Clark County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo, left, and Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak pose for photos following a question and answer event with members of the homebuilding and construction industries at Red Rock Resort Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022.
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Clark County Sheriff and GOP gubernatorial nominee Joe Lombardo would call for the federal government to subsidize farmers who grow alfalfa, almonds and other water-intensive crops throughout the west, as well as advocate for a larger share of Colorado River water for Nevada after the compact expires in 2026.
His opponent in the November election, incumbent Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak, says the state has very little say in how much water is allocated because the Colorado River is under federal jurisdiction, and it’s not as easy as simply advocating for more.
Measures announced in August by the U.S. Department of the Interior for 2023 that call for Nevada to lose 8% of its water allotment from the Colorado River amid the continuing drought, making the battle for water rights a top issue for elected officials.
“Where we failed is the negotiation of the CRC, the Colorado River Commission, and our ability to adjust mitigation or mediation of failed allocations for participating states,” Lombardo said Tuesday during a town hall in front of members of the construction industry at Red Rock Resort. “We’re in a dire need because we’re farming in the desert, and I think that’s a failed concept.”
A debate between Sisolak and Lombardo scheduled for Reno next month was canceled last week, meaning Tuesday’s forum about issues facing the valley’s construction sector was one of the lone times the contenders will appear together. They’re also set to meet at a town hall forum Sunday in Las Vegas.
They took turns answering questions in an event featuring more than 400 attendees from the Nevada Contractors Association (NCA), the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association (SNHBA) and the Associated Builders and Contractors of Nevada (ABC). The hour-long forum was emceed by Mitch Fox, president of the Nevada Broadcasters Association, who posed pre-written questions from the trades groups to the candidates.
Questions for Sisolak and Lombardo ranged from the state’s right-to-work status and affordable housing to water conservation and vocational training.
Sisolak said all states in the Colorado River Compact should be cooperating to find ways to add more water to the river itself, as the 20-plus year drought plaguing the American West might be irreversible because of climate change.
“If anyone believes that you can call other governors and the White House to get some more water from the Colorado River, I’d be happy for you to make that phone call with me because I’ve worked on this issue for over a decade,” said Sisolak, former chair of the Clark County Commission. “This is not a drought that we are facing anymore, I think it’s climate change. It’s not going to come back, and we’re not going to work our way out of this drought.”
A Sept. 13 Emerson College poll found both candidates polling at 40% with less than eight weeks to go until the Nov. 8 midterms.
“Being the leader of my industry, I’m going to be very confident and I’m going to be very supportive of whichever candidate comes out of this because our life and our livelihood depends on it,” said Nat Hodgson, CEO of the SNHBA, adding he was proud of the three trade groups coming together. “So all they are going to get from me is support. I just want to be invited to the table.”
Lombardo and Sisolak agreed on many issues, at least at the surface level. When asked about Lake Mead’s water levels and what can be done to increase Nevada’s allocation of water from the Colorado River (which flows into Lake Mead), both agreed the lake’s quickly depleting water levels are among the state’s biggest challenges.
But while Lombardo touted agencies like the Southern Nevada Water Authority, which he says has helped shape Las Vegas as one of the model cities for water conservation, the state should do more to negotiate a larger share of water from Lake Mead. Under the current Colorado River Compact, which was signed by seven states and Mexico in 1922, the Silver State is allocated about 300,000 acre-feet per year, about 4% of the total allotment.
Both candidates also stated support for an increase in affordable housing. Sisolak and Lombardo were asked what they would do with the $500 million allocated by the federal government to develop affordable housing dubbed by Sisolak’s administration as the “Home Means Nevada” initiative. The funds, which were dispersed as part of the American Rescue Plan, need to be used by 2025.
“We’re not going to have problems spending it by 2025. We’ve got an abundance of applications for affordable housing,” said Sisolak, adding that Nevada needs more than 80,000 affordable units to meet demand, but even with the federal dollars it can only build about 2,000.
Funds can also go toward retrofitting existing structures and by helping groups the governor called vulnerable, like seniors, the disabled and veterans, outfit their existing homes for proper amenities so they don’t have to move somewhere else, he said. Constructing multistory townhomes, condominiums and apartments will also be key, Sisolak said.
Both agreed they would advocate buying more land from the Bureau of Land Management, a branch of the federal government that owns more than 80% of Nevada’s land, and Lombardo said he would urge the state’s congressional delegation to negotiate on the state’s behalf to buy land from the feds at a lower rate.
“It’s a big elephant, and we’re going to have to take small bites over time with it,” Lombardo said. “(But) land is the issue, in my opinion.
To alleviate the high cost that prospective homebuyers face, Lombardo said he would aim to expand the economy to fight against rising inflation and interest rates. He said he was against rent control as a means of easing the burden on renters.
“I think that’s a failed concept,” Lombardo said.
Sisolak pointed to issues among young adults who either have recently graduated from school or entered the workforce but are finding it increasingly difficult to purchase their first home. Getting a well-paying job like Lombardo said is a great start, Sisolak said, but that segment of the population is being priced out by homebuyers who simply have more cash on hand to offer for a home.
Lombardo and Sisolak both said under their leadership Nevada would remain a right-to-work state, meaning that joining a labor union would not be a mandatory condition of hiring. But the two diverged on project labor agreements, which serve as a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement establishing work terms and conditions for a specific project. Sisolak, who enjoys the support of many unions in Nevada, said unions were important for protecting workers’ rights, adding that such agreements aren’t necessary for small or privately funded projects. Lombardo said he would like to repeal most PLA requirements because “nothing should be mandatory in the business world.”
“I don’t think the governor or the government should inject himself to discuss into business matters,” he said. “I think it’s best that regulation is beneficial toward business. If a company wants to be a part of a PLA, yes … I think the term sheet and the complexity of the balance sheet should drive the PLA decision and whether it should be put into place.”
The two also agreed the state needed to invest more in trade programs and education in vocational classes to replace Nevada’s aging carpenters, electricians and other trade specialists. “Those classrooms are not full,” Lombardo said. “There’s a lot of advantages of apprenticeship programs being offered by the industry, a lot in the school environment, but those classes are not full. I think it’s important for the government to partner with private industry and make it sexy again.”
With Nevada ranking 48th among the 50 states in education, Sisolak said boosting trade programs could give great opportunities to those wanting to work with their hands, as well as diversify the state’s tourism-dependent economy.
Strengthening such programs was already a priority when Sisolak was first elected, he said, but largely had to take a backseat to the COVID-19 pandemic, its public health response and reopening schools after in-person instruction was halted for nearly two years.
The governor also pointed to the construction sector as one that kept Nevada’s economy going while much work ground to a halt due to pandemic-related closures throughout 2020. He specifically mentioned the completion of Allegiant Stadium and Resorts World in Las Vegas as important work the industry did while the gaming, hospitality and entertainment sectors had to be shut down.
“The people that are here, the folks that work for you that are out there built us out of this pandemic,” Sisolak said. “We finished Allegiant Stadium and Resorts World, the (Las Vegas) Convention Center during the throes of the pandemic because you helped us to keep people on the job, keep them employed and keep us moving forward.”
