Henderson Mayor: City needs to enlarge presence in LV Valley affairs

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said Thursday it's time for his city to play a larger role in shaping county and state issues.

This was a dominant theme in his State of the City address, held at Trumpets at Sun City Anthem. The address was delivered a month later than usual because Gibson, an attorney, was involved in a case that occupied much of his time until now.

"In my view, Henderson must have a presence, an increasing opportunity for influence," Gibson said. "We need more seats at the table. We need a heightened opportunity for participation."

Gibson told the crowd of about 250 at a luncheon sponsored by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce that three Henderson representatives among the 63 members of the Legislature is inadequate.

Gibson said that as legislators grapple with the political implications of reapportionment, they should bear in mind that Henderson is not the same town it was 11 years ago, when the city's population was 65,000. Legislators last adjusted political districts to reflect shifts in population and demographics in 1990.

"We have a population today of 205,000, making us the second-largest city in Nevada," Gibson said. "It would be unacceptable if Henderson does not gain additional representatives in the Legislature."

At the county level, districts for the Clark County Commission will also be redrawn this spring. Gibson said those lines should be redrawn so that Henderson has 100,000 people in two of the seven county districts.

"We are vulnerable, depending on what happens at other levels of government," Gibson said.

One area where Gibson has already made inroads is with the redistribution of state tax revenues.

Gibson said that through agreements nearly finalized with Las Vegas and Clark County, Henderson can expect parity of funding. As an example, the Henderson District Public Libraries could see an increase in funding of $250,000 within three years under the new formula, Gibson said.

"We should not be penalized because others have a greater need," Gibson said. "We cannot tolerate the diversion of tax dollars away from the community simply because we have required expenditures as people have developed here. We must be vigilant to ensure our success is recognized and not penalized."

Gibson credited much of Henderson's economic success to public-private partnerships that make the rehabilitation of blighted areas financially attractive to developers without putting added strain on taxpayers.

Those incentives contributed in part to a 525 percent increase in the city's assessed valuation over the last 10 years, Gibson said. Henderson's assessed valuation is $4.4 billion today.

Gibson said a loyal work staff at City Hall also made for a more efficient use of taxpayer money, noting that department heads averaged 17 years as city employees.

Those tenures come despite having the lowest ratio of city employees to residents in the Las Vegas Valley, Gibson said. They also come in spite of independent department audits over the past year that concluded City Hall is understaffed and works with insufficient space and resources, Gibson said. Looking forward locally, Gibson spoke most enthusiastically of the $22 million in state funding won for the Nevada State College in Henderson and a proposed public safety tax being considered for the June ballot.

"We must, we must adopt a property tax increase for public safety," he said.