Las Vegas stadium a misguided use of taxpayer money

By Carlos Hernandez, Las Vegas

Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 | 2 a.m.

As many of you have heard, there has been some controversy surrounding the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee’s recommendation to build a $2 billion NFL stadium using $750 million in public financing by taxpayers. As a college student who pays thousands of dollars a year to attend UNLV, I think it is shameful to see that our elected officials are seriously considering this proposal. We could be using that money as a public investment in education and infrastructure, yet we are more concerned with building a stadium on the backs of taxpayers.

One of the main “investors” is Sheldon Adelson, who is actively working on getting this passed and signed by Gov. Brian Sandoval. If Adelson wants to build a stadium, he is more than capable of financing it himself, considering his net worth is nearly $30 billion according to Forbes.

I have no problem with an NFL stadium being built in Nevada as long as taxpayers aren’t on the hook for it. There are many ways we could be using that money to improve the lives of our citizens. It is truly an embarrassment when a stadium is valued higher than education, infrastructure and the welfare of our citizens. If this passes the Legislature and gets signed by Sandoval, we will hold our representatives accountable.