Las Vegas City Hall could be part of TV reality show

It could be time to include flashing a Hollywood smile along with fixing potholes and writing parking tickets to the list of city employee duties.

The city of Las Vegas is considering signing a deal with a production company that could lead to a reality television show shot in City Hall.

Terms of the proposed agreement with Discovery Studios are scheduled to go before the City Council on Wednesday. They include access to city facilities and employees for filming and, if the show gets picked up, $5,000 per episode for the city.

According to documents posted on the city website, the working title of the proposed show is “Vegas 24-7,” despite the fact City Hall is only open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The idea is to produce a show that would be “free of cliche, hype and distortion,” according to the description by Communications Director David Riggleman.

“The producers’ plan is to develop stories about people and issues in the community, and see how they interplay with the city government and its leaders.,” Riggleman wrote.

Neither City Council members nor employees would be obligated to participate, but once they gave consent to be filmed the video would become property of the production company, according to the memo.

The $5,000 payments would apply to the first 13 episodes if a network agrees to pick up the program.

It’s not the first time the city has been approached by reality show producers but spokesman Jace Radke said it is the first time he can recall an agreement being sent to the council.

Southern Nevada public agencies have a mixed track record when it comes to reality television.

The Metropolitan Police Department has been featured repeatedly on the genre-defining show “Cops.”

Department leaders say it provided a monetary and morale boost for the department.

But footage from another show shot by the same company, Langley Productions, embarrassed the department when it showed an intoxicated woman being booked into jail flirting and joking with jail personnel.

Critics have also questioned whether producers’ donations to sheriffs’ campaigns result in a too-cozy relationship between public servants and private companies.

In another instance, the Las Vegas constable’s office was embarrassed by footage shot by a reality TV company that depicted constables using foul language and acting in an unprofessional manner on the job.

Some have cited news of the incident as the start of the downfall of the constable’s office. The Clark County Commission voted in March to abolish the office in January 2015 after a series of high-profile incidents that also included the constable hiring deputies with questionable backgrounds and a deputy who failed to notice a body in a residence.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285. Follow him on Twitter @BenSpillman702.