COLUMN: Jon Ralston

     One hundred and eighty years ago, Shelley eloquently painted a picture of greatness lost. "Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair" is the timeless admonition of the poet's king of kings, Ozymandias. And how despair deepens as I look upon the political works of this city's and this state's faux leaders, as they have abdicated their duty to deal thoughtfully with how to ensure this valley's quality of life into the next century.
      This is not a new theme. But it reached critical mass last week when a Review-Journal survey found that seven out of the 11 members of the Assembly Infrastructure Committee said a quarter-cent sales tax proposal to fund 30 percent of a new water delivery system in Clark County should go before voters. Fear of the electorate has blocked any chance for vision at a time in this community's history when leadership and courage are needed the most.
      I don't ignore the immense pressure these folks confront. But by checking their backbones at the door, they show what happens when invertebrates parade around as leaders. They bend, they waffle, they slither under the nearest rock.
      Besides the lawmakers' inherent desire to keep their biennial six months of fame, there is a complex dynamic that helped cause last week's spineless display. The gamers have touted this issue as their No. 1 priority in a small state capital that they have too often treated as a colony of the Las Vegas Strip.
      And while the industry's agenda often benefits the state's economy, sometimes the casino corps overreaches (remember the attempt to reverse the Tailhook verdict two years ago) and tries to bend the 63 colonists to their will.
      But this session, the industry advocates have been unable to control the environment. Lawmakers of both stripes are furious at having to bail out a leaderless Clark County Commission they see as adopting a "have plans, we'll zone" mentality.
      Gov. Bob Miller surprised the industry by being hostile to its initial proposal to have lawmakers impose the tax (as opposed to enabling the locals). And the media have not helped -- one Las Vegas newspaper has an almost inflexible "no tax, no way" mentality while the other is shamelessly crusading for lawmakers to bludgeon the gaming industry.
      What's so ironic -- and yes, depressing -- is now that the colonials have finally chosen to revolt against their masters, they have done so, as one non-gamer put it, in a manner that is "so unchanneled, so unfocused and in many ways, incredibly counterproductive."
      Even if they kill the quarter-cent tax plan, lawmakers cannot avoid the political heat. This water system already has been approved; voters are likely to be more incensed about a further boost to their water rates, which is the only alternative to the quarter-cent.
      But at least lawmakers should make the decision. By taking the most cowardly position of all -- we're afraid so let the voters decide -- they have brought this discussion to its nadir. Ah yes, government by initiative, the invertebrates' method of democracy.
      So we are left with stagnation. The debate so far has been a couple of industries, gamers and home builders, who have played the "here's some tax money that we don't really pay" proposals, which local and state legislators have either embraced as panaceas or pummeled for their penuriousness. It takes much more fortitude, though, to sit down with the spoiled child that is the Las Vegas resident, do a little painful inculcation and say it's time to grow up and pay your way.
      Only if Miller, who has given infrastructure short shrift, now steps into the breach; only if state and local officials start talking seriously about how to maintain the quality of life and sustain economic vibrancy; only if the private sector coalesces and forces the elected folks to focus; only then can a long-term disaster be averted.
      Indeed, Shelley could have been etching a verbal portrait of a desolate Las Vegas landscape a few decades or so into the new millennium should this palpable leadership vacuum continue: "Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away."
     
     
     Jon Ralston publishes "The Ralston Report," a political newsletter. His column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.