Editorial: Bungling will teach lessons

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 9:04 a.m.

In 1995 an enthusiastic Clark County Commission chose the architect for its biggest project ever -- a Regional Justice Center that would bring much of Southern Nevada's court system under one roof. Within days the architects and a team of urban planners began assessing the needs of the various departments and agencies. The building was on a fast track to be completed before 2000. A sense of optimism prevailed because the need for consolidation was universally understood. The aging, oft-renovated Clark County Courthouse had been overcrowded for years and the Las Vegas Municipal Court was operating out of four locations. Within months a $120 million public safety bond issue had been drafted to provide partial funding for the justice center, expansion of the Clark County Detention Center and improvements to juvenile facilities. Voters approved the bond issue at the 1996 general election.

Today the Regional Justice Center is only about 60 percent completed, two years behind the original hoped-for opening and a year behind revised estimates as the project got under way. The jail expansion is only about 80 percent completed, 10 months behind schedule. Additionally, the projects are a combined $33 million over budget -- an amount that screams of mismanagement. The early sense of optimism collapsed amid labor problems and a leadership vacuum. No county employee emerged as directly in charge of the project, leaving court officials, who were to occupy the building, free to make 1,100 design changes with little oversight.

County Manager Thom Reilly, hired in June 2001, long after the project had spun out of control, made two decisions after he analyzed the scope of the problem. The first should have an immediate effect -- he appointed Randy Walker, who as aviation director has overseen huge expansion projects at McCarran International Airport, to oversee the two projects. Already there are new completion dates that seem firm -- the new jail tower should be receiving inmates by October and the justice center should be operating by September 2003.

The second decision, just as important, was to prepare a complete assessment of what went wrong. Blind allegiance to the lowest bidder and failure to appoint a county official to exercise central control will likely be among the issues pinpointed. The report is critical, because the county also owns the block due south of the Regional Justice Center. Someday it will be developed to handle the justice system's growth. Let's hope the pending report is the first thing read when that time comes so as not to repeat the colossal errors of this project.