A look back at 2024 (Part 1)

Editor’s Note — With 2024 coming to a close, here is a look back at the first six months of the year. July-December will appear in next week’s edition.

It would be difficult to overstate how eventful the past year has been for Boulder City as the past 365 days (OK, 360 from thedate of this issue, but you get the idea) has seen the death of local icons and the birth of — hopefully — new traditions.

It has also been a year that saw both full funding for a long-talked-about replacement for the city’s aged pool and thedeparture, sometimes of their own volition and sometimes not, of at least three members of the city staff, including theanimal control supervisor, the fire chief and the city manager.

Let’s dig in, shall we?

January

The year started with reports of success. After having been installed in September of 2023, Julie Calloway, the then-Parksand Recreation manager, reported that the Ram Cam in Hemenway Park had garnered 64,000 views of its live stream in just four months. The feed continues to be popular and has, according to the city, also resulted in a huge drop in the number of phone calls to City Hall asking if the bighorn sheep are out and about. Within weeks of this announcement, Calloway was promoted to director, following the retirement of Roger Hall.

The next success actually occurred all the way on the other side of the country but had a strong BC connection as Boulder City born and bred Alexis “Lexi” Lagan qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The games marked Lagan’s second Olympics.

Speaking of successful locals, Taylor Blatchford, who had been crowned Miss Nevada six months earlier, competed in the Miss America Pageant in Orlando, Fla. She started her pageant career when she won the title of Miss Boulder City Teen in 2014.

In reporting as part of a series of stories over 2023 and into 2024 that was recognized by the Nevada Press Association for excellence in investigative journalism, the Review reported that Fred Wagar, the head of the Nevada Department of Veterans Services had been dismissed by Gov. Joe Lombardo. The separation was not publicly announced with the Review finding outonly through an email sent to staff that was leaked by an employee. In the same story, it was announced that Mark McBride,who had led the Southern Nevada State Veterans Home in Boulder City for about a year in 2015 and who abruptly resigned just months before the home and the state were sued by the family of a resident who had died following an outbreak of Legionnaire’s Disease had been appointed to a position within NDVS that put him in charge of both of the state’s veterans’ homes. The suit had been settled in 2017 for $750,000.

The 2024 election season in Boulder City started with controversy when Republicans (who account for a substantial majority of registered voters in the city) called foul over multiple communications from city staff (including both a column in the Reviewand messages printed on all utility bills) informing potential voters of a looming Presidential Preference Primary withoutnoting that the state GOP had opted out of the primary and instead decided to continue their tradition of a caucus. Some politically active residents claimed insult added to injury when the correction issued by the city admitted no mistake andinstead said “it has come to our attention” when discussing a story that had been the subject of extensive news coverage sincethe previous summer.

Meanwhile, in sports, the power duo of Natasia Oeland and Makayla Nelson were both named to the All Southern Nevadateam. Scoring 56 goals over the season, Nelson was first in the state and sixth nationally. She is again playing both flagfootball and soccer for the Eagles this year as a senior.

Finally, in a development that brought home the fact that, whether they like it or not, Boulder City residents live in a suburb ofa larger metro area with many of the same issues that plague their “over the hill” neighbors, multiple locations in the historicdowntown area including the old Boulder City Theatre were tagged with huge graffiti logos in the early morning hours of Jan.22.

February

Following a complaint filed by a deceased former resident of the SNSVH, coverage of issues at the Veterans’ Home continuedas a number of former employees credibly asserted that former head of NDVS Fred Wagar had directly blamed staff formultiple resident deaths in 2022 because mandated COVID testing of staff was not happening. Upon a long-awaited release of records for communications about testing, the Review reported that in many weeks, fewer than 25% of staff was testing even though county guidelines at the time called for weekly testing of all staff.

In an issue that continues to grind on at the end of 2024, the removal of the large expanse of Kentucky Bluegrass in front of the Bureau of Reclamation building above Wilbur Square sat unfinished despite an original stated completion goal of the previous fall.

On Feb. 8, the GOP caucus took place at the Boulder Dam hotel. Hundreds of Republican voters lined up hours in advance for an event that drew a reported 1,000 people. Every person in line who talked to the Review said that they were there to support former president Donald Trump and had voted “None of These Candidates” in the primary the week before.

As projected costs to build a new municipal pool complex kept climbing, the city council opted to put a question on the November ballot seeking voter approval to tap the Capital Improvement Fund for an additional amount above what had already been approved in order to plug an anticipated hole in funding. At the beginning of the meeting, the ask was set to be $4 million and by the time the final vote went down that had more than doubled to an amount “not to exceed” $9 million.

In sports, the BCHS flag football team finished second in the state among 3A schools after falling to rival Virgin Valley.

March

Election year news continued as spring sprung with a total of seven candidates filing for two open seats on the city council, which set up a primary election set for June. Candidates included then-current members of the council Sherri Jorgensen and Matt Fox as well as Denise Ashurst, Tyler Burton, Dan Patterson, Susan Reams and Tom Tyler.

In the same month, Victor Miller, who has been both the justice of the peace and the municipal judge for decades, announced his intent to retire in January of 2025. This set up an election for justice and the need for the city council, for the first time in 40 years, to figure out how to go about appointing a new judge. While there is a tradition that the same person fills both roles, there is no legal requirement for that and no established process for appointing a judge.

Before the month was out, there were three candidates who had filed for justice of the peace: former city attorney SteveMorris, as well as local attorneys Lauren Szafranski and Christopher Tilman. All had history or a connection to the court with Szafranski’s husband Dane serving as a marshal at the courthouse and Tilman has been municipal judge pro tem and has served on the Justice Court for a number of years.

Coverage of issues with the SNSVH continued when the Review got a tip that federal inspectors from the Centers for Medicareand Medicaid Services (CMS) had cited the home on 18 counts for issues ranging from hot food served at too low a temperature to employees not knowing the location of emergency supplies, to employees not having keys to locked gates that would have to be opened in the case of an emergency requiring evacuation to a finding of verbal abuse of a patient by then-Administrator Steven Pavlow.

On March 23, about 60 people showed up on a Saturday morning to touch up and repaint the faded BC logo on the side of Radar Mountain. First painted in 1985 and 1987, the symbol had not been repainted in 10 years.

A pair of contentious issues hit the council in their last meeting of the month with one being resolved and the other just seeing its first real discussion.

The emerging issue was a request by Councilwoman Cokie Booth that the council consider directing staff to draft a change in city law that would make the microchipping of pets mandatory. While this was just a preliminary discussion, it opened the door for pet issues that stayed on the council’s agenda for most of 2024.

The resolved issue (pending probably inevitable litigation) involved short-term rental properties with the council approving final language in city code that both clarified that STRs are illegal in Boulder City and setting up fines for violating property owners. While the Nevada Legislature considered a bill in 2021 saying that all municipalities had to allow STRs but could require permits, at that time now-Mayor Joe Hardy was a member of the state Senate and made sure —in his own telling —that there was an exception in the final law as passed allowing cities with fewer than 25,000 residents a carve out from the law. The issue passed on a rare non-unanimous vote with then Councilman Matt Fox dissenting, noting that Boulder City depends on tourism, much of which is recreation-based and saying that STRs offered a needed option for families needing multi-night lodging. The final vote was 4-1.

April

It was, hands down, the busiest month of 2024 in term of local news.

The biggest news was, undoubtedly, the announcement that Taylour Tedder, who had been in his position as city manager for about two and a half years had accepted a job in Rehoboth Beach, a vacation community in Delaware. According to reporting in local Rehoboth outlets, the new gig came with a salary roughly double what Tedder earned in Boulder City as well as a hefty forgivable loan to purchase a home.

Given that the process for hiring a new city manager would take months at the very least, the city council moved to name Community Development Director Michael Mays as acting city manager. Mays had also occupied that role in the nearly a year it took to find a new city manager after a former version of the council moved to fire former city manager Al Noyola as well as former city manager Steve Morris in 2020.

In other city news, one of Tedder’s final acts was to fire the chief of the fire department. Will Gray, who told the Review that he had received a stellar annual review only about a month before his firing, claimed that Councilman Steve Walton (whose son Nigel is a fire captain as well as the department’s union rep) had presented Tedder with a list of demands, including one that would have increased the city’s overtime costs. Gray also said that the list was virtually identical to one presented by the younger Walton just weeks before.

Walton denied any interference, as did Tedder. As 2024 comes to a close, the city is still operating with an acting fire chief.

April was also the month when serious resident pushback began to manifest against a proposal to change city code in order to allow for the issuance of permits for those wishing to breed dogs and cats in their homes. Another issue that would consume the city over 2024, the proposal to reduce the amount of non-playable turf at the Municipal Golf Course also began as the city council heard a first proposal.

After a tip from a member of an animal welfare group in Las Vegas, Boulder City Police stopped an elderly couple driving into town and found 51 animals in the vehicle, some alive but many dead. Search warrants on both their home and a hotel room in Vegas found 45 dogs in total, 10 that were already dead as well as an unspecified number of Guinea pigs.

The longstanding lack of grocery shopping options came to a head as it was announced that the company that owned 371 99 Cents Only stores across several states was going out of business and closing all locations, including the one in Boulder City.

In more positive business news, a “coming soon” sign appeared in front of the long-empty old 7-11 store on Nevada Way for the popular Pink Box Doughnuts owned by Las Vegas-based Siegel, which also owns retail centers and hotels in Nevada, Utah, Texas and California. Siegel initially purchased the old Little City Grille (and the group’s website still shows a picture of that location calling it the home to a future Pink Box) and then purchased the 7-11 location from Southland Industries. As of the final week of 2024, both locations are still empty.

Coverage of issues at the SNSVH came to a head with, following an inspection earlier in the year by the federal agency that runs both Medicare and Medicaid, the home losing its vaunted 5-star ranking as well as seeing a warning sign on their CMS web page regarding a citation against administrator Steven Pavlow for verbal abuse of a patient. Pavlow appeared to have been put on administrative leave, a status that the state refused to confirm or deny and the home continued to operate under Pavlow’s license for a number of months, even after he had been replaced.

Finally, the BCHS High Scalers robotics team hoisted a winners’ banner and trophy after competing in the regional FIRST robotics competition at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

May

Another long-simmering local issue came back up when then Councilman Matt Fox asked the city council to reconsider a ban on off-highway vehicles on city roads. Fox said he was only suggesting that people be allowed to go from their driveway to the desert and to the gas station, something he said that people are already doing. During that meeting, the council seemed open to the idea despite a 2019 ballot measure where voters said no to the idea. But multiple council members noted that the 2019 ballot question had been very undefined and noted that many people had likely voted “no” just due to the lack of specificity in the question.

More than a year after a nondescript concrete block wall showed up on the southwest corner of Boulder City Parkway and Veterans Memorial Boulevard, the artwork meant to adorn that wall finally landed in the form of 1,000-pound, 20-foot-wingspan eagle painted by local artist Lynne Jordan. The $75,000 project was funded by the city.

The long fight over pet issues continued as allegations were made that city council members were keeping unlicensed pets.The allegation ended up only partially true as Councilwoman Cokie Booth said she had four dogs, all of whom were microchipped and vaccinated but none of which had a current license. She said it was because the city does not automatically bill animal owners when a license expires, an issue that would come up in meetings later in the year.

In sports, the BCHS boys volleyball team captured their fourth straight statewide 3A championship. On the platform, senior McKenna Morrow was named 3A regional diving champion. And, after both the boys and girls swim squads won 3A regional titles, the boys went on to win the state 3A championship for the second year running.

The most consequential story of the month also centered around a pool as the city council gave final unanimous approval to the sale of Tract 350, the proceeds of which will largely go to funding construction of a new municipal pool complex. Nearly 15 years after voters approved the sale of 45 acres surrounding Boulder Creek Golf Course and after a convoluted history that included a request for proposal from developers in 2016 that resulted in zero response, a plan for 185 single-family homes and duplexes from Toll Brothers that was first approved by the council in 2021 and then denied a year later after pressure from homeowners led Toll Brothers to cut both the number of homes and the price they were willing to pay, a final plan for about 120 homes was approved by the council on a unanimous vote. As of the end of the year, no construction has yet begun.

June

An issue that is destined to cause controversy in 2025 was first brought forward in June as several proposals for re-configuring parking on Nevada Way were presented to the council. While the stated preference of many in the business community was to keep things as they are, that may not be an option as the issue is less about parking than it is about widening sidewalks in the historic downtown area so that the city is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities act.

Shoppers got a bit of good news as it was announced that the company that owns the Dollar Tree chain of discount stores had agreed to buy many of the former locations of 99 Cents Only stores and that the BC location was on that list.

At least one item on the list of pet-oriented issues was resolved in June as the city council voted unanimously to allow for a “fancier” permit which would allow people to keep more than the legal limit of three dogs or cats in their home. Councilwoman Cokie Booth was the first person to apply to receive said permit.

The primary election ended with just one seat still open for the general election as both current mayor pro-tem Sherri Jorgensen and justice of the peace candidate Christopher Tilman gathered enough votes to avoid a runoff. City council candidate Denise Ashurst missed that mark by only about 50 votes setting up a November runoff against Matt Fox.

In sports, it was a month of individual accolades. A total of seven BCHS swimmers were named to the All-Southern Nevada team, an honor usually reserved for 4A and 5A athletes. Leading the way was star senior Phoebe McClaren, who was the only 3A swimmer named to the first team. On the diamond, sophomore phenom Peyton Rogers, already named 3A softball player of the year was named to the all-state team along with senior Talynn Madrid and juniors Baylee Cooke and Kylie Czubernat. On the boys side, senior Derek Render was named to first team for both the all-Southern Nevada and All-Mountain selections.

Meanwhile, senior volleyballer Brady Sorenson was named league player of the year and, in the pool, senior Phoebe McClaren, who had already been named to the first team for the region took the top honor as 3A swimmer of the year after setting new school and state records in the 500-meter freestyle.