Golf course only bad news in Ferraro’s State of the City

Dan Kulin

Friday, Jan. 30, 2004 | 9:23 a.m.

During his annual State of the City address Thursday, Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro said the Boulder Creek Golf Club has been a financial disaster so far but he hopes good news will be coming soon.

The mention of the golf course, into which Ferraro injected some optimism, was the only bit of bad news in an otherwise upbeat 50-minute speech that focused on the successes of city residents and officials during the past year.

Ferraro noted city swimmers' successes in the pool and the classroom; Bootleg Canyon's popularity with mountain bikers; the police and fire departments' anti-drunken driving efforts; and the achievements of parks, arts and youth center officials.

Those singled out by the mayor received applause from the crowd of about 100 that filled the Council Chambers and spilled into the hallway.

The crowd also gave a young resident a standing ovation after Ferraro told the crowd about the young man's appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Assemblyman Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, liked Ferraro's speech and so did others in the crowd, including 77-year-old Lindy Bandy.

"We have a lot in Boulder City to be thankful of and I don't think people appreciate it enough," she said.

Spectators said they thought Ferraro had to mention Boulder Creek, and that he did so in a straightforward manner.

Ferraro said Boulder Creek has been such a dominant issue in the city for the past year there was no way he could avoid talking about the golf course.

Boulder Creek opened in January 2003 to glowing predictions of profits in its first six months, but instead has turned into a financial and political liability.

The course had about $2.1 million in operating losses through November, and is cited by leaders of the recall effort as the dominant issue for them. Many, led by Ferraro's political rival former Councilman Bill Smith say they believe Ferraro either knew or should have known the course was losing money long before the end of May. The mayor said he realized the true financial health of the course when the rest of the public did, during a presentation from an independent auditor a week before the June election.

Ferraro did not mention the effort to recall him and City Councilman Mike Pacini, which if successful would put Ferraro into a special election against Smith. Ferraro beat Smith by 18 votes in the June election.

Recall petitioners are also trying to force a special election between Pacini and Arn McLean.

As of Wednesday night, the leaders of the recall effort had enough signatures on petitions, assuming the all the signatures are from registered Boulder City voters, to force a special election between Pacini and McLean. They also needed less than 100 more to force a special election between Ferraro and Smith, according to figures supplied by Vaughn Reuther, a volunteer with the recall effort.

Reuther said because the group is concerned that not all of the signatures are from city registered voters, they will try to collect about 300 more before turning the petitions over to the City Clerk for certification.

Ferraro said he considered mentioning the recall effort in his Thursday speech, but decided it would detract from the overall positive feel of the address.

Smith said he thought the Ferraro did a good job with the speech.

"He makes good presentations," Smith said. "And he's right, Boulder City is a great place to live."