Wednesday, March 3, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.
The Clark County Commission on Tuesday named 17 community leaders and citizen representatives to be members of a task force that will study the region's growth and the impact of growth on Southern Nevada's quality of life.
Last month Commissioners Mark James, Rory Reid and Bruce Woodbury proposed the task force to address some of the growth-related issues that have wracked the county in recent years, including shortages of resources such as land and water as well as burdens on infrastructure and government services.
County Manager Thom Reilly recommended the members from a list of 212 people nominated by various individuals, organizations and commissioners. Many of the 17 have been vocal in various growth-related issues that have affected the county recently, with one exception: Former University of Nevada, Las Vegas president Leonard "Pat" Goodall will serve as chairman of the Community Growth Task Force.
Goodall is a retired professor of management and public administration, while other members of the task force represent a variety of interests, including the environment, development community, business and gaming, and health and social services.
"We're very grateful to all of the qualified individuals who stepped forward and offered to serve on this task force," Commission Chairman Chip Maxfield said. "The response we have received shows how much people care about this community and the discussion that we are embarking on."
Reid said the key to success of the panel will be incorporating different perspectives.
"I think the recommendations presented to us deliver what we promised when we announced this effort, which was to organize a task force comprised of people with diverse experience and diverse points of view."
The task force was modeled after the success of several recent county initiatives. The county created and implemented recommendations from a group addressing ethical questions in county government, and another group recommended policies to provide fiscal stability at the county's University Medical Center. A third group sparked communitywide support for a Regional Transportation Commission tax package last year.
One difference between those groups and the growth task force is in the mandate. The growth task force has no specific policy goal, except to generally address growth issues and come up with policy recommendations.
Goodall, who noted that many of the task force members come from very different backgrounds and have very different interests, said if the group is to come up with policy recommendations to better manage growth, it must do so through potentially difficult consensus.
"I hope that we can respond to the charge that the commission has given us," he said. "I get in the same traffic jams and my grandkids go to the same schools. I see the same sorts of problems we all see."
The commission also approved two technical advisory committees that will provide advice guidance to the task force. One committee consists of local professional organizations, while the other has representatives from service providers and government agencies throughout Southern Nevada. About 50 representatives from various local governments and agencies, companies and organizations were invited to serve on the technical committees.
Members of the task force will meet through the end of the year to study growth issues, seek public input and recommend to the full County Commission concrete ways to improve Southern Nevada's quality of life in the face of the area's record-breaking growth. The first task force meeting is expected to be held later this month.
Members of the task force include people representing gaming, development, environmental groups and organized labor.
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