Officials say fiscal goals are being met

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001 | 9:57 a.m.

Henderson City Manager Phil Speight is staring over an empty notepad, his chin cupped in his hand. His tasseled loafers are perched on the legs of the chair next to him.

Other city officials, including Finance Director Steve Hanson, City Attorney Shauna Hughes and utilities director Kurt Segler, are similarly occupied as they ponder a question during a retreat at the Lake Las Vegas resort.

The question: What has changed in Henderson -- not since Sept. 11 -- but since December 1999?

And how will those changes affect priorities?

The answer, in the end -- after two days, five catered meals and 10 hours of strategic planning led by a consultant -- is that belts have tightened. With more tightening to come.

But despite decreasing revenue streams and increasing costs of providing services to a larger population, Henderson officials say they should be able to continue on course without sacrificing quality of life and without laying off any employees. They'll do more with less, they say.

"Fiscal responsibility may have to be a separate priority," Mayor Jim Gibson said Tuesday after the retreat. "We've been doing that for a long time, but maybe when you call it a priority and you publish it -- maybe the constituents need to know that."

Elected officials and another 28 key city staff members attended the retreat. It was a follow-up to a first meeting in 1999 when the city for the first time established seven governing priorities.

Those goals aimed to provide the best residential services in the Las Vegas Valley, improve business opportunities and establish a state college in Henderson.

On Monday and Tuesday officials reaffirmed those priorities, changing the small print in only a few instances.

Officials agreed to drop just one task aimed at accomplishing the larger goal of improving communication between city government and residents. They canned plans for entry monuments at city boundaries.

But even if priorities remain largely unchanged, the methods to achieve those goals were honed.

Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers wants to create codes that would further protect neighborhoods by preventing residents from "turning off the tap" on landscaping and letting a yard go to dust.

Councilman Steve Kirk wants to change business codes to allow an astrologist to open an Internet business from her home without having to apply for a special permit.

And City Clerk Monica Simmons said she wants to attract younger voters so that future elections aren't dominated by a fiscally conservative, and growing, senior population.

Those goals will not require significant funding, but others will.

The planning department wants to hire a consultant to help establish open space preserves. Police want a new K-9 patrol. And the city manager's office wants to hire a third assistant city manager.

But if anything, city finance staff expects the $300 million budget to take a hit in the next legislative session, because of tax restructuring already hinted at by the governor and because of a slowing economy that has slowed further since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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