We generally expect our leaders to be educated, smart, and well-informed. More often than not, we support, elect, and follow those who appear to have an answer for everything. But good leaders don’t know everything. And the very best ones know that they don’t know everything.
Boulder City residents occasionally ask how the city is able to have one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, and still provide needed functions such as police, fire, and public parks. In addition to land leases that provide 35% of our general fund budget, we also look at ways to keep costs down. As the city’s Purchasing, Grants and Risk manager for the last eight years, I have seen the city make decisions that keep us lean.
I have a lot on my heart these days. The good news is that my heart is in great health. So… allow me to start with that.
Living in Southern Nevada, we know there comes a point each summer when opening the front door feels more like opening up the oven.
Where does the time go?
When it comes to colossal product launch flops, you’d be hard pressed to top the epic failure of New Coke. People perfectly content with “the real thing” had no interest whatsoever in the product despite a massive marketing and public relations campaign.
Twenty-four years ago, conservative columnist George Will wrote, “One state’s welfare is uniquely woven into gambling, but Nevada has an excuse: The silver was gone, the soil was lousy, and the would-be divorcees were bored. After the Comstock Lode petered out, Nevada eventually discovered divorce as a way of making money. Nevada crushed the competition of a few other states in setting the shortest residency requirement, and then looked around for a new way to mine money from the law and found gambling. Now, one Nevada is kind of nice. But there is something sinister about more and more governments becoming more and more addicted to money from what was until recently considered a vice.”
Oh, the excitement of the holiday season is upon us. December arrives with festivities galore on the calendar.
Last month, Las Vegas City Hall was the site of a meeting focusing on how effective the Department of Veterans Affairs’ regional benefits office in Reno is serving Southern Nevada veterans. The VA Reno field office is one of the most underperforming in the nation, and the hearing examined what changes need to be made to better serve veterans in the state.
Although it will again be impossible for the GOP to gain a Republican majority in the state Assembly next year, the developing conservative uprising in Nevada — what I’ve been referring to as “Conservageddon” — could result in a new (and desperately needed) conservative majority in the Republican Assembly caucus.
On this coming Thanksgiving holiday, I would be eternally grateful if our government-run education camps would teach the next generation of Americans the true story of Plymouth Rock rather than the romanticized fairy-tale version.
A few days ago, the Nevada Supreme Court refused to intervene in a court case to correct a case of religious bigotry.
Talk about perfect timing.
When walking into the Boulder City High School cafeteria last Wednesday, it was almost like stepping back in time nearly 100 years.
Featuring a roster full of key returnees, Boulder City High School girls volleyball is looking to make an extended postseason run this season.
Coming off a state championship, Boulder City High School girls tennis is coming into the season with some question marks.
