Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Jeff German: Maybe it’s time we worried

The timing of the release of a Southern Nevada Water Authority report predicting dire social and economic consequences if growth is limited in Clark County has not gone unnoticed by those participating in the growth debate.

The report, put together by the fiscal consulting firm of Hobbs, Ong & Associates, was presented to the Water Authority's board last Thursday, just as County Manager Thom Reilly was narrowing down his choices to serve on the county's historic Community Growth Task Force.

The County Commission was to approve Reilly's picks today and give the 17-member citizen panel its marching orders to begin examining the impact of growth.

It could be argued that the Hobbs Report, with its ominous warnings about altering our present course, has done nothing more than promote the pro-growth agenda of the wealthy developers who work closely with water officials struggling to deal with our ongoing drought problems.

The developers would prefer we look at growth as Bobby McFerrin would in his song, "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

Their position is that, as our economy matures, it naturally will slow down, and there is no need to worry about growing too big, too fast. Tampering with growth is what can cause us problems, they argue.

The Hobbs Report is strikingly similar to one presented to the Las Vegas Valley Water District in 1992 by former UNLV economist William White at a time when there also was talk about managing growth.

White's study was exploited by the politically connected developers to squelch that talk.

Like its predecessor, the Hobbs Report concluded that Southern Nevada stands to lose billions of dollars if growth is suddenly limited. Even a 10 percent cutback would cost thousands of jobs, increase crime and burden the social services system, it predicted.

But there are two key findings in the Hobbs Report that bolster the arguments of those who believe we need to discuss controlling growth.

The report concluded that Southern Nevada has become more dependent on growth today than 12 years ago. And the state, relying mostly on sales and gaming taxes to keep government operating, has become more dependent on Clark County (where all the growth is) to maintain its budget.

Simply put, the stakes are higher today.

We learned that the hard way after Sept. 11, when terrorists attacks 3,000 miles away disrupted our fragile tourism-based economy. Sales and gaming taxes plummeted, and some 15,000 workers on the Strip were laid off, sending the economy into a temporary tailspin and creating a nightmare for the Legislature months later.

Sept. 11 taught us that, even if we stay the course and continue to make the developers rich, there are unforeseen events that could have widespread ramifications on our quality of life -- and that we had better be prepared to deal with those ramifications.

As County Commissioner Rory Reid, one of those pushing the growth debate, put it: "This is not the time to be singing, 'Don't Worry, Be Happy.' "

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