READERS WRITE: The dumbing of Las Vegas

     
     The quality of life for the enduring residents of this town is going to hell in a handbasket, and we are being asked to pay for the privilege. I have never seen elected leaders render so many insults to the intelligence of long-time citizens as I am now witnessing. They seem to think that we are enjoying this modern day equivalent of the migration of the "Grapes of Wrath" to our city.
      Examples:
      -- While Nevada casino companies lavish other states with much higher gambling taxes, the wimps on our County Commission and in the Legislature (with the exception of Dina Titus and Bob Price) are afraid to even mention the subject of increasing the gross gaming tax to pay for the infrastructure needs. We did not create the low-paying jobs that are causing the overcrowding and crime. We do not want to pay for its continuance by gifting the developers and hotel owners with a new water line. Who will profit from the arrival of 1 million more residents by 2020?
      -- In a town without enough parks, a symphony orchestra, a decent zoo, and other normal recreational facilities (other than casinos), the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in response to a request from our mayor, provides the private Fremont Street Experience with $8 million in tax money meant for public parks.
      -- The taxpayers are being required to pay millions of dollars extra to fulfill the wishes of one casino owner who demands that cost-efficient overhead pedestrian walkways be replaced by tunnels so as not to block the view of his new hotel.
      -- The City Council has taken private property from pioneer citizens in downtown and then deeded it to the casinos. The council has approved the taking of established homes along U.S. Highway 95 to make way for the traffic caused by more apartments and cheap houses in the northwest valley.
      -- The County Commission may force one hotel to transfer its air rights so that another more politically powerful hotel can run a private monorail between its properties.
      -- The police department has asked for more funds so it will have enough officers to finally police our neighborhoods -- instead of only the Strip and the private Fremont Street Experience.
      Uninformed newcomers are responding blindly to the expensive political TV ad campaigns paid for by the casinos and developers. The sheer mass of the newcomer voters has overpowered the common-sense effect of those who have lived here long enough to know better.
      Good people know that they cannot be elected without expensive TV ads and are opting not to offer their services. More and more of the special interest puppets are making their way into high office. Those who have recently been elected or appointed to public office are, either by their naivete, temerity or intention, acting as the pawns of the special interests that are promoting the dumbing of Las Vegas that we are being forced to endure each day on the streets of our city.
     
     Steve Miller is a former Las Vegas city councilman. The Review-Journal welcomes local commentary submissions. Send to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Commentary Page, 1111 W. Bonanza Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89106.