavy spring runoff, conservation ideas go out the window.

The Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper recently reported that the Sierra Pacific Power Company estimates that customers with meters use 15 percent to 26 percent less water than homes without meters.

Elko -- Today some congressional aides from Washington, D.C., are scheduled to visit the Jarbidge area to learn more about the county's fight with federal conservation agencies. The main issue centers on the county fixing the South Canyon Road and damaging the habitat for bulltrout.

Last word has it that some of the aides won't make it to Nevada because Floyd has rained on their plans.