City rejects contract on leased building

What started out as an agreement turned into a shouting match between members of the Las Vegas City Council and an official with a company that is set to buy the building currently leased by the city's Planning and Development department.

Arnold Kramer, senior vice president of United Municipal Leasing Corp. of Chicago, negotiated an agreement with City Attorney Brad Jerbic after weeks of bickering about the proposed contract.

But the City Council voted 4 to 1 to reject the proposed contract that the city attorney's office and Kramer spent weeks hammering out. Mayor Jan Laverty Jones was the dissenting vote.

"I'm in no mood today to support anything," said City Councilman Larry Brown, upset with Kramer for trying to interrupt the board. "I don't appreciate you still negotiating at 11:30 this morning. I've had enough of this garbage. Go ahead and buy the building and then bring this back to us."

Kramer, who has threatened to evict the city's 180 employees that use the building if an agreement is signed, told the council to "keep in mind this we're talking about millions of taxpayer dollars."

The proposed agreement between Kramer and the city was for 10 years, allowing the city to keep on for another 10 years after that. According to the city manager's office, the city could have saved money on the lease -- $45,000 a year -- as long as it kept the 10-year deadline and the Consumer Price Index didn't drop below 2.4 percent. Otherwise, the city would lose money in comparison to its existing agreement.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic said Kramer's threats to evict the city were idle, and that according to his counsel and outside attorneys consulted on the matter, Kramer would have to honor the city's existing lease if he buys the building.

Jones, in her dissent, said she didn't like the council "treating business people like they're being prosecuted."

After the vote, Kramer said he will be consulting with his litigation team to find out how to evict the city's department.

"That's the end of it," he said. "I've even offered the city $200,000 to move out. I don't know what else to do. I'm not going to keep them."

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