Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

2 appointed to fill Assembly vacancies before special session

Raiders Stadium Rendering

Courtesy of MANICA Architechture

An artist’s illustration of a stadium on Russell Road and Las Vegas Boulevard was revealed during a Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee meeting at UNLV Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016.

Updated Friday, Sept. 30, 2016 | 9:49 a.m.

The Clark County Commission appointed two new lawmakers this morning ahead of a special legislative session to consider a tax increase to help build a football stadium in Las Vegas.

In two unanimous votes, commissioners appointed former Assemblywoman Stephanie Smith and the Republican Assembly leadership-backed applicant Kyle Stephens to two vacant Assembly seats in Southern Nevada.

The seats were left open after Gov. Brian Sandoval last summer appointed Democratic Assemblywoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick to the Clark County Commission and Republican Assemblyman Erv Nelson left his seat and moved to a different district to run for state Senate.

Seven people applied to represent Kirkpatrick’s district in the northwest valley, and three applied to represent Nelson’s district in the western valley.

Sandoval called on the Clark and Washoe county commissions to fill the vacancies before a special session he plans to call between Oct. 7 and 13 to consider the funding proposal for a stadium backers hope will lure the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas.

Under the proposal, the $1.9 billion stadium would be paid for with $750 million from an increase in hotel room taxes, $650 million from private developers and $500 million from the Raiders. The Legislature would have to approve the tax increase.

The Legislature is also expected to consider a tax increase to fund the expansion and renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center and funding to increase police presence on the Strip.

Earlier this week, the Washoe County Commission appointed three people to fill vacancies in the Legislature in the north: Councilwoman Julia Ratti, Reno developer Jesse Haw and commercial real estate agent Dominic Brunetti.

At today’s meeting, Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, a stadium critic, said she resented the governor’s call to fill the vacancies. She noted that Sandoval did not issue a call to fill vacancies ahead of two prior special sessions and couched the move as a ploy to get extra votes to approve public funding for the stadium.

“People need to remember this is politics at its worst, in my opinion, and just the gameplay that’s being done puts us in a box” Giunchigliani said.

Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said that while the governor’s call was the impetus for the appointments, he hoped both appointees would approach the special session with the “right frame of mind” and listen to their constituents when deciding how to vote.

In nominating Smith, Kirkpatrick said there were many qualified applicants, but she was looking for someone with prior experience with the legislative process who would be able to immediately dive into the special session. (In addition to serving in the Legislature and on the North Las Vegas City Council, Smith is a retired Clark County School District teacher.)

She said she wasn’t sure what Smith thought about the stadium issue.

“It’s going to be tenuous at times, so I think serving in the City Council and serving in the Legislature before, she understands what that pressure is like, and I think she will ask the hard questions like I would,” Kirkpatrick said after the meeting.

Kirkpatrick said some difficult issues include making sure the structure of the stadium deal is laid out appropriately, that the bonding is correct and ensuring Nevada workers get jobs associated with the stadium if the proposal is passed.

For Nelson’s vacant seat, Brager said, she asked difficult, direct questions of each of the applicants and thought Stephens was best suited for the position. Stephens is an account representative for Brady Industries, a Las Vegas-based hospitality supply company, and was also the Republican Assembly-backed applicant for the vacant seat.

Brager said she wasn’t sure how Stephens felt about the stadium, but she thought he was looking “futuristically” to make sure citizens are protected in whatever deal the Legislature reaches on the stadium.

“Each new stadium that’s built is better than the next. If the Raiders come — let’s say it’s them — and six to eight years from now, what happens to the public?” Brager said in an interview. “I think he understood that and felt like he had deep roots here, deep family, and would want to protect that.”

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