Cities again look at merger prospects

Mathis Winkler

Monday, Feb. 11, 2002 | 11 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman wants to study merging his city with neighboring North Las Vegas because of the economic downturn following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We have to look at things differently," Goodman said. "I'm considering ways to save taxpayers money and do away with a duplication of services."

With the OK of North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon, Goodman already has had city analysts compare the cities' property tax rates to see how a merger might affect residents, Las Vegas City Manager Virginia Valentine said.

Talk about a merger between Las Vegas and North Las Vegas has been around for years, but officials involved said this is the first time either city has studied what it would take to combine the two municipalities.

The Las Vegas analysts made no recommendations, Valentine said, and were waiting for direction from Goodman and council members before any further study. North Las Vegas leaders called a merger "unlikely" and several spoke out against it.

Goodman said he would talk to Montandon and North Las Vegas council members before seeking more information.

So far the study is limited to Las Vegas City Hall.

"Unfortunately, I don't have enough staff to look into it right now," Montandon said. He added that he didn't know what, if any, benefits a merger would bring, but said he had no problem with researching the idea.

"I would be completely unfaithful to my job if I at least didn't look into anything," he said, adding that he would be willing to give up his job if a merger were to happen.

Consolidation of the two cities is unlikely, Montandon said, comparing the situation to the relationship between Canada and the United States. Merging the two countries would make practical sense, but would never happen for political reasons, he said.

A merger also would require an act of the state Legislature, and possibly a vote of residents, according to the Legislative Counsel Bureau and North Las Vegas attorney Sean McGowan.

According to 2000 Census figures, a combined city would have almost 600,000 residents. It would spread over 161.55 square miles and have an assessed value of nearly $12.2 billion.

Montandon's council colleagues, who adopted "Your community of choice" as the city's motto only a few years ago, adamantly rejected the idea of a merger with Las Vegas. They argued that North Las Vegas is just beginning to emerge from the shadow of the big neighbor to the south.

"I'm totally against" a merger, said Councilman William Robinson, who has lived in North Las Vegas since the 1960s. "We got a city that's up and coming, and I think that North Las Vegas deserves its own identity."

Council members recently approved a 1,900-acre, master-planned community -- North Las Vegas' first. The development, which city officials hope will surpass Summerlin and Green Valley, is estimated to bring more than $1 billion in private investment into town.

They also have begun to redevelop the city's old parts, though that project has shown less success.

Councilwoman Shari Buck, who grew up in North Las Vegas, said larger wasn't necessarily better. She cited the Clark County School District's struggle to serve its immense student population as an example and added that she had no plans to give up her council seat.

Montandon "is entitled to his own opinion of what he wants to do with his job," she said. "But I'm not willing to abdicate my responsibility to serve the citizens of North Las Vegas to someone else."

Let the leaders of Las Vegas step down instead, Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said.

"If the city of Las Vegas wants to merge into the city of North Las Vegas, that's fine," she said. "Other than that, there's not anything to discuss.""