Quite literally the city of North Las Vegas has decided to urinate on Clark County and the rest of Vegas Valley.  It has started to release it’s lightly treated pee-water from it’s brand-new pee-water recycling plant into a [...]]]> Anywhere but Norftown and you’d take a headline like the above as a mere metaphor. Not here.

Quite literally the city of North Las Vegas has decided to urinate on Clark County and the rest of Vegas Valley.  It has started to release it’s lightly treated pee-water from it’s brand-new pee-water recycling plant into a ditch designed to drown kids during heavy rains.

Now, I’m forced to conclude that the ditch was designed to drown kids during heavy runoffs because, to hear the county commission describe the runoff channel the lightly treated pee-water gushes through, it is always full of neighborhood children tempting the rain gods by spending most of their days riding their bikes there.

Not surprisingly, residents near to Nor’Town’s “discharge” have found it a bit stinky. (Sun) If you can call eye-burning fumes “a bit stinky,” I mean.

Meanwhile, the never-ending election for Ward 4 is set to continue for a year or two more. After Toothless Wade Wagner found himself a judge to force the city council to canvass votes in the election, Richard Cherchio found himself a judge to keep Wagner from getting the official election certificate. (RJ)

Gotta love the fair and balanced headline over at the Review Journal which says the “winner”–presumably Toothless Wade–was kept off council by the (second) judge. The Dentist “won” the election by one vote in an election where at least one vote was illegally cast. Also, Cherchio is by latest accounts going to ask for a recount. So, calling Toothless Wade the “winner” is a might premature.

Nevada Admiral-Governor Brian Sandoval Invades North Las Vegas

Meanwhile Shari Buck, the soon-to-be ex-mayor of the soon-to-be ex-city of North Las Vegas,  was on the radio machine today trying to blame everybody but herself for the fact that “her” city will soon be taken over by the state due to its inability to pay its bills or govern itself. (Sun) Somehow she failed to convey the idea that the reason all other unions except the police have made wage concessions probably has more to do with her extremely close ties to that very union than any alleged misdeeds by other council members. Why should the cop union concede anything when they know she won’t say “no” to her husband, the police union lobbyist? The mayor is so spineless viz the cop unions that she couldn’t even prevent her police union friends and family from putting up signs inviting criminals to make Nor’Town their community of choice.

The mayor can’t even control her political base. Any surprise she can’t run the city?

Be sure to enjoy these other tidbits from the Shari Buck radio hour: How she’s calling the new council “wonderful”. That apparently means: thank Gawd Robinson and–at least temporarily–Cherchio are gone, and that Pamela Goynes-Brown, at least so far, seems willing to obey her police union masters. The mayor is still hopeful, it seems, that she can turn all those 1-4 council votes against her into 3-2 votes in her, and the union’s, favor.

But the drollest moment comes when she dares to claim that the Cherchio-Wagner campaign was the dirtiest in Nor’Town history. How soon we forget the Buck-Robinson mud-fest for mayor in 2009. Remember the sudden appearance the FBI file alleging Robinson took a bribe? Remember Buck’s fliers attacking Robinson on the issue? Remember the police union attacking Robinson for ethics’ violations, later dismissed? Remember then-Mayor Mike’s voter suppression campaign?

The Cherchio/Wagner race was pretty tame compared to 20-ought-9.

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales has ruled in favor of Toothless Wade Wagner and put a halt to the special election in Precinct 4036. (Sun) We’ll see if there is such a thing as an appeal in the wind, or if the recent resignation [...]]]> Couple of Norftown news items coursing through the Internet tubes:

Clark County District Judge Elizabeth Gonzales has ruled in favor of Toothless Wade Wagner and put a halt to the special election in Precinct 4036. (Sun) We’ll see if there is such a thing as an appeal in the wind, or if the recent resignation of a city shylock, as a commentator suggests, is connected to the mess. Richard Cherchio apparently will challenge the ruling. (RJ)

State Senator, Congressional wannabe, and gun-nut John Lee doesn’t want to say the word “receivership,” but, apparently, can’t help himself while watching the former city of North Las Vegas creep closer to a state takeover. (Sun) But the scariest part of the tale is the thought of so-called Governor Brian Sandoval “monitoring the situation.” Still, this will give him the opportunity to raise new taxes while pretending Shari Buck forced him to.

Funeral services for Buck’s political career will be held in June, 2013.

This follows the court-ordered coup by the police union to undermine the meager threads of [...]]]> Putative North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck has officially given up on the city she helped to dismantle. The Mayor plans to sell off most city assets, including that unneeded monument to unbridled mayoral hubris, the new city hall. (RJ)

This follows the court-ordered coup by the police union to undermine the meager threads of democratic government still tenuously stitching together the fabric of civilization up in NorfTown. Police unions are forcing the city to keep six-figured fat-cat cop managers who haven’t been on a call for twenty years. The result? The so-called city they’ve sworn to protect will pretty much have to give up every other service the city provides, while selling off city buildings to cover the budget hole. So, what happens when there is no more city to protect, fellers? Off to a Station Casino security gig?

Yet, the union has plenty of bucks (pun intended) to mount an expensive ad campaign. They’ve placed–in case you missed them–a pricey billboard on every corner of Nor’Town and are cluttering up the Internets with drivel, which is supposed to be my job. One can only wonder if a pay-cut would hurt so much. But then again, think of those union dues. They must be pretty steep.

North Las Vegas Officials Bury Democracy

What do you call a state run by the police?

At this point, I suspect most Nor’Townies would prefer handing over the city to the control of the State of Nevada. It would mean higher taxes, as the state would be required to balance the budget, but at least there would be the sense of someone being in charge.

Meanwhile, democracy has completely collapsed in Norftown. Apparently, at least until the next court-ordered injunction brought about by a lawsuit from cash-strapped former mayor Mike Montandon, there will be a re-do of the Ward 4 city council vote in a precinct where a illegal vote was cast. Now, I’m not the only one to find it disquieting to learn that city officials who certify elections are, at the same time, contributing money, time, and spouses to the campaigns of folks in those same elections. If the Nevada Legislature wanted to do something useful, it would make it illegal for officials who contribute to candidates in elections they must officially certify. Everybody looked bad on this one. Anita Wood and Robert Eliason contributed cash to Richard Cherchio‘s campaign, while the mayor’s husband, Keith Buck, actually worked for Wade “Toothless” Wagner’s campaign. And, it seems, Wagner tried to cover it up on his campaign reports.

In a laughable response today, some members of the police union have filed a complaint with another toothless entity, the Nevada Ethics Commission, questioning the contributions of Wood and Eliason. (RJ) That’s not to say that the complaint is without merit. Everybody on the city council should recuse themselves from certifying elections at this point. Of course, that leaves us with the tiny detail that elections would be impossible in Norftown, but, then again, what’s so new about that?

But the most ridiculous outcome of this entire mess will be that Nortowners, assuming there will be any left, will even consider re-electing Shari Buck. Where else could someone who destroys a town be elected its mayor? I mean, besides in  emperor Nero’s police state?

“Let them investigate me,” Mayor Buck responded when told of a requests by Clark County Democrats to the Secretary of State to investigate her and her hubby’s, ahem, incestuous relationship with “Toothless” Wade’s campaign. “They’ll find nothing improper.” She protests.

Really? Even after a forensic check of the bedsheets?

Well, discussing actual issues that are or [...]]]> Now I’m sure everybody in Nor’Town enjoyed the Las Vegas Sun’s repetition of the Unions vs. Richard Cherchio meme. Granted, we’ve all heard the local press repeat the same thing for the last five months, but, hey, how else do you make Norf’Town’s dull little off-off-year elections interesting?

Well, discussing actual issues that are or soon will be before City Council might be a start, but you won’t be hearing much about that, especially from the Public Safety…sorry, I mean, Public Safety Unions….no, no, wait, I mean, the Police and Firefighters Political Action Committee to Preserve Six-Figure Salaries for Administrators who Haven’t Smelled Smoke for 20 years candidate.

Indeed, who knows where Wade Wagner (R-Police Unions) really stands on anything? In the Sun article we read:

Wagner said he makes only one promise to residents: “My door will be open and you can come in and talk to me anytime.”

That’s it? Nothing about sweetheart deals to developers, if they ever return? Or building pointless government buildings like the new City Hall or the Wastewater Treatment plant to nowhere? How about improvements to North Fifth Street, which should be renamed the Road to Nowhere since the big old development up there went bankrupt? Nothing to say about the Tule Springs’ fossils monument?

Your answer to all of the above is: “my door will be open”?? Mr. Candidate, have you read a newspaper in the last five years? Read a council transcript? Read the budget?

Or consider his breathtaking stand on “fiscal responsibility”  for the official campaign site:

City leaders have an obligation to the taxpayers in North Las Vegas to spend their money wisely. The investments made by our local government must be both creative and fiscally sound.

Vapid is too colorful a word to describe this empty, pointless pap. The candidate’s site looks like it was designed by the same guys who did that one about him being a puppet seeing how poorly it counters his image as a union pawn.

Oh, and if you’re interested in the fines that the guys working against Cherchio got slapped with for paying more to Wagner’s coffers than the law allows, the letter from the Secretary of State are here.

Meanwhile, the race for Ward 2 is trying to beat Wagner in vapidity, that is, until Goynes sent the ‘Monger’ household a mailer full of public service union logos. So, the question is, are public safety union scare tactics going to be the main political force in Nor’Town politics for the next few years? Indeed today’s Sun story mentions that councilgal Anita Wood will be the main target in 2013. Note, of course, that the Mayor, who’s up for re-election, wasn’t mentioned. That’s because her 4-1 minority votes against balancing the city budget have insulated her against such attacks.

But now, picture this: Wagner wins and Goynes wins. Does that mean those 4-1 votes will become 2-3 votes, with the majority of council supporting cutting everything in the city first except six-figure salaries for Police and Firefighter administrators? Is that the new community of choice?

Nor’Townie City Council recently voted to cut another 259 positions as the city faced, again, its ongoing hemorrhaging due to its profligacy in the past created by a boom town fantasy cooked up by short sighted developers and their oh, so accommodating politician pals. (Sun)

Naturally Mayor Buck [...]]]> Yes, the Apocalypse has visited Nor’Town. Again.

Nor’Townie City Council recently voted to cut another 259 positions as the city faced, again, its ongoing hemorrhaging due to its profligacy in the past created by a boom town fantasy cooked up by short sighted developers and their oh, so accommodating politician pals. (Sun)

Naturally Mayor Buck continued her policy of leading from the rear by being the only vote against the budget as she cowers in fear of the 2014 election and the prospect that her union pals might pull a Cherchio on her.

Meanwhile, as we wonder where all the money from the boom times went, the city and Clark County continue to fight over whether Nor’Town will ever get to turn on its brand spanking new Toilet Water Strainer that only cost $224 million.

Let’s see, how many cops is that?

Course the worst of it is that everybody is making fun of us for building a Toilet Water Strainer that doesn’t have a drain. The drain pipe was orginally to come from funds allocated to an entity called the Clean Water Coalition created by Las Vegas Valley government entities to fund projects like, well, like a pipe out of the Strainer. Now, however, folks like Clark County Commissioner and Sou’Town mayoral wannabe Chris Giunchigliani-Gray can’t wait to shut the thing down–in order to keep Nor’Town from taking the water contract from Nellis, apparently:

[Clark County} Commissioners also have expressed concerns that the city might try to take over treatment of sewage from Nellis Air Force Base, which would cost the county about $1.25 million a year in revenue.

The new plant is located outside North Las Vegas on land leased from the Air Force at Carey Avenue, south of the base. (RJ)

Nor'Town Mayor Shari Buck is threatening to start dumping Nor'Townie poop water down a flood ditch running through county land, and letting the courts decide if that'd be worse than the usual crap flowing down the channel.

But like I said, the worst of it is that Nor'Town is now the butt of every jokester in town.

Catch the comedic stylings of Tom "U-Haul" Collins:

Only half-joking, Collins offers this funding solution, "The Losee land and the gym would pay for the pipe. Oh my goodness, what a startling revelation."

The city spent more than $16 million on the Losee land, acreage initially selected for the facility and then abandoned in favor of the current site near Nellis Air Force Base. Another $25 million went to the gym currently under construction on the base as part of its lease agreement with the Air Force.

These expenses on top of design and construction contribute to the water reclamation facility's more than $315 million price tag.

"Why would you do something like that so impractically? It doesn't make sense, but it's done," said Collins. (KLAS)

And there we are in a "You Paid For It!" episode on channel 13. Twice. Granted that segment is a desperate attempt by a failing local TV station to create controversy of stuff like (shudder) paying for tenured professors at UNLV, but that just makes the ridicule all the worse.

Hey, channel 13, how about a peek at the other $142 million dollar gorilla in the city budget: the new city hall? Hey, "You Paid for That", too!

Gotta love the Las Vegas Business Press's glowing coverage of the new city hall. Did you know that "[t]hree hundred fifty city employees will work in the new building”? Really? Will there be that many left? The project will save $700,000 in energy costs, too, we’re told. Really? Is that compared with not having built anything at all and not having to run a nine-story building–one story bigger than Sou’Town’s mind you–at all?

Naturally, council and the manager will have their offices on the top floor. It will have a lovely view Nor’Town post-apocalyptic landscape/smoking ruins.

Still, I’m sure all Nor’Townies are thrilled to see that the Mayor has decided to shut up about the sewer pipe and has brought former Governor/Senator now revolving-door lobbyist Richard Bryan in to be spokester for the city. Of course, the city hands over thousands of dollars a year to his law firm for that service. Well worth a few lay offs for that.

And don’t even try to understand how it is that the city is filling seven vacancies in the Utilities department after announcing the 259 layoffs. They’re hiring customer service representatives–probably to take your calls when your toilet finally backs up.

Lynnette Curtis poked through the latest campaign finance reports to find the usual suspects. Station Casinos is up to its usual bundling scheme of slipping around the $10,000 limit by contributing from each of its properties as if they didn’t all have “Station” in the name.

The [...]]]> Sounds sorta like the Colbert Report, don’t it?

Lynnette Curtis poked through the latest campaign finance reports to find the usual suspects. Station Casinos is up to its usual bundling scheme of slipping around the $10,000 limit by contributing from each of its properties as if they didn’t all have “Station” in the name.

The big winner–despite the fact that fund raising is paltry compared to the money flung about in the mayoral death match two years ago–is council candidate Richard Cherchio. His campaign manager had the following explanation for the largess:

The total “speaks to the rapport he (Cherchio) has built with the community since he’s been in office,” said Bradley Mayer, Cherchio’s campaign manager.

Cherchio’s biggest contributors included Station Casinos properties Aliante and Texas, which gave $5,000 each.

Well, he has gained a rapport with somebody, anyway. Give the candidate this: he has certainly learned how to win a seat on council the old fashioned way.

And whoever thought that the Republican in the race would run as a union shill??

More than half of the $55,514 raised by [councilguy-wannabe Wade] Wagner in the period came from Las Vegas Valley public safety unions, including $10,000 each from the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association and the North Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1607 PAC.

[Cherchio campaign spokester] Mayer said Wagner’s contributions show he is “completely owned” by the unions.

“I would say voters should question just how independent Wagner’s going to be,” he said.

Or that the Democrat would complain about someone being “completely owned” by them? Nor’Town’s turning everything topsy-turvy these days.

After conducting thorough candidate interviews for the Ward 4 City Council seat, the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has proudly put its endorsement behind incumbent City Councilman Richard Cherchio.

The North Las Vegas Chamber of [...]]]> The North Las Vegas Chamber of Horrors came out with the notice in support of Council Candidate Richard Cherchio:

After conducting thorough candidate interviews for the Ward 4 City Council seat, the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has proudly put its endorsement behind incumbent City Councilman Richard Cherchio.

The North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce asks you to vote for Richard Cherchio and asks that you encourage your employees to vote for Richard, too. Please communicate your support for Richard through company communications.  This race is extremely close, and 30 votes could be the difference between whether Richard wins or loses…the result will have a serious impact on the North Las Vegas business community.

Here are the top five reasons why Richard Cherchio deserves your support:

1.    LEADERSHIP Cherchio was a courageous leader in helping the City of North Las Vegas balance its budget.  He had the spine to make the difficult decisions and did not pander to special interests who consider “shared sacrifice” to be your problem, not theirs.

2.    RISING ABOVE UNSCRUPULOUS OPPONENTS Cherchio has been smeared relentlessly by special interests who want to damage his image. Cherchio’s opponents have embraced the kind of tactics that all of us despise in politics. These attempts to smear him have been discredited, and Richard has been out in the neighborhoods listening to his constituents and doing all he can to be a responsible public servant.

3. PRIORITIES When asked about his top priority by the Chamber’s Government Affairs panel, Cherchio said, “Jobs.  Jobs.  Jobs.”  He knows what our community is going through.  He feels the pain you and your neighbors feel every day as we struggle through the worst economy in our lifetime.

When asked the same question, Cherchio’s opponent, Wade Wager, answered, “Public safety.”  While we support public safety, his response, when we are facing 17% unemployment, makes sense when you consider that the police and fire unions have endorsed Wagner.  He’s their guy.  He’s the one the unions are counting on to preserve average compensation packages of $156,000 (police) and $162,000 (fire) while the median income of households in the Las Vegas Valley struggles to stay at $56,000.  Is it any wonder why Wagner recently said he would raise taxes but in the next breath admitted he doesn’t know what the city budget is?

4. FOLLOW THE MONEY When you pay taxes to the City of North Las Vegas, some of that money pays police and fire employees.  Some of that money is then paid to their respective unions in the form of dues.  Some of the union dues (a lot, actually) are then put into political campaigns – campaigns to help people like Wagner, whose mission it is to return the favor and keep this vicious special interest cycle from being broken…and to keep paying the big salaries at the police and fire unions.

5. THE MYTHS Those who seek to protect their greed at your expense (police and fire) want you to believe that your life will be in danger if you seek to bring their compensation in line with national averages.  They will try to scare you into believing that there won’t be enough cops or firefighters if the police and fire budgets are cut. As a taxpayer you can have MORE police and fire manpower without spending a nickel more.  Bring the compensation of current police and fire employees in line with national averages and the City of North Las Vegas will have plenty of money to hire new first responders.

Part II of The Myths is that if you oppose outrageous compensation packages for police and fire, you somehow don’t respect the work these brave individuals do.  All of us respect police officers and firefighters.  We respect their courage and their skills.  As taxpayers we simply cannot afford to overpay them and as voters, we cannot sit by when they try to unfairly influence a political campaign.

So when you and your employees vote for North Las Vegas Ward 4 City Councilman, vote for someone who works for the people, not the special interests.  Vote for someone who has the courage to do the people’s work and keep your taxes low.  Vote for someone who understands that we are all going through this economy together.   Vote for someone who is focused on jobs and improving our local economy.

I’ve high-lighted a few parts of this corporatist manifesto mainly because it is a bit of a shock to see the former spokester for a mail carrier’s union–Cherchio’s previous reincarnation–suggesting that union members are mainly motivated by greed. One is especially surprised to view the members of the local chamber of commerce daring to state out loud that greed is perhaps a bad thing. No doubt North Las Vegas will soon enjoy the benevolence of members of the chamber lowering prices as they abandon the profit motive and embrace the socialistic tendencies of their union-busting rhetoric.

And who couldn’t enjoy the bit about there not being enough police and firefighters to protect North Las Vegas if budgets are cut. Goodness, someone call a doctor! The Chamber is suffering amnesia! The reason for all the overtime is because we did not have enough police and firefighters when all this nonsense began! The overtime was paid so that shifts would have minimum personnel to keep a bare, thin veneer of civilization on the city.

But there I go again. Worrying about truth during campaigns.

This is not to say that the unions aren’t out of line as well. The bogus ethics complaint just makes them look all the sillier. As we speak the pointless state ethics committee is probably sticking it in the shredder.

But do check out the comments to the RJ story on the complaint. I’m sure all of us want to hear more about golfcart-gate!