Gratitude for government

I moved to Boulder City in 1981. Boulder City is blessed to have been a government town. Can we recall the blessings we have received from government?

After I was elected to the city council in 1985, I began to appreciate the story of Boulder City’s transition from a federal reservation to a city in the state of Nevada. I discovered that Boulder City’s unique nature is a gift from the federal government. Because it was a federal reservation, no gambling was allowed in Boulder City while the rest of the state became a gambler’s paradise.

This is a part of the story of the federal government’s support of our community as well as our support of governments serving citizens. That is the purpose of government, isn’t it?

The primary and greatest assets, of course, were the community infrastructure that had been constructed by the United States in order to support the building of Boulder Dam. It’s now called Hoover Dam, named by Truman, a Democrat. President Hoover was a Republican. The two parties worked in unison to approve the Boulder Canyon Project Act in order to facilitate the construction of both Boulder City and Hoover Dam.

The infrastructure, including roads as well as buildings such as the school, that is now city hall, as well as the buildings that house our police department were mostly constructed by the federal government. When I began to hear Reagan’s often-repeated admonition that “government is the problem,” in the 1980’s, I was happily aware of a differing reality for Boulder City. Government proved to be the solution, didn’t it?

I was offered a promotion within a year of receiving a position in the Bureau of Reclamation to move to Boulder City Nevada as an economist. As I began learning about the city’s electric utility, I realized that the electricity was originally so cheap that the city had added its own increment to the government’s price of electricity to fund the operation the of Boulder City following its incorporation. Up until 1985 when the city’s power contracts were renegotiated to a higher rate, the city was able to support Boulder City’s general fund with power rates. That was a gift of the U.S. government, wasn’t it?

In 1958, the federal government passed legislation allowing for the annexation of federal land in the El Dorado Valley as well as Fort Mohave Valley. Since it was passed and signed in 1958, the price of the land purchased by Boulder City was a 1958 appraisal. Therefore, the 168 square miles of land was purchased for $1.3 million. Wasn’t that a blessing of the federal government to Boulder City, which now receives over $15 million a year in revenue from a energy production enterprise zone in the El Dorado Valley? That is likely the reason we have the lowest property tax rate in the state of Nevada. Who isn’t grateful for that? Congratulations to Boulder City for the Cashman Good Government Award recently received for the third time in six years! Boulder City has been blessed with inexpensive land from the federal government due to the bipartisan actions of Congress.

Subsequently, Boulder City was happy to oblige when a location was sought for a veterans’ cemetery. After all, I believe that we are all in this together, don’t you? As an indication of our gratitude, the land around the newly relocated airport appeared ideal for a veterans’ cemetery. The city council unanimously voted to support our veterans as well as their families by opening the veterans’ cemetery adjacent to the airport. Following the land donation for the veterans’ cemetery, Boulder City was allowed to purchase the El Dorado Valley. That is the typical quid pro quo of the consciousness of the United States of America. Later, when a veterans’ home was required in Nevada, Boulder City volunteered land for that purpose. In order for our nation to succeed, aren’t we all in this together?

As the mayor, when I delivered my address on Veterans Day in 1991, I indicated that the new park next to the veterans’ cemetery would be dedicated to veterans as Veterans Memorial Park. Subsequently, the city council also unanimously approved the use of land for a veterans’ home in Boulder City. Government always functions most appropriately when cooperating with other governments. When you read between the lines you can also see that Boulder City would not exist without the largess of the federal government. We can therefore be grateful for our many blessings from government. Government is a solution, not a problem. America’s blessings are only available with cooperation available from our love, aren’t they?

Eric L. Lundgaard

President, Aquarian Theosophy Foundation

Former mayor and council member (1985-1997)