Growth panel to look at 209 potential members

Monday, March 1, 2004 | 11:18 a.m.

Clark County staffers are sifting through 209 names of people proposed for the county's new growth management task force, and choosing 17 people is not going to be easy.

Commissioners Rory Reid, Mark James and Bruce Woodbury moved last month to bring the ongoing debate over growth in Southern Nevada to a formal task force to meet through this year, and bring policy recommendations to the County Commission. The trio said that with growth coloring virtually every aspect of life in the region, the time has come to discuss both the positives and negatives of growth and how it could be better managed.

The commission two weeks ago set the number of seats on the task force at 17, but said that number could be changed. The commission is scheduled to again discuss the size of the task force and could appoint the members Tuesday.

County Manager Thom Reilly said he has had a tough job boiling down the 209 potential task force members, and as of Friday afternoon, still had a couple of slots still to fill. He expected to be finished today.

Among the 209 names he has to choose from: fiscal analyst Jeremy Aguero, noted most recently for co-writing a study for the Southern Nevada Water Authority that predicted severe economic consequences if growth is restricted; developer and former county commissioner Jay Bingham; former Clark County School District Superintendent Brian Cram; Jane Feldman, chairwoman of the conservation committee of the local Sierra Club; former lieutenant governor and brain surgeon Lonnie Hammargren; Gabriel Lither, a founder of Summerlin Residents for Responsible Growth; Bill Martin, chief executive officer of Nevada State Bank; Alan O'Neill, executive director of Outside Las Vegas, a conservation group; transportation consultant Tom Skancke; state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas; neighborhood activist and Blue Diamond resident Pauline van Betten; and environmental activist Je ff van Ee, among many others.

"We've all been surprised at the response we've received from the community," Reid said Friday. "I've never seen demand like this.

"There's a lot of people who want to do it, which makes the decision rather difficult. I'm sure the final list will be impressive."

The broad spectrum on nominees reflects the spectrum of opinion in the Las Vegas Valley, Reid said.

"They will do a good job, whoever they are," he said.

Woodbury said his priority is to ensure that members of the business and development communities are balanced with people such as environmental and community activists.

"We're trying to get as much involvement as possible," he said.

Many of the names on the list are ones that Woodbury knows, but not all.

"A few I know better than others, but there are so many applicants," he said.

Reilly said many of those nominated probably don't know they are on the list. He said they would be contacted if they make it to the final 17.

Reilly said anyone could nominate people to serve on the task force, and people were allowed to nominate themselves. Reilly said he has two priorities: to provide diversity to ensure a cross-section of the community; and to provide balance to represent the different interest groups that need a voice in the discussion.

"The direction I keep getting is make sure it is balanced, and that is what I am trying to do," he said.

Hal Rothman, chairman of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas history department, is one of the 209. He doesn't know who nominated him for the list.

"Of course, if they selected me I would be glad to," he said. "This is the most complicated and most important question that faces the valley.

"It intrinsically involves not just the economy, but the future of life and the nature of our lives."

One group will be left off the final list, he said. Elected officials from local or state government will have a parallel "policy forum" for input and to hear reports of the task force's work.

Sen. Dina Titus said the policy forum, which includes the mayors of Clark County's cities, her and Sen. Warren Hardy, R-Las Vegas, met Feb. 17.

"I think they (the county) are trying to get buy-in from all the governments that would be involved," Titus said. "The county is trying to show that they're being cooperative with both the local and state government.

"If there's not buy-in, whatever they come up with will meet with resistance down the road," she said.

Titus said she has reservations about the process. The make-up of the task force could have a big impact on the final product, she said, and the direction the group gets from the county commission also could influence the policy recommendations to come.

However, she also promised to look carefully at those recommendations, which could take some action by the Legislature to put in place.

James said he believes the final policy recommendations are likely to provide important direction for the commission and other governments.

"It's an extremely needed thing for this community," James said. "We want to maintain a reasonable pace of growth that is sustainable in terms of our available resources and our planning for the future.

"I'm very sanguine that we're going to have a tremendous committee with the kind of balance we need to reach a consensus on this issue," he said. "I don't want to prejudge it, but I would anticipate that we would get some recommendations that would give us a sustainable pace of growth in terms of our quality of life."

He said the final product won't be a call for a moratorium on all growth, but would likely provide some tools to manage the growth that is here.