LV-NLV chamber merger opposition wanes

Resistance by some North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce members to block pending merger negotiations between the Las Vegas and North Las Vegas chambers has sputtered.

A petition created Sept. 4, which calls for rejection of the merger with the Las Vegas Chamber or any other entity and removal of all current executive board members, is well short of its 150-signature goal with only 23 signatures.

According to spokeswomen for both chambers, no timeline for negotiations has been established.

"(Discussions) seem to be going well," said Lana Elliott, the North Las Vegas Chamber's interim president and CEO. "The initial fuss seems to be dying down. Everyone is in wait-and-see mode."

North Las Vegas Chamber board member Jeff Mockbee, who started the petition, said the mantra of the membership is currently one of do or die.

"Some people think if this deal doesn't happen, we're done," Mockbee said. "That's just factually inaccurate."

He said the chamber has money in accounts receivable and members are not paying their dues because of the uncertainty over the chamber's future.

Elliot believes that number is small. She expects a decision on whether to enter into the negotiations with the Las Vegas Chamber as early as late next week.

Cara Roberts, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Chamber, was part of a group that met Tuesday with members of the North Las Vegas Chamber to clear the air and push the benefits of a merger.

"The meeting was very positive," she said.

The next step would be to take information gleaned from the due diligence process to the executive boards, Roberts said. Any steps moving forward would be made on a board-to-board level.

Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Nolan Lister at nlister@viewnews.com or 383-0492.