Citizens Leadership Academy

Final Thoughts On The Las Vegas Citizens Leadership Academy

November 8th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Las Vegas Real Estate News

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I was honored and privileged to be one of the 25 Las Vegas citizens to have been picked to be in this year’s Citizen Leadership Academy. The CLA is an intensive introduction to the behind the scenes workings of the City of Las Vegas.

It’s funny how we watch a massive thing like a city function around us and never give a thought as to what it does take to make it run. We all know the things we hate, and the things that bother or annoy us, but never give a single thought, never the less a second thought to all the parts of a government that don’t directly affect us or that we don’t take advantage of. And, I’m as guilty of anyone of taking for granted the things that are so right about Las Vegas. 

If you never go to one of the parks, or participate in any of the sports or activities, you don’t realize that that there’s actually world class facilities being run by dedicated, excited and enthusiastic city employees.

Our streets get swept, and the pot holes get filled and the graffiti gets removed and the new homes and buildings get inspected, and the state and federal governments get lobbied, and new business gets enticed to move here.

The water flows from the tap, the sewage gets cleaned, the trash gets picked up, the tv station provides access to the public. The Arts get encouraged and presented. The city and county websites make it easy for the public to find their way to the services that they’re looking for.

And all of that happens around the clock. It happens with thousands of employees who don’t run for office, don’t get seen on tv, and don’t get the recognition they deserve. We didn’t meet with or hear any speeches from the elected officials. I’m grateful for that. I’m sure that if that was all we were presented, that it would have been gratuitous and bogus.

During the various CLA classes that we attended, we only met with the city’s employees. They were organized, enthusiastic, and devoted to providing the services to the public. They’re dedicated to making Las Vegas a world class city. They’re empowered to get the citizenry involved. They too have children and parents and family who deserve to live in a great city.

And most important of all, they didn’t try to hide the problems. We discussed the good and the bad. Nothing was being swept under the rug. Every Department that made us presentations showed us their successes as well as their failures. They pointed out what they’re doing right, and what they need to improve upon.

One of the most striking things about the 25 members of this years class was the diversity of who was picked. This speaks well of the 62 who applied, and to the selection process itself. Ages ranged from the mid 20’s to the mid 70’s. We had racial diversity, with whites, blacks and hispanics. We had lawyers and housewives and realtors, and retirees, and school teachers, and social service professionals. Most were married, most had children. Some were single, some were gay, some were disabled. And all of us were committed to making the world and the city a better place to live. Each of us plan to take what we learned back to our own micro world and do some small part to better the lives of those around us.

We met every Tuesday night for the last 2 months, as well as two Saturdays in between. Wednesday morning was the graduation ceremony in front of the the city council. AJ Powell, spoke to the council on our behalf.

Now there’s 3 members of the VeryVintageVegas team that have attended. Mary Joy Alderman was a member of this years class, and Pam Kowalski was a member of the first class in 2004. All of us are devoted to preserving the classic neighborhoods, educating the public about the housing and architectural styles of the 30’s, 40’s 50’s and 60’s, and to keeping alive the history of how Las Vegas came to be.

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20 Frequently Asked Questions From Las Vegas Code Enforcement

October 30th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Las Vegas Real Estate News, Market Conditions

I’ll be doing my ride along this week with a Las Vegas Code Enforcement Officer. This will be the last of my “extra credit” field trips as part of the Citizens Leadership Academy. In preparation, I found this  nifty little handout from the city. As far as I know, the rules in the county are almost identical. 20 Frequently Asked Questions From Code Enforcement The distressing thing, and the one thing that I’d change in a heartbeat is that the enforcement of our zoning codes is strictly a “complaint driven system”. If you have a neighbor that’s driving you crazy, you can anonymously start the city or county on the path of doing something about it.

In the city of Las Vegas call :229–6615 In Clark County call 455–4191 The same numbers are ALSO FOR REPORTING GRAFITTI!

Tags: city+of+las+vegas, las+vegas, code+enforcement, motor+home, recreational+vehicle, pool+drain, trash+can, graffit, vacant+building, vehicle+repair, uncle+jack, very+vintage+vegas

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The Grocery Store Question Is Much Discussed In Vintage Vegas

October 25th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Downtown Businesses, Downtown Las Vegas, Juhl, Las Vegas Real Estate News

One of our readers raises a question that I posed to the Business and Development Folks at the Citizens Leadership Academy just last week.

 

Jack,

I was curious if you have heard where the people that are living downtown in all those beautiful lofts, condo’s etc. are going to grocery shop? I live in McNeil and would love to think they may bring a Whole Foods to the center of town.  What do you know…?

By the way I am the mother of the two brothers who own Lovebird Apparel!

 

Sincerely,

Suzan Benett

 

First Suzan, I’ve plugged your son’s really great collection of art as apparel several times. You should be real proud of them.

 

As to the groceries, it’s really a chicken and egg question of what comes first. RDA (Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency).

 

For the longest time, no one in the “specialty”grocery industry wanted to believe that that people like you would drive past a Smiths at Rancho and Charleston for example, or that the 1000’s of us who live east of the strip would drive past the Albertsons to get to a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s or a Sunflower Market.

 

According to our discussion with Scott Adams, the director of RDA, “it’s one of our highest priorities”. He told me they’ve had ongoing, practically begging conversations and presentations to every major and minor chain in the country to get a store located in or adjacent to the Arts District.

 

He says he has one truly interested party that would satisfy us, though he was absolutely unwilling to name names. He believes that by the time Juhl opens for occupancy, that there will be one. I argued that the demand was already there. I get this question from people on both the east and west side of Vintage Vegas all the time.

 

So the bottom line answer is hold tight, it’s coming eventually.

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Citizens Leadership Academy - I Used My “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card

October 24th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy

I am honored to be one of the 25 participants this year in the City’s Citizen Leadership Academy. It’s an 8 week course on the inner workings of government. It has been an amazing and eye opening opportunity.

Last night was one of our most interesting classes. The criminal justice system was the topic. We met at the Regional Justice Center for a tour of the justice courts, the Supreme Court, prisoner holding cells, and then took a field trip to the Las Vegas Jail.

I’ve tried and mostly succeeded my whole life in staying away from anywhere that lawyers, police and bad guys hang out. Therefore, of all the topics we’ve covered, criminal justice was the subject I knew the least about.

I didn’t know that there’s a supreme court courtroom in Las Vegas as well as Carson City. The Regional Justice Center is a stunning building. There’s an under ground tunnel between it and the Clark County Detention Center. The prisoners and accused are isolated from the public and staff. All the courts for Clark County and Las Vegas are housed now in this one building for the convenience of the public, and as a huge cost savings to the public.

Within the Municipal Court System, several of the judges have created “specialty” courts that they supervise. There’s one for prostitution, repeat offenders, domestic violence for example.

When we went to the LV Jail on Stewart Ave and Mojove, we learned that the guards, police and staff do not carry guns. I also learned to my dismay that there’s NO CAMERAS ALLOWED. Sorry. There’s room for 1050 inmates. The average stay is 12 days, at a cost of 98. per day per inmate. They house overflow from the Clark County Detention Center, have contracts with the Feds and FBI to house prisoners, and mostly they house misdemeanor prisoners. Gross Misdemeanor and Felony prisoners go to Clark County, or into the state prison system. All prisoners wear orange jumpsuits all the time, sleep 4 to cell, and the only separation is between men and women, who are housed in different cell blocks. Otherwise young, old, black, white, Hispanic, gay, straight or whatever are all jumbled together. Most of the prisoners are there because of drugs in one way or another. Most of the women there are there for prostitution.

All in All, it was the most interesting and educational and saddening of all the classes at the Citizens Leadership Academy 

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Creating An Urban Core and Downtown That We Can Call Home

October 21st, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Downtown Businesses, Downtown Las Vegas, Fremont St., Las Vegas Real Estate News

Saturday Morning was the last field trip of the Citizens Leadership Academy. We were led by Scott Adams, the Director of the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency. The RDA is charged with recruiting new business and development into the downtown.

Our bus trip took us thru the Arts District, Union Park, The New Fremont East Entertainment District, sites of various existing, planned, under construction, and wishful thinking high rise condos, the REI Stadium Project, and many of the 160 different projects that are on the books.  

There’s a lot of new jobs coming to downtown as a result of these projects. The Brain Center, the Cancer Center, The Water District and Water Authority, The expansion of the outlet mall, A new city hall, Lady Luck and 3^rd Street are back on track with new owners, 15 new venues on the books for Fremont East, and maybe even a grocery store!

New jobs, bring new people, and living close to work and eliminating both the time and gas of the long commute is also a driving force that will help with the restoration of our Vintage Urban Core neighborhoods. Of course, it’s their job to give us the good news, and the only project that he didn’t sound thrilled with was the REI Stadium, which made me very happy to hear.

Of course, I know several of the 90 parcel owners within the REI boundaries, and they all seem to have mixed feelings. Yes they want to get their 7 million an acre, but also feel it won’t be good for the arts district. A project like that pushes the value of all downtown land to the point that only an MGM or Harrah’s or similar size organization will ever be able to use it. They won’t be building the 4 or 5 story boutique and affordable loft and apartment type projects with ground floor cafes, shops and galleries that I always envisioned for the area. Time will tell, whether REI can pull off their dream without taking down the arts district in the process. 

My dream has always been housing for hip, fun urban dwellers. NOT tourist hotel rooms, and creating a whole new leg for the strip was certainly not part of my dream.  

Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency Has Many Tools To Help Us Keep Up With Rebirth of Downtown Las Vegas 

The RDA has a great tool if you want to find out about all the different projects regardless of where they are in the development process. Check it out. It’s fun and educational. Interactive Downtown Projects Map

 

Here’s another tool I use  a lot in preparing to meet with buyers and sellers, and to research all kinds of things. You’re welcome to use it also. You can quickly zoom to any property, get the ownership and assessor information, see the birds eye view,get the parcel number etc. Interactive MAP OF LAS VEGAS It works for all 3 cities and unincorporated Clark County.

 

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City Of Las Vegas Department Of Leisure Services

October 17th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy

The Citizens Leadership Academy spent the evening with the Department of Leisure Services. Dinner was served at the Darling Tennis Center, which truly astounded me. There are things out in suburbs that we deserve to know about.

Darling is one small part of the 120 acre regional sports park which runs alongside Sum**lin Parkway from Buffalo to Durango. There’s 20 tennis courts and the tennis stadium, 11 Soccer Fields, playgrounds, picnic areas, and plenty of parking.

We had short presentations from Senior Services, Youth Program, Arts and Entertainment and a variety of other departments within Leisure Services.

I learned a lot about artificial verses natural turf. For example, 7 of the soccer fields are artificial. It appeared to be a huge cost and time savings decision for the city, but following the laws of unintended consequences, it was soon discovered that the artificial turf radiates heat and creates air temperatures air the 150 degree range for the players. Those fields can now only be used in the morning and evening during the summer.

Natural turf takes more water, and can be over seeded in the fall with Winter Rye Grass when the underlying Bermuda grass browns out and goes dormant once night time temperatures fall below 60 degrees. Year round green lawns require this type of overseeding. If your neighbor’s lawn is green year round, that’s what they’re doing. We got a demonstration of the 2 types of lawnmowers that are used. You’d think that if I could drive the million dollar Honda FCX last week, they’d let me drive a lawnmower, but NO! I did get to sit in it.

Besides finding out that there’s this huge sports park complex out in the suburbs, I think it’s best to just give you the link to the Leisure Services department and a few pictures of what we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The City Of Las Vegas Planning and Development Department Publishes New Newsletter

October 14th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Las Vegas Real Estate News, Market Conditions

Growth Watch, The City of Las Vegas Planning and Development Fall Newsletter

At least it’s new to me, and I probably got on the list for being in the Citizens Leadership Academy this year. I’m happy to share it with you.

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Looking For Trouble In A Metro Police Cruiser

October 12th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Cool Stuff, Downtown Las Vegas

The Citizens Leadership Academy is an annual 8 week course offered by the City of Las Vegas. I was honored to be one of the 25 Las Vegas residents chosen for this years class. I’ve still not posted our field trip to the waste treatment plant, but all the other posts I’ve written can be found here.

Yesterday was my “extra credit” Ride-along with a Metro officer from the Downtown Area Command. Mary Alderman did a similar ride-along with a City Marshal the other day.

I’m notorious for always being in learning mode. Ask any auto mechanic, or a/c repair guy, or anyone else that ever let me watch them do their job. I ask a million questions, and keep digging deeper and deeper with the “why”. Officer Pierre  did a great job answering my 100’s of questions. I stumped him a few times in the why department, though.

Our first call was a teen who got mugged and had his IPOD stolen on the way home from school at 28^th and Searles. It was a real sleeper watching a report get written, but I did have an opportunity to look around in a part of town I rarely ever venture into. Way too much of it looked like this.

About half the time was spent just cruising around looking for trouble. That’s my kind of job! I didn’t realize that at every stop light, most metro officers run the license plates of every vehicle in front of them. They find lots of people with warrants, stolen cars, etc by doing so. No luck last night, but I heard some great stories.

I did get to give Officer Pierre a short tour of the downtown VeryVintageVegas neighborhoods. He had no idea of the history, the housing styles or the tremendous effort that has gone into turning around these great neighborhoods. We stopped by my house so I could show Steve and JJ the police car. I’m sure there’s gossip on the street as to why I got taken away in a police car.

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Mary And The Marshal - My Ride Along With A City Of Las Vegas Marshal

October 10th, 2007 Categories: Citizens Leadership Academy, Las Vegas Real Estate News

Yesterday as part of the Citizen’s Leadership Academy, I got to ride along all day with City Marshal Brent Bucy. We started at 7 a.m. The marshal’s offices are at 417 N. 7th St., downtown, just a couple blocks from City Hall. Our first stop was Starbucks. I offered to buy his but he insisted on getting mine.

He told me that he basically patrolled the whole east part of the city. At that time we went out to one of the code response centers where a complaint had been lodged citing harassment of a co-worker. There was a separate discussion with each of the parties involved. One felt that it was just a misunderstanding and conflict of personality, however the other said that he had been threatened and wanted to press charges. 

What resulted was a citizen’s arrest. The accused party was given a citation and a court date. It was similar to a traffic ticket. He wasn’t happy, but told the marshal that he would be talking to his union attorney which he was encouraged to do. Both of them seemed like nice guys and I couldn’t help wishing they had been able to settle the problem between themselves.

We checked out some parks in the area and then went back to the downtown station where Officer Bucy filed his report. After that we went to the human relations office at City Hall where a discussion was had with the diversity relations director. While there I noticed a fabulous poster on diversity and suggested that they provide the code office where the incident occurred with a similar one as it clearly stated the goals for the workers.

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