Playing nice

Friday, April 17, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The federal economic stimulus package approved by Congress and President Barack Obama provides a golden opportunity to create jobs and improve communities. But it also could lead to situations where money is wasted because of poor planning.

The Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in Washington, had that in mind when it released a report late last month encouraging leaders in major metropolitan areas to consider regional problem-solving when it comes to spending discretionary stimulus money.

As reported last week by Megan McCloskey in the Las Vegas Sun, a sister publication of In Business Las Vegas, Southern Nevada could benefit from that advice. The Regional Transportation Commission, befitting its title, is taking a regional approach to the money it receives. But Clark County and its municipalities have not shown much desire to come up with joint plans for spending stimulus money on nontransportation projects.

“Traditionally the cities and the county don’t play too well in the same sandbox,” Mike Green, historian at the College of Southern Nevada, told the Sun.

That’s too bad.

The local governments could learn a lot by following the example of the 12 cities and nine counties that make up the region encompassing Kansas City, Mo. That region has agreed to tackle the stimulus process in a collaborative effort on issues that include alternative energy and health care. This effort also extends to investment in a distressed neighborhood that is near universities, museums and transit hubs.

That is the type of smart planning that should enable that region to maximize the benefits of its stimulus funds.

There could be an entirely different outcome in Southern Nevada unless Clark County and the cities wise up and realize that a team approach is the best way to spend finite resources, especially in a metropolitan area whose unemployment rate exceeds 10 percent.