Columnist Erin Neff: Star on Nevada map should be in the South

Erin Neff

Friday, May 17, 2002 | 4:08 a.m.

IN THE EAST, once you dip below the Mason-Dixon Line, you'll frequently hear talk that the South will rise again.

Here in Nevada, however, the South is still trying to rise for the first time. And it's about time Las Vegas gets its deserved spot in the state's history.

Nevada is still pointing toward the north star of Carson City, recognizing what 140 years ago was the state's true hub and ignoring a simple truth -- Clark County matters.

Statewide candidates know this. After all, why do you think Gov. Kenny Guinn has spent the past seven months in Las Vegas? It wasn't really the Carson City winter.

To win a statewide election you have to either win Clark County or lose here by less than 20,000 and win the rest of the state.

Attorney General candidate Brian Sandoval spent much of the Reno winter here in Clark County -- not just for our weather, but for our votes.

That's why it's time to move the capital. Go ahead, laugh. But if you've ever tried flying to Las Vegas from Reno on a Friday during the legislative session, you'd see every key decision-maker going home for the weekend.

Every one, that is, except Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio. The Reno Republican still has his fiefdom in the Senate up north.

That's why efforts by Henderson schoolchildren to get the mustang named a co-state animal were killed. (Mustangs, you see, eat the same grass that cattle do, and northern ranchers just don't like 'em.)

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, despite her Southern accent, doesn't think there's any hope of moving the capital "just because of the history and tradition."

Some capitals were once major transportation, mining or agriculture hubs. But the economics of the old capitals have changed and given way to the business of state government. The people and power have moved on, like motorists when they slow to a crawl through Carson City on the way to Lake Tahoe.

Other states picked capitals away from major cities and their sinful influence to try to keep the smut out of politics. That's why there are stars on the map by Springfield, Ill., and Harrisburg, Pa.

But because sin finds the capital even if it is out of the way, why not put the capital closer to the "corruption?" At least the lobbyists and lawmakers wouldn't have to catch planes twice a week.

Titus said the capital can't move now because so many buildings have been constructed and offices have been dedicated to the state up north that it would be impossible to replicate them in Las Vegas.

There was a time when the North ignored Clark County, giving much more money to say, UNR, than to UNLV. Now the numbers from the South have helped even things out even if the North still claims victory on everything from redistricting to the state animal.

"It's a myth that's perpetuated a lot by people like Raggio," Titus said. "When Raggio goes we'll see a lot less of that."

Myth of northern control or not, it makes sense to conduct the state's business here. Every two years the casinos, the Southern Nevada cities and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce make all the decisions for the state Legislature anyway.

Former Assembly Speaker Joe Dini's retirement last week proves the North doesn't always get its way anymore. Dini was the lone Democrat arguing last session for an expanded Legislature to better serve the northern and rural counties.

His party's leadership -- all from Las Vegas -- said no, and sure enough the Legislature still has 63 seats.

It's just a natural now to move the seat of business.

And while we're at it, how about changing the state song from "Home Means Nevada" to "Viva Las Vegas"?

Sure, Bertha Raffetto's lyrics are ripe with great Northern references, like the Kit Carson Trail, the Truckee and silvery rills.

But there's nothing that means home to me about those images. And I certainly don't see "spotted fawn and doe" running through the desert.

But Elvis, you see, was a lot like state government -- bloated, with a penchant for sin.