EDITORIAL: Garage band plays on

Elections have consequences, and the Las Vegas City Council delivered a predictable one during Wednesday’s meeting, its first since the April 7 municipal primary that saw four incumbents win re-election.

The council created a downtown improvement district to pay for a 1,200-space parking garage west of The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. The district will divert sales tax revenues from an expansion of the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets to repay the $25 million in bonds that will be used to finance the garage’s construction.

The garage was a key part of the city’s controversial soccer stadium proposal, which included about $75 million in public land, infrastructure and construction subsidies on top of the parking structure. The stadium plan died when Major League Soccer rejected a bid from the city’s private partners for an expansion franchise, but a majority of the council believed the garage was needed to encourage development in Symphony Park — especially without a soccer stadium.

The stadium plan and, to a lesser degree, the garage, became central issues in the campaigns of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Councilmen Bob Coffin and Ricki Barlow, who championed taxpayer support of the projects despite public opposition that led to a petition. But all three easily won re-election this month and, not surprisingly, all three voted to move forward with the garage.

Elections have consequences — even low-turnout elections. Voter participation in this month’s Las Vegas primary was below 16 percent.

Might the city need additional parking in Symphony Park at some point? Absolutely. But it sure doesn’t need more parking right now, with most of the area undeveloped and some of the land tied up in exclusive agreements. The council is taking a sizable risk in building a garage before there’s demand for it. And paying for it will divert revenue from essential city, county and state services.

But the garage’s council supporters didn’t run away from the issue in the spring campaign. They won.

If you’re a city of Las Vegas resident and you’re mad about the garage plan, maybe you should have voted April 7.