Former councilman moves into new county commission role

By Jeff Pope

Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008 | 12:03 a.m.

In these times of rising unemployment and decreasing revenue, Larry Brown said Clark County and its municipalities should do what President-elect Barrack Obama has proposed and push forward with infrastructure projects.

Brown will have the chance to test his economic theory when he steps into his new role representing District C on the Clark County Commission.

Brown, 51, won the November election with 57 percent of the vote and will be sworn in Jan. 5 along with fellow rookie commissioner Steve Sisolak.

Constructing roads, parks, flood control channels and community centers that have been languishing on drawing boards for years would stimulate the local economy while benefiting the quality of life for residents, Brown said.

"We should be looking at our public works projects, our road projects, our fire stations, things that have been planned and try to, with all respect to the budget making sure it (the money) is there, but push those projects," he said. "A couple projects from Flood Control (District) or RTC (Regional Transportation Commission) or the city of Las Vegas, they may keep an engineering firm in business here locally."

Encouraging governments to spend money may sound strange coming from Brown, who in his nearly 12 years as a Las Vegas city councilman advocated conservative spending and trimming budgets. But recessions force state and local governments to cut spending and possibly increase taxes to meet balanced budget requirements. These actions can exacerbate the downturn and slow recovery.

The local governments still have to meet required expenses, but their priority should shift from programs to projects that create jobs, Brown said.

"A lot of the government costs, especially the labor side, are fixed costs," he said. "We're going to have to constantly look at the way we run our business and look for improvements."

District C includes most of Summerlin, the Lone Mountain area, Mount Charleston, Cold Creek, Corn Creek, Indian Springs and the northwest portions of the valley.

The City Council appointed Sun City Summerlin Board Vice President David Steinman to fill Brown's Ward 4 seat beginning Jan. 7. As a caretaker of the open seat, Steinman will have full authority of a council member, but he agreed not to run for the seat in the upcoming election.

After two decades of double-digit revenue growth, the public agencies have hit the wall and will have to rethink business as usual, Brown said.

The new year will be one of "survival" with the county looking to balance its budget while revenues decline. Brown said his priority is funding the core functions of government, such as public safety and public works, then look to cut non-essential programs.

"The fundamental question is: Is this program or service something that the (government) should be involved with? Is the private sector or the private nonprofit sector offering the same or similar type program? You really fine tune your mission," he said. "You identify what you should be doing."

Brown steps into the shoes of Commissioner Chip Maxfield, who decided to retire from politics. The two were instrumental in drafting an agreement in 2002 between the city and county in planning every element and managing growth in the northwest.

The agreement provided a "seamless plan" for the northwest valley so that residents and property owners will have more certainty about the types of development to expect in their neighborhoods.

One project that developed from that agreement is Lone Mountain Regional Park. Brown said he would continue to push for full development of the 360-acre park.

"We'd love to finish it in four years, but realistically it's a pretty large piece of dirt," he said. "You have to be patient but you can't lose sight, with parks remaining a key function of local government."

Prior to the agreement, the two land use plans for the northwest area ­— the Las Vegas Centennial Hills Sector Plan and the Clark County Lone Mountain Land Use Plan — were increasingly inconsistent on land uses and policy.

The agreement protected the county's rural neighborhood preservation areas while allowing commercial development along U.S. 95. Balancing economic growth while protecting the historic sites of Gilcrease Orchard and Tule Springs will continue to be a priority, Brown said.

"If you open up the door and let something in, even with good intentions, that opens up the legal precedent that the next operator will push it even further," he said. "That's some of most unique history still in valley and if we didn't protect it, we wouldn't be doing out jobs."

The county will have to be creative in dealing with funding projects including partnering with private companies, Brown said. Deals could include leasing county lands for cell phone towers.

"If there's an area that's being looked at, we should go out and solicit because a lot of our parks have power poles, trees, landscaping and setbacks that you can put them in," he said.

Brown, who has lived in the northwest since he arrived in Las Vegas in 1992, serves on the board of the Regional Transportation Commission and the Regional Flood Control District representing the city and is expected to continue on those boards as a delegate for the county.

He and his wife, Celeste, have three children, Larry, Johnna and Shannon.

Brown received his bachelor's degree in government from Harvard University in 1979. In November 1999, he was inducted into the Harvard Athletic Hall of Fame for his collegiate career in football and baseball. Brown was a professional baseball player, playing his final years with the Las Vegas Stars.

Jeff Pope can be reached at 990-2688 or [email protected].