Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Six questions for Betsy Fretwell, Las Vegas city manager

Six Questions

Steve Marcus

Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell says the local economy likely hasn’t hit bottom, but she thinks it will begin to turn around this year.

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Betsy Fretwell could not have picked a more dramatic moment to assume the job of Las Vegas city manager.

The city faces a $150 million shortfall over the next five years and is in the midst of a historic fight with the Culinary Union over whether the city will continue to control its own destiny regarding redevelopment projects it says the region desperately needs, including a new city hall.

Before being named assistant city manager in 2000, Fretwell, 41, served as intergovernmental relations director for Henderson. The Sun spoke with her in February, soon after she started her new job.

How are you setting your priorities in your new job?

I’m asking department heads and others for their thoughts. I need to know what’s critical to them, and by extension, what they think should be critical to me, as I put together my plans.

Has the city hit bottom economically?

Well, we’re not at the bottom yet. We recently got the numbers for November 2008. And in fact, it was the worst monthly performance since 1999. We were down 12 percent compared with revenues the city collected in November 2007.

When do you think the local economy will pick up?

We’re hoping that things will start to turn around during this calendar year. I think we’ve got another 12 months before we really see things turn around.

What does the city expect to get from the federal stimulus package?

I don’t think we’re going to see a whole lot of direct funding. It would really help us if additional funding is set aside for transportation, and for community development block grants for things like affordable housing.

Is there any merit to the argument that a new city hall might be worthwhile, but not now, given the state of the economy?

My feeling is, we can’t stop what we’re doing as a city. Major capital improvement projects keep jobs out on the street and keep the private sector moving.

Let’s suppose a worst-case scenario for city leaders — that the Culinary wins in court and then at the ballot box. How would the city be affected?

It would basically gut our ability to do redevelopment. I mean, our redevelopment efforts have been really successful, and this would badly hurt them.

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