Brian Greenspun highlights how we can elevate our state

Sunday, June 10, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

I have a capital idea. And a very Republican one at that.

It came to me as I toured the Las Vegas Springs Preserve the other night. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Springs Preserve, the best I can tell you is that you must see it to believe it.

You must see it because it will bring home in the most understandable way what it means to live in the desert, what it means to not have abundant water supplies and what it means to appreciate the delicate balance between man and nature that must take place if we are to continue living here in comfort.

You must also see it because it will knock your socks off!

I never thought I would be able to visit a project like this in Las Vegas. It is a Smithsonian-level interactive museum as well as a living and breathing tribute to our environment and stewardship of it.

To see it in Las Vegas - to see what a public-private partnership can accomplish with the right kind of leadership - is to see what we can accomplish if we set our minds to it.

It should be noted that passage of a statewide ballot question by Nevada's voters a few years ago allowed the state to issue up to $200 million in bonds to preserve and protect some of Nevada's important natural resources - and a share of that funding went to the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is where I say that two of my favorite achievers in Las Vegas are largely responsible for the Springs Preserve : Pat Mulroy, the head of the Water District , and my sister, Janie Gale, who has never been shy when it comes to asking people for their money or spending her own.

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is open to the public and is a must see for locals and tourists alike.

So, here's the capital idea.

My friend and Nevada's former and foremost governor, the late Mike O'Callaghan, used to tell me about Southern Nevada's responsibility to help pay for the needs of the rest of the state. Otherwise, he'd say, we would be less than a state and less than the kind of people who should populate this wonderful place called Nevada.

I believed Mike was right and, even though it is always a challenge to wonder why we support the rest of the state when they don't always seem to care much about our problems, I still believe his wise counsel.

So, what is it we can do in Southern Nevada to meet our challenges and defeat them when our governor, our Republican-controlled state Senate and those who believe that selfishness is next to Godliness, won't lift a finger to help?

We should be able do it ourselves, but in Nevada there isn't home rule for counties, a situation that means counties have to get the Legislature's approval before doing a host of things. That makes it difficult because the counties' hands are severely tied, preventing them from raising many taxes even when the need to pay for vital services clearly exists. But it is not impossible.

Why shouldn't we be able to pass sales and fuel tax increases and whatever other revenue increase we need to build and expand our own roads so our own people can get to and from work, to and from the grocery store and to and from wherever it is in the valley they would like to travel to in less than one hour or more during rush hour?

Why can't the gaming industry and the business community find agreement on the ways and means to fund local schools above the paltry sums provided by the state? Health care needs could be addressed the same way. So can myriad other needs that the governor and the Legislature refused to address but which the people who live here want, need and are willing to pay for if leadership makes the case to them.

People in public service and in private enterprise came together to build a wonderment like the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, so there is no reason to believe that we can't take care of our own problems in Southern Nevada without burdening or expecting help from our northern and rural cousins.

We have most of the population and most of the money down here. If we really don't like our traffic problems, our education challenges and our other quality of life issues that don't get addressed , but, instead, are pushed off until someone with leadership skills is willing to lead, we should be able to do something about it.

We don't need the governor or the Legislature to fix most of what ails us. We just need some imagination and some leadership that would give us the tools to do so.

The Republican Party I joined many years ago would have jumped at this kind of opportunity. It would have applauded the Springs Preserve. And it would have told the people of Southern Nevada that local solutions can work if the people want them to.

But that isn't going to happen with today's GOP. So is there anyone else out there who can take a good idea and run with it?