Clark County Commission District C

Two candidates for Clark County Commission District C cast recent county investments for local attractions in a different light.

Republican challenger Stephen Sedlmeyer, an advocate for smaller government, said millions of dollars poured into the Springs Preserve and Lone Mountain Park exemplify unnecessary spending by local government.

“Infrastructure is the primary job of a commissioner. He needs to take care of the people’s needs, not the wants,” the Las Vegas native said. “(The Springs Preserve is) a money pit. … We need to either get it in the black or get rid of it.”

But Democratic incumbent Larry Brown sees the Springs Preserve and Lone Mountain Park as investments in the community.

“We’re judged as a community not only on our schools and our businesses and our homes but (also on) what do we provide as far as recreational opportunities,” he said. “The springs captures forever the history of Southern Nevada.”

The two candidates also hold different ideologies on taxation.

Sedlmeyer said raising property and fuel taxes any further will drive small businesses and residents out of the county. Question 5 on the county ballot would boost fuel taxes over the next 10 years to continue building and improving local roads.

“People are struggling with two jobs, or both parents have to work to make ends meet,” Sedlmeyer said. “My main platform is getting businesses back in town.”

Brown, on the other hand, wants the state Legislature to modify its formula for calculating how much property taxes businesses pay. The current formula is keeping property tax increases artificially low and hurting the county’s revenue stream, he said.

Brown also supports raising the county gas tax.

“No one wants to pay taxes, no one wants to see a gas tax or anything else, but the bottom line is the people expect the services to be provided, and to pay for those services we have to identify ways to generate revenue,” he said.

In District C there are 10,000 more registered Democrat voters than registered Republican voters, county data show.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477- 3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.