Clark County Commission District A
One thing both candidates for the Clark County Commission District A seat agree on: The county needs more Metro police officers patrolling its streets.
Incumbent Steve Sisolak, a Democrat who has served on the commission since 2008, said that can be accomplished by pursuing a change in the state’s commercial property tax formula that would encourage gradual but steady tax increases.
“For us to provide services we need revenue,” he said. “Property taxes are our most stable tax form.”
Republican challenger Michael Thomas disagrees. He opposes any raises to residential and commercial property taxes.
“If you’re going to burden (people) with increasing their property taxes annually, then people might think twice about buying in this housing market,” Thomas said. 
Instead the retired law enforcement professional, who has more than 25 years combined experience in Nevada and California, said a review and reorganization of the Metropolitan Police Department’s budget and staff could put more officers on patrol.
“Metro, like most law enforcement agencies, is very top heavy,” he said. “If you have people that are ready, willing and able, and can wear a uniform and go out and perform the role of law enforcement that are already on the job, then they should be deployed to do so.”
Thomas said he would like to see more Republican representation on the County Commission, which has been all Democrats since the 2008 election.
“It’s not reflective of the community,” Thomas said.
Sisolak said if re-elected, he would advocate for land along the Interstate 15 corridor to become a regional hub for shipping and transit.
“I think similar to what Northern Nevada did with Amazon is something we could do in Southern Nevada,” he said, referring to an Amazon distribution warehouse north of Reno.
Sisolak said he could neither confirm nor deny whether he will run for governor in 2018, which would come halfway into a four-year term. He considered running in 2014.
District A has 9,500 more registered Democratic voters than registered Republican voters, county data show.
Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.
