Sam Skolnik

Reporter/Las Vegas City Hall

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Call Sam at 702-229-6436.

Recent Stories (view all stories)

For the record, commissioner offers passionate defense: Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009; Former Councilman Larry Brown was always among the cooler characters on the Las Vegas City Council. In contrast to Mayor Oscar Goodman with his outbursts and lectures, Brown usually laid out the facts in measured tones.
City found at fault in tennis court defects case: Arbitrators award contractor total of $2 million; each side spent more on attorney fees; Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009; State-appointed arbitrators have found that Las Vegas managers “knew from the beginning” that their plans for the Darling Memorial Tennis Center were defective — long before the center’s cracked courts launched a costly, four-year legal dispute.
Jail filling up, suburb to try new approach: Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009; In an effort to save money and reduce crowding in an often filled-up local jail, Henderson is set to establish an Alternative Sentencing Division at its next City Council meeting. The new division would be responsible for supervising misdemeanor probationers.
LV council member in a fix over other job: Ross to face ethics panel in complaint that votes clashed with role as union leader; Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009; Before July, Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross was a consistent “yes” vote on Mayor Oscar Goodman’s plans for a new city hall. It stands to reason. Ross is secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council.
City may cut license fee to spur arts area nightlife: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009; Three years ago, Las Vegas created a new business designation — the “urban lounge,” a kind of cross between a bar and a nightclub tailored to the downtown arts crowd. But no such lounges have opened, even though at least four have been approved by the City Council.
Pet sterilization. Not mandatory, yet: Las Vegas City Council to consider law aimed at reducing animal overpopulation; Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009; Last year more than 55,000 stray animals landed at local shelters. Experts say those numbers, if unchecked, will continue to rise in this economy, as home foreclosures prompt some owners to abandon pets and the downturn spurs unlicensed animal breeders to chase quick profits. The Las Vegas City Council will today introduce what would be the toughest spay-and-neuter ordinance in the region.
Council support for mayor’s pet project might be slipping: Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009; Mayor Oscar Goodman has faced down his share of threats to his plans for a new city hall.
Length of stays at motel an issue for arts district: Friday, Oct. 16, 2009; Downtown residents have lined up against a motel’s plans to convert many of its rooms into “extended stay” quarters.
Las Vegas city auditor on the lookout for fraud, waste: Head of auditor’s office has brought quantifiable toughness to oversight; Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009; As the recession has deepened and the city’s budget has tightened, Las Vegas officials have emphasized streamlining the bureaucracy, including launching new programs focused on cost savings.
A compelling argument can be made that the city has for just over a decade had an office dedicated to improving efficiency: the Las Vegas city auditor’s office, headed by Radford Snelding.
Do incentives to the big guys trickle down?: City fails to track programs designed to provide work; Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009; Included in deals that attracted a number of projects to downtown Las Vegas were programs intended to benefit residents of surrounding neighborhoods. But community activists and some city officials are saying the programs simply have not worked.

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Recent Blog Entries (view all entries)

Obama: 'There's nothing like a quick trip to Vegas': Wednesday, May 27, 2009; WASHINGTON — Vegas just got a new slogan. Right there in an otherwise policy-wonkish speech this morning, President Barack Obama delivered a one-liner to make civic boosters proud. “There's nothing like a quick trip to Vegas in the middle of the week,” the president said. No apology over what had been said before about the city. No dwelling over what was being said now.