Candidate profile: Cokie Booth

Cokie Booth

Age: 76

Marital status: Married

Family: Married to Les Booth

Education: Associate degree

Occupation: Broker

Length of Boulder City residency: 36-plus years

Previous experience serving Boulder City (appointed, elected or volunteer positions): Community information television show; Dump the Dump; Boulder City Planning Commission, 2006-2019; Spring Jamboree, Bark in the Park host.

Previous experience serving other governmental agencies (appointed, elected or volunteer positions): Nevada State Board of Cosmetology, eight years; Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors; Tuscany Retreat Homeowners Association, president.

Club/organization affiliations: Boulder City Community Club, president 2019-present; Boys and Girls Club; Central Christian Church.

Honors/awards/special qualifications: Boys and Girls Club Woman of the year, 1999-2000.

What is your vision for Boulder City in 10 years, taking into account the ongoing drought and efforts to boost historic preservation?

We are in the midst of one of the most prolonged droughts in history. The declining water level of Lake Mead makes national news weekly. What the individual beliefs are on what has created this historical period in time are irrelevant. We must work together to solve our current water crisis. Upgrading of current systems, water reuse, technology, projected water usage of current and any new development, returning treated water to Lake Mead, an ad hoc committee to provide needed research and input to the City Council, and having a seat at the table with Henderson, Las Vegas, and Southern Nevada Water Authority on future water decisions will ensure our future. We don’t have that, not now, and our current relationships have been somewhat hostile at times by rejecting conservation. That is my focus, my plan, along with our current historic preservation efforts.

City Council passed a resolution to put a question on the ballot asking voters if they would approve the sale of 16.3 acres of land southeast of Boulder City Parkway and Veterans Memorial Drive to develop a grocery store and associated retail shops. What are your thoughts on this proposal?

Build it and they will come. What has not been articulated is what exactly is the vision of the City Council? When residents think of a grocery store, do visions from Walmart, Trader Joe’s, to an independent grocery store come to mind? Each has requirements that must be met in terms of ability to generate a profit including current competition, local purchasing habits including those that purchase online or in Henderson or Las Vegas, demographics, and financial incentives from local government. Are any of the voters’ visions correct? Probably not. There’s not enough information.

The city is not currently engaged in active proposals from any grocer. Additionally, if there is not a complete vision, explicit language, what may eventually be built, may not be what has been articulated to the voters, just like Tract 350. Additionally, how would the development impact water usage and what water conservation efforts will be maintained?