Las Vegas council disbands its real estate committee

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005 | 9:59 a.m.

Las Vegas' Real Estate Committee was disbanded by the City Council on Wednesday, about 15 years after it was created, removing another level of scrutiny for proposed land deals.

The committee, comprised of two council members, reviewed proposed land deals in which the city was involved either as the buyer, seller, or potential landlord.

Council members Lois Tarkanian and Steve Wolfson, the latest members of the committee, both said the committee's work was largely redundant, as the matters considered by the committee all moved on to the full council for consideration - typically the day after those matters were reviewed by the committee.

"It did give another opportunity for public input," Tarkanian said. "But there is redundancy to a point and a lot of hours involved."

City documents said the elimination of the committee would save 10 to 20 hours of staff time every other week.

Wolfson said, "about 99 percent of the items" reviewed by the committee "were routine in nature, and there wasn't the need for the extra layer."

The council voted 7-0 to kill the committee, which was established by the council in 1990.

Tarkanian and Wolfson are also the two council members who sit on the city's Recommending Committee, which like the Real Estate Committee, typically meets the day before the full council meetings to discuss ordinances headed to the full council.

Both council members said they feel the added review of proposed city ordinances, or changes to existing ordinances, done in the Recommending Committee is still useful.

Wolfson said the discussion of proposed ordinances does, at times, point out the need for additional changes to a proposed ordinance and saves time during regular council meetings.