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What do Las Vegans really want?

AIR DATE: March 11, 2011

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In a few months the residents of Las Vegas will elect a new mayor and with the new mayor comes a new approach to the city's priorities. A poll conducted by the RJ showed that job creation is the number 1 priority for Las Vegans. Jobs have been the rallying cry for candidates in this and other political races. But, are jobs the only things Las Vegans care about? We discuss what Las Vegans really want as the community prepares to elect a new leader and continues its slow crawl out of the recession.

GUEST
John L. Smith, columnist, Las Vegas Review
Journal Ken Fernandez, Prof of Poli Sci, UNLV

LATEST COMMENTS

what about capitolizing on solar energy as a ...
-robin

I think adding a legalized red lite district ...
-robin

Of course to the masses of unemployed in Las ...
-Monica

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COMMENTS:

what about capitolizing on solar energy as a source of revenue and clean energy?

robin –Mar 15, 2011 11:17:21 AM

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I think adding a legalized red lite district in clark county would be a great revenue builder. Also continued development of the downtown district that highlights vintage vegas. more swanky/hip housing to attract people to move downtown, add a grocery store, clean up the neighborhoods. i think downtown is a gem that needs a bit of polishing.

robin –Mar 15, 2011 11:15:01 AM

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Of course to the masses of unemployed in Las Vegas want job creation as a number one priority&Vegas is overpopulated, over-built and has a mentality of low education and experience is required for employment&Because really the casinos are in the business of providing service at a level that returns big profits. Who better to provide that service than the uneducated and needy? Why dont the masses get this? A good case might be The Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino in West Wendover, NV (Northern Nevada) owned by David Ensign and Generation 2000 partners. They hire mostly non English speaking students from countries like Poland on a 3-6 month work exchange programs. The Nugget eludes paying minimum wage and benefits to local workers who are desperate for the work in a small community. The Nugget charges the foreign students rent for housing they provide to the students and probably in the end must makes money on the deal& Everyone looks to the casinos for salvation. Casinos and the people that run them do not want educated, young forward thinking employees in the building. They want to keep their jobs in an unsure economy until they retire&These people need their jobs for

Monica –Mar 11, 2011 21:46:28 PM

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I think a good way to create revenue, is a grocery tax everyone will have to pay

britt –Mar 11, 2011 10:02:34 AM

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What I want is a Mayor like Chris G who has actually spent time in all of my communities, Downtown, LGBT and African American. What I do not want is a a continuation of the last 12 yrs of failure for the entire city except for two and half blocks of Fremont st E. We need a Mayor who knows and cares about more than a few blocks of the city! And reopen Circle Park now!

Derek Washington –Mar 11, 2011 09:44:13 AM

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The only way I see funding any improvements at all is to diversify our revenue stream and grow out of simply gaming, mining and now dead construction projects. This could be achieved through an inexhaustible resource we have here naturally in solar energy. If there could be a privet/public co-op to build a collection and storage system, Las Vegas could not only be a source of clean, inexpensive electricity for residents but the surplus could be packaged and sold around the world. Much like how you cable or satellite providers, rent equipment, solar panels could be put on residential and commercial buildings all over the valley, in addition to solar fields, in effect turning the entire area into collection farm. The maintenance, installation, IT, engineering and host of other support, sales and management jobs created could be a windfall for companies NVEnergy and Southern Nevada cities, the likes of which on the scope and scale which has only been seen by the oil fields of Saudi Arabia and other oil rich countries. To address the fixes before we have the resources is putting the cart before the horse.

Dennis –Mar 11, 2011 09:41:39 AM

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As a Las Vegan for the past 8 years, I have long felt that we are positioned to become a technological Mecca with our highly skilled IT professionals, cutting edge technologies being developed, built and tested at Nellis, Creech and the Nevada Test Site. Let's build UNLV's Engineering College and invest in development to diversify our economy out of pure mining and tourism and become the west coast's Cambridge Circle.

Brian –Mar 11, 2011 09:20:32 AM

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Growing up in NJ, I had access to NY, PA and MD museums, planetariums and aquariums. My parents took me to the Franklin Institute every month. I grew up surrounded by engineering exhibits. What does Las Vegas have? If kids aren't interested in engineering they won't go to an engineering college when they're ready. Quality education isn't just in school, we need something to stimulate the kids and grasp their attention. An engineering institute may attract out of state kids but won't help the kids that grow up here. We need an actual museum outside of a casino with exhibits not addressing the mob days of Las Vegas.

Jeff –Mar 12, 2011 08:03:41 AM

03/11/11 RUNDOWN


	What do Las Vegans really want?


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