Mayor, county commissioner press Obama about housing crisis

By Tovin Lapan

Thursday, June 7, 2012 | 2:17 p.m.

Student loans may have been the topic du jour of President Barack Obama’s lunch hour speech at UNLV, but Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Clark County Commission Chairwoman Susan Brager made sure to bring up the ongoing foreclosure crisis with the president when they greeted him coming off Air Force One.

The president's Boeing VC-25 landed about 12:11 p.m. at McCarran International Airport. Coming off the plane, Obama waved before descending the stairs and greeting Brager and Goodman.

Goodman said she handed the president a Las Vegas chip.

"I missed his last visit, but I've greeted him three or four times in the past," Goodman said. "It's a wonderful opportunity to lean on him a bit."

Goodman and Brager said they brought up increased aid for underwater homeowners and more local control over education in their brief moment with the president.

"We just received $150 million for some of our citizens who are underwater. We asked him to continue that (assistance)," said Brager, who added that she had also met with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan.

"(Obama) is very attentive to that, and we appreciate that. He said that he will continue working on it," Brager said.

Goodman said no matter who wins in November, she hoped Nevada and Las Vegas would get the federal attention they need.

"We're hopeful for some continuity as we go forward into the election," Goodman said. "Regardless of the outcome that there is the same enthusiasm for helping us here, because we have been the ones hardest hit."

Obama, wearing a dark suit with a grey tie, waved again to those gathered to greet him and then got into a black Cadillac limousine headed to UNLV. Less than 90 minutes later, he was back at McCarran to board Air Force One for his departure.