Clark County Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick, shown Friday, May 8, 2020, during a commission meeting at the Clark County Government Center, says the reconstituted commission will have a full plate of issues related to the pandemic to discuss when the board convenes next month. “We have to worry about our budget. It will be important that we keep providing services to folks and get them back to work,” she said.
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020 | 2 a.m.
When the Clark County Commission meets for the first time with its new members in January, many of the 2021 priorities will be the same as they were in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not released its hold on Southern Nevada or the country as cases reach alarming levels. Mitigating the damage as much as possible in Clark County will be paramount, as will boosting an economy ravaged by the virus, refilling the county’s coffers and keeping as many people at work and in their homes as possible.
“It will be important to stay on track with where we’re headed,” Commission Chairwoman Marilyn Kirkpatrick said. “Commissioners, they’ll have projects they want to do in their communities. We have a large, full plate coming up. We have to worry about our budget. It will be important that we keep providing services to folks and get them back to work.”
The makeup of the board will remain mostly the same. Kirkpatrick and Michael Naft were reelected in November; incumbents James Gibson, Tick Segerblom and Justin Jones were not on the ballot this year.
There will be two newcomers to replace termed-out incumbents: William McCurdy II, who won the District D seat vacated by Lawrence Weekly, and former Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, who is moving into Larry Brown’s District C seat after winning election.
McCurdy and Miller are not joining the influential board at the easiest time. Las Vegas is still recovering from Gov. Steve Sisolak-mandated temporary shutdown of casinos and other nonessential businesses earlier this year to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Nonetheless, daily new cases of the virus continue to climb: on Nov. 12 new cases in the state surpassed 2,000 for the first time at 2,176. The rolling 14-day average of new cases didn’t drop below 2,000 until Christmas Day, though officials remain anxious that the Christmas and New Year holidays will create a surge upon a surge.
Meantime, Sisolak called for a statewide “pause” through mid-January, tightening capacities at casinos, bars, restaurants and other entertainment and recreational spots.
“We’ve made it real clear that we’re going to do everything we can do, so long as we’re permitted to do it, to keep things open,” Gibson said. “We’re surely not going to relax the COVID defense strategies, but we’re going to work with business, we’re going to continue to work with them … There’s a lot to be done.”
Gibson acknowledged that much of the county’s economy is linked to neighboring states, some of which are imposing stricter measures on its residents and businesses. And a lack of visitors to Las Vegas is the core of the state and local governments’ problem in Nevada.
According to an April report released by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 42.5 million people visited Southern Nevada in 2019 and spent approximately $36.9 billion. The Strip is the biggest driver of that, but because Las Vegas is known as a tourism destination, about one in four jobs (26.5%) in the area is directly linked to tourism.
On March 17, Sisolak ordered the shutdown of casinos in order to curb the growing threat of the coronavirus. The result was catastrophic to Nevada’s tourism industry and led to nearly 30% unemployment statewide.
“(The pandemic) really did display the work that needs to be done to continue to diversify the types of revenues that are going to be needed to sustain our county and our state,” McCurdy said.
McCurdy, a former two-term assemblyman and chair of the state Democratic Party, said he wanted to bring futuristic ideas to the commission, including the electrification of roads and other environmental initiatives that would create jobs as well as help create a healthier climate. A focus on technology, which could bring new companies and jobs to the county, is another idea.
Gibson agreed that economic diversification was important, but he said such a goal was easier said than done. The lack of taxes being generated from a tourist-starved resort corridor has shrunk the county’s war chest and unemployment has hurt local labor unions, two powerful forces when it comes to new jobs.
“It’s a monumental task, but we think about it every day,” Gibson said. “The more that we can do to provide different kinds of employment opportunities to people, the better off we’re going to be over time, and that is a very real challenge to us.”
The commission also needs to be prepared for the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccine doses arrived in Southern Nevada Dec. 14 with healthcare professionals first in line as part of a tiered distribution plan. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease experts, has suggested that the vaccine could be ready for the general public this spring.
Kirkpatrick said Clark County was better situated for a rollout than other locales across the country, in part because of the number of venues, like schools and convention centers, that can be used as distribution centers.
“We’ve been planning for what a vaccine looks like coming into our community for probably about (five) months now,” Kirkpatrick said.
Unemployment is still a major issue facing Clark County. The state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said last month that an estimated 12% of Nevadans were out of work, nearly double the national rate of 6.9%. Casinos are a major driver of employment in Las Vegas, and with some still closed or working on reduced hours, the amount of jobs have not come back to pre-pandemic levels, even as tourism has started to rebound.
The hard-fought District C race was apparently settled last week when a judge rejected contender Stavros Anthony’s request for a special election to clarify the will of voters, declaring Miller the winner by just 15 votes.
The razor-thin margin between Democrat Miller and Republican Las Vegas City Councilman Anthony was initially 10 votes. It widened after Anthony demanded a recount, in concert with a Miller-initiated lawsuit in November to certify the race after the commission delayed signing off on the initial results when elections officials noted more possible “discrepancies” than votes in Miller’s favor.
“I’m focused on getting to work speeding our recovery from COVID and assisting to restore our economy,” Miller said in a post-recount tweet.
The county commission has about a week before new members are sworn in. McCurdy, with his position as state party chair (the five incumbent members are all Democrats), has prior relationships with fellow board members. Miller has worked in government long enough to know his new colleagues as well.
Many of 2020’s problems facing Clark County will persist in 2021, and it will be up to the five returning members and two new ones to tackle them.
“We know that challenging days are ahead, but we have some of the best and brightest minds sitting on the county commission,” McCurdy said. “And I look forward to being another addition in helping to resolve some of the issues that may arise and also plan to rebuild our economy as we navigate COVID.”
