County appoints new vice chair to replace embattled commissioner

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to appoint Commissioner Tick Segerblom as the board’s second-in-command.

Segerblom will be the commission’s vice chair through the end of the year.

“I’m excited about it,” Segerblom told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I’m looking forward to working with (Commission Chair Jim Gibson) and the other commissioners.”

He said that homelessness continues to be his top priority, and that he’s working to get more resources to east Las Vegas and other needy neighborhoods.

The former Nevada senator replaces Commissioner Justin Jones, who cited ongoing litigation with the developer of a Blue Diamond Hill housing project, for stepping down from the leadership position.

Segerblom said he had expressed interest in the position.

After Segerblom’s appointment, the Las Vegas chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which counts Segerblom as a member, announced that it had censured the commissioner earlier this month for voting for a “bloated police budget” and “enabling routine police violence.”

The Metropolitan Police Department’s funding increased this year by nearly $70 million, or just under 10 percent, according to the department. The county shares the police department’s funding with the city of Las Vegas.

“No good deed goes unpunished,” Segerblom wrote on Twitter in response to the group’s censure. He later described public safety as “critical.”

Jones’ resignation as vice chair came after a federal judge sanctioned him for deleting texts related to a yearslong effort by Jim Rhodes’ Gypsum Resources LLC to develop a mine that overlooks Red Rock Canyon. Jones is appealing the sanctions.

The Nevada State Bar later opened an investigation into Jones, who as a lawyer before taking office represented Save Red Rock, which sued the county to stop the project.

Lawyers for Rhodes allege that as a commission candidate, Jones traded favors with then-Commission Chair Steve Sisolak. The commissioner would delay a vote on project entitlements, and the conservation group would drop the suit and endorse Sisolak’s campaign for governor.

County staff had recommended approval of the project, but reversed course after Jones was elected to the commission. Alleging a conspiracy and coverup, Gypsum Resources sued the county in federal court.

A U.S. magistrate dismissed all federal claims brought by Rhodes’ attorneys against the county and declined to take up claims made under state law, ruling that the county maintained discretion whether to grant or deny the project’s applications and had no entitlement to a zoning change.

Gypsum Resources, which alleged about $2 billion in damages, later filed a similar lawsuit in Clark County District Court. That suit is ongoing.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.