Brian Greenspun on growing pains in NLV causing some confusion about the facts

Sunday, May 7, 2006 | 9:05 a.m.

There may be an apology in order. Let me explain.

I attended a City Council meeting last Wednesday in North Las Vegas. The subject matter I was interested in was a proposed development agreement between the city and the Olympia Land Group, which had purchased 2,600 acres of BLM land and had been negotiating this agreement ever since. One of the matters that was on the table was a proposed gaming site.

I am told by the editors around here that now is a good time to disclose my conflicts. I am a partner in Aliante, which is North Las Vegas' first real master-planned community. It has been a success for both us and the city and, especially, the thousands of people who call it home every day.

I am also a partner with Station Casinos in the recently announced Aliante Station, a hotel-casino that is proposed to be opened sometime in 2008. That means I not only have a community interest in how the quality of life in North Las Vegas continues to grow but also a financial one. Disclosure over.

Also at that meeting were close to 200 people wearing anti-casino signs. They came with spouses, with babies and with friends to make their voices heard about their desire not to have more casinos in their neighborhoods. And they filled the meeting hall to the max.

At the outset of the hearing, Mayor Mike Montandon questioned why the people were there. He said that someone had lied to them to get them to come out in such force and that they, basically, had wasted their time because gaming was not an issue in the development agreement. He seemed genuinely perplexed.

That was strike one in my book. The city held a workshop session just two weeks earlier at which gaming was a very big part of the development agreement. The fact that some politicians, lawyers or both decided to remove it at the last minute to avoid the public outrage was clever, to be sure, but the mayor's feigning surprise was, at best, disingenuous.

I sat back in my chair to watch the rest of the proceedings, making a mental note that I should say something because it wasn't right to treat people that way. I said nothing.

When the Olympia Group made its presentation it was clear that even though they received unprecedented densities for their project, their commitment to invest close to $1 billion was a substantial show of faith in North Las Vegas and one to be applauded and approved.

But first, there was the time set aside for the public comment on the matter. And many people who had come to speak out did just that. It wasn't until a well-known community activist who dislikes neighborhood casinos anywhere in the valley came up to speak that I decided I had heard enough.

My decision was prompted by Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, who questioned the speaker about just where in North Las Vegas she lived. That is a common put-down used by politicians who suggest by the question that unless you live in the jurisdiction your opinion does not matter.

To be fair, the good councilwoman said she meant nothing by the question, so I will accept that explanation with the caveat that that is what they all say.

When I got up to speak I no longer had an interest in density, parks, police stations, firehouses or even gaming. What was on my mind was the growing disconnect between the governors and the governed in this country. And so I told them.

And I used the goings on in Clark County - now the convictions of two former county commissioners and the outrageous and criminal shenanigans of yet another - as an example of how the people are growing tired of their elected officials paying little or no attention to them and rapt attention to lobbyists for the monied interests and others who know how to pay the game - I mean play the game.

I said that the mayor's disingenuousness toward his constituents was dangerous in a world in which people are growing further away from their government and that the council ought to consider such things so that it not happen in North Las Vegas.

From that point on you would have thought I had some of them indicted on charges of mopery, dopery and boobalism. They came after me, defending their honor while trying to sully mine in a show of outrage that Mr. Shakespeare would have put in the "protesteth too much" category.

At the end of the night, after the land development agreement had been approved, the discussion continued, at which point I told some of the council members that I would apologize if I had accused them of the heinous high crimes and misdemeanors about which they were still fuming.

And so I did what the big boys in the sports world do. I went to the tape. In this case it was the tape recording of the meeting. I sometimes say things in the heat of an emotional outburst that I regret - especially when I hear politicians on high horses gloating about the schemes of conflicted lawyers and others to put one over on the people - and I am fully prepared to apologize for those things which crossed the line, no matter how unintended they may have been.

But, alas, the tape says it all. Actually, it says nothing of the sort of things which seemingly caused the attack on my good character.

So, the bottom line is that there will be no apology from me to the City Council members who think they have been harmed. And since there was no real other harm done, I am willing to concede that the hot tempers and overblown protests may just be the growing pains of a North Las Vegas trying to enter its rightful place in a grown-up world.

After all, with Aliante and now the Olympia Group's development, the city that has been so often ignored is all set to take its place among the great new cities in this country. All it needs to do is grow up a little and act more adult-like.

Adults apologize when they make mistakes. I hope I don't have to wait too long to hear theirs.