The Laughlin Herald

THE TOWN CRIER

Report From Town Hall – November 2009

(November 10^th, 2009)

The Laughlin Town Advisory Board held its regular monthly meeting today. After a no doubt much appreciated absence from the pages of The Laughlin Herald, the Occupation Board will now have to once again have a voice speaking that their puppet master, Democratic County Commissioner and Harry Reid Commissar Steve Sisolak can’t muzzle. This was a more sedate meeting as they go, but nonetheless, there were plenty of issues residents of Gulag Laughlin should be aware of.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

They’re After Us Again

(September 14^th, 2009)

Virtually unnoticed recently, the Clark County Board of Commissioners approved a 'plan' from the County Clerk's office, which severely cut back on the office hours of the Clerk's offices in outlying communities.  Laughlin was cut back to three days a week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday).  The chief reason given was that those offices being cut back were not doing enough business to warrant remaining open every day of the week.  Supposedly a study was done in coming to these conclusions, but it is doubtful that much thought was given to the hours involved.

THE TOWN CRIER

Report From Town Hall

(July 28^th, 2009)

The Laughlin Town Advisory Board recently held its regular monthly meeting. Despite the fact that the Board is filled with Quislings doing the biding of everyone but the voters of the township, this last meeting was a two thumbs up performance not to be missed. The Occupation Board is starting to come into its own, sort of like how a new soap opera needs a few episodes to find its feet. So much went on that this will be the longest article I’ve ever written for The Laughlin Herald.

Letter To The Editor

The Chamber Should Change

(July 4^th, 2009)

The Laughlin Chamber of Commerce should change its name.  It does not represent Laughlin Commerce.  Its Board of Directors is controlled, and must always be so, by the casinos.  The vast majority of its members are Arizona businesses.  In an interview on TV2, the full-time executives of the Bullhead City and the Laughlin Chambers agreed that Arizona was for retailing and residences, while Laughlin is for gaming, entertainment and the jobs they provide.

RESTRICTED HOUSING

The Last Thing Laughlin Needs Is Another Black Hole for Police Resources

(June 11^th 2009)

Laughlin has only recently discovered the full truth about a government funded housing project, The Vista Creek Apartments. Despite a series of misleading presentations and assertions we now know it for what it is – another black hole for police resources at the expense of millions of taxpayer dollars.

PARSE THE DIFFERENCE?

Slicing The Casinos Out Of A New City Isn’t Ideal – But It’s Not A Deal Killer Either

(May 3^rd, 2009)

AB 383, the Laughlin incorporation bill, didn’t make it out of committee on its own, but a parliamentary maneuver may move it along as a rider to another bill soon, thanks to the tireless efforts of Assemblyman Joe Hardy. The key to this may be a compromise idea of not including dissenting casinos in the new city. This may not sound like the best possible solution and frankly it’s not, but it’s infinitely better than remaining as serfs to Lord Sisolak and getting no city at all.

WEBSITE GROWING PAINS

It’s Time That The Town Government Website Live Up To Its Potential

(January 4^th, 2009)

The Township of Laughlin has a website. Really I’m not kidding. Not easy to find and when you do, it’s, well, let’s say a little underwhelming. I’ve been having some trouble deciding if it sucks because the public sector is usually about twenty years behind the real world or because county staff doesn’t want to provide a real source of government information to citizens. After all, if you do that, the damn citizens might start showing up and getting involved.

LAUGHLIN IN 2009

Challenges in the Political Landscape in the coming year

(December 28^th, 2008)

A host of public problems will face Laughlin residents next year and some of them may actually be acknowledged as existing by both civic leaders and local media. There are actually some recent signs that political discourse in our Township is going beyond polite non-discussion. Here’s what’s at the top of the non-polite discussion list for The Laughlin Herald in the annus novus.

THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND

Laughlin As A Community Needs To Get Its Collective Calendar Together

(November 16^th, 2008)

Three days ago I spoke briefly to the Laughlin Town Advisory Board about the need for a Master Community Calendar. There have, in the last several weeks, as there will be ahead of us, a large number of public events and activities. We’ve recently seen once again that events sometimes, for want of a better term, stumble over each other.

Letter To The Editor

RE: EVERYONE WILL JUST HAVE TO TAKE A BREATH

(August 10^th, 2008)

I don’t know what school of economics you attended, but I received no economic instruction in achieving my degree in business administration from California State University, Long Beach, that begins to match your assertions. How in the world did you arrive at the notion that the new ordinance will drive out lending to current casinos? Your logical approach would give you an "F" if you were taking Logic 101 in college.

EVERYONE WILL JUST HAVE TO TAKE A BREATH

As much as all parties want a resolution to the Casino Definition Ordinance they’ll just have to wait

(August 4^th, 2008)

Meetings of the Laughlin Town Advisory Board and the LTAB Community Development Committee have had a number of well attended and well contested meetings. At issue is whether Laughlin should be exempted from the county’s minimum standards for a full service casino, which are stricter, and not coincidentally, more expensive, than those of the state. Both sides want this to be resolved and go away forever. But doing so in favor of either side needs to wait.

MY FAVORITE SHOW GETS THE AXE

But The Laughlin Government Channel Goes On & On – With Nothing

(20 July 2008)

Have you ever noticed how often you start watching a new television program and just as you really start to like it, it get’s cancelled? But another show that’s less entertaining than static and twice as stupid goes and on and forever? That’s how I feel about the Laughlin Government Channel 14.

SUCKERFISH WARS, EPISODE 2

Attack of the Southern Nevada Water Authority

(July 14^th, 2008)

The June 10^th, 2008 minutes of the Laughlin Town Advisory Board had six pages of testimony from Holly Cheong, Environmental Planner for the Nevada Water Authority together with questions and comments from Board members. What was all the hoopla about? The fifteen acres of the Big Bend Conservation Area, which is on the site that was formerly the Boy Scout Camp at the south end of town. More accurately, the hoopla was about the fantasy and equivocation Ms. Cheong wove and the Board’s attempt to get a straight answer – without much success. 

NOT ON THE SAME PAGE

Clearly This Town Is Not Of One Mind On The Resort Definition Ordinance – But Suckerfish Are Another Matter

(May 19^th, 2008)

They didn’t run out of chairs at Town Hall last week, but suffice it to say the ones they had got some use. It was one of the largest public turnouts in recent memory. And many of those in attendance were there to protest the abrupt proposed change in the county resort definition ordinance. But it was a double feature that day.

HEAVY LIFTING

The Town Board Has A Heavy Agenda This Week And It’s Only The Tip Of The Iceberg

(May 11^th, 2008)

The Laughlin Town Advisory Board has an agenda that’s especially full with numerous important items they will be discussing this Tuesday at 1:30 PM. Not only are the items important to every single resident in this town but in and of themselves they represent just the acknowledgment of issues that will take months if not several years of work to resolve.

Letter To The Editor

RE: A BAD TIME TO CHANGE A BAD LAW

(April 21^st, 2008)

I am glad to see that you agree that the current ordinance defining resort casino's for Clark County is a bad law, particularly as it impacts Laughlin.

However, you then say it is not time to change this bad law. In my opinion, a bad law should be changed at the first opportunity. This is the first opportunity Laughlin has had to change this bad law for a number of years.

A BAD TIME TO CHANGE A BAD LAW

Laughlin Needs Relief From The Resort Definition Ordinance – But Not When It Threatens Jobs

(April 7^th, 2008)

This Tuesday Afternoon the Laughlin Town Advisory Board will take up the issue on whether to formally request that the Board of County Commissioners exempt Laughlin from the county resort definition ordinance. The ordinance was a bad one to begin with; it restrained trade and took away property rights. But it’s been in effect for ten years now. To repeal it suddenly could be devastating to jobs in a small town that’s already seen one round of layoffs after another over the last year.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Re: Channel What? & Who’s Next?

(February 18^th, 2008)

Hey Jordan,

Was checking out your website today [Editor - February 11th] for the first time. I have to say that I concur with several of your thoughts on the site. I especially agree about the underutilized Channel 14. There are a multitude of things that could be put on that site instead of the endless scrolling of repetitive information. Also the lack of a town sponsored community calendar so we limit the duplication of multiple events held on the same day. Channel 14 might be a logical place for that.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

RE: WHO’S NEXT

(February 17^th, 2008)

Times For Meetings Are Good Leadership Decisions.

People have complained before about having to wait until the end of the meeting for 'public comments', or what some call 'new business'.  People have complained about only having 3 minutes to speak.  Then from my experience this is not adhered to as individuals do speak longer if they are of the status quo, or if the Board likes what you have to say, or its a Town Board member or Jackie Brady's staff. The LTAB meetings aren't exactly run under the standard of 'Robert's Rules of Order'.

Letter To The Editor

RE: CHANNEL WHAT?

(January 11^th, 2008)

Jordan, most cable TV franchises include a government access channel and/or a community channel. However, most governments do not want to pay for equipment and personnel expenses to run either channel. This is a major expense and taxpayers usually do not like the idea.

CHANNEL WHAT?

Channel 14 Is Being Largely Wasted

(January 6^th, 2008)

Cable Channel 14 here in Laughlin is our local government access channel. It runs Town Advisory Board meetings along with a few occasional miscellaneous events. Other than that it simply scrolls through a few announcement cards over and over again. This is like renting a billboard and leaving it blank most of the month. Who would do this? Your county government, who else?