LOOKING IN ON: CLARK COUNTY

Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006 | 7:42 a.m.

It's official.

Clark County and the city of Las Vegas are butting heads on the issue of a new arena for the valley.

Mayor Oscar Goodman left no doubt about that when, in typical hyperbolic style, he compared the county to a prostitute haggling about price.

That comment came during a presentation to the City Council on Wednesday by the Las Vegas Events Center Task Force, the group charged with looking into the possibility of building a new arena. The task force made the presentation to county commissioners Tuesday.

The meetings brought to the surface tensions between Goodman and Commission Chairman Rory Reid.

Reid and other commissioners said Tuesday they do not think using public money for the project is appropriate.

The task force, which put a $405 million price tag on the arena, found that the project would have an annual financing gap of $11 million to $27 million. The larger gap would exist if a professional sports team were part of the picture because NBA and NHL franchises usually gobble up most of the revenue generated by the facility. Those figures don't include the price of parking structures, infrastructure or acquiring land.

"I think Oscar is a lot more colorful than I will ever be," Reid said in response to Goodman's prostitute reference. "I am going to continue asking the questions that need to be asked."

At the commission meeting, Reid called on private interests to step up with concrete proposals to give county officials a better idea of the actual financing hurdles.

Goodman, however, accused commissioners of political posturing and said the arena was needed to revitalize downtown, even if it required a public subsidy. Goodman also has said he thinks an arena could be privately financed, although he has refused to say how.

Many outgoing politicians sit back during the lame-duck period between the November election and the end of their terms in early January, missing meetings and rarely speaking up when they do attend.

Not so for outgoing veteran Commissioner Myrna Williams, who lost a primary race to Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani.

When Las Vegas Monorail officials asked commissioners to sign off on a planned 4.2-mile extension of the transit system from MGM Grand to McCarran International Airport, Williams was quick to slap a condition on the commission's approval.

"One of the concerns I have is taking up a lane on the surface street," she said.

When the original project was being planned, Williams said, she asked Monorail officials whether the project would take up any traffic lanes.

"I was told at that time we wouldn't lose a lane, but of course we did on Paradise," she said.

Monorail officials couldn't confirm Williams' account of what happened, but said no traffic lanes would be occupied by the expansion if it went forward.

Commissioners also took the opportunity at their zoning meeting Wednesday to praise Williams' years of service.

"I have never met another one who has cared more about her job than Myrna," Reid said.

Williams, who joined the board in 1995, has been one of the few commissioners to make the job a full-time one. She is one of the most accessible commissioners and almost always can be reached by phone at her home.

Because of an eye injury in her youth, Williams is unable to drive. Fellow commissioners often give her a lift.

"I remember the first time I had to find a stepladder so she could get into my truck," said Commissioner Chip Maxfield.

Williams said she will stay busy after leaving office. A former social worker, she plans to work on what she called a nonprofit children's project but declined to give additional details.