LV City Council candidate Marlon talks about Badlands and rent control

It doesn’t makes sense for Las Vegas to spend millions in litigation fighting development at the Badlands golf course. One of the major root causes of homelessness is drug addiction. Las Vegas shouldn’t use rent control to rein in prices. That’s all according to Las Vegas City Council Ward 1 candidate Dave Marlon.

The issue of development at Badlands has roiled the City Council for years. The owner of the land and would-be developer, Yohan Lowie, has sued the city for $250 million.

“I don’t think it makes a lot of sense for us to spend millions of dollars in lawyers fighting this in court,” Marlon said while filming Nevada Politics Today. “I think we should settle this.”

Marlon said he also “recognize(s) that’s not in my ward. There is a city councilman that does represent that ward. What I’m going to expect is that — whether it’s Steve Seroka or if he’s recalled and it’s a different city councilperson — whoever it is, I would expect to lean very heavily on their opinion. Just like if there’s a Ward 1 issue and I’m advocating for our residents, that they would listen to me.”

Pressed for his position on Badlands, Marlon focused on his desire for a settlement to resolve ongoing litigation.

“I’ve been a CEO for 23 years,” he said. “As a CEO, I used the money I collected in revenue in a really responsible way. I don’t know every detail of the case. I’m going to need to speak with counsel. I’m going to need to get involved before I make a decision. However, I will tell you that it’s not going to be in favored of prolonged lawsuits, and it’s going to lean towards settlement.”

Las Vegas continues to debate the proper limits on short-term rentals. Marlon said he wanted to seek advice from business leaders before sharing his thoughts.

“What I learned to do (when running a company) was talk to folks like the Chamber of Commerce. Talk to folks like the Board of Realtors,” Marlon said. “Get feedback from the experts who really understand these issues and get proposals from them. Now, as a man on the street, do I have an opinion about it? I don’t like the idea of party houses in my neighborhood. I’ll tell you that. But to me, I haven’t received counsel from those two entities and I’d be really curious what the experts who really have thought this out [think] before I make a decision.”

In his business career, Marlon started an addiction treatment center. Addiction “has a major role” in homelessness, he said. “If it isn’t the cause of it, it ends up being one of the major factors for it continuing. I believe our city has a drug problem. I think it shows up as a homelessness problem. I think it shows up like a crime problem.”

When it comes to helping people, Marlon believes government needs to be “supporting the people who are doing it now. The government needs to facilitate it more than it needs to do it. In addition, there needs to be education about it. First, we need enough beds. People shouldn’t be sleeping on sidewalks. They shouldn’t be camping in our city. People should be sleeping in beds and walking on sidewalks. Not the other way around. We need to expand the number of beds and social services available so there’s a place for these people.”

The solution “isn’t sending every homeless person in Nevada to one square block though. It needs to be spread out,” he said.

Asked about a legislative proposal that would allow local governments to enact rent control, Marlon wasn’t a fan.

“We have a raw shortage of housing units,” he said. “In general, I don’t think that some price controls are the solution.”