With Faraday, fog might lift on North Las Vegas

Monday morning found North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee in a familiar conversation, chatting up the vast possibilities of his battered city and the potential economic impact of an electric car factory at the Apex industrial site.

Lee likes to say his optimism is guarded, that as a businessman he's skeptical by nature, but listen a while and you're more likely to think him unabashed, a one-man chamber of commerce: Not just about the game-changing vision of a Faraday Futures plant rolling out plug-in automobiles, but of other substantial real estate development as well.

North Las Vegas was hit especially hard by recession and questionable management. It has tottered near insolvency, has shared services with other municipalities and has leased out floors of City Hall. But the shadow appears to be lifting, and conceivably Faraday could light up the landscape.

"We're looking for an attractor, some company, some new talent to come to our community to create the opportunity for the residents of North Las Vegas to prosper along with the businesses in North Las Vegas," Lee said. "... The council and I have done our best to package this up and send it off to the state, to the next level. That is basically what has happened."

Landing the Faraday factory would be an enormous boost, but Lee clearly is trying not to project more optimism than is prudent. UNLV's Brookings Mountain West Institute estimates upward of $670 million in increased local and state tax revenues would be associated with its development.

Nevada is one of four finalists for the factory, and Governor's Office of Economic Development Executive Director Steve Hill told the Review-Journal last week that the state is "looking at a number of infrastructure issues. This is a significant opportunity for Southern Nevada and he state. But it's also one that ... we need to check the boxes, and the company needs to check the boxes."

But anyone looking for more detail from Lee will have to wait. Part of the vagueness of the responses of Lee and Hill is due to the lack of finality of the site selection and signed confidentiality agreements, but another undeniable element is Faraday's own lack of traditional corporate structure. It is bankrolled by a Chinese billionaire tech pioneer and has hired plenty of innovators previously employed by Tesla — all it lacks is an automobile. National media reports and the Review-Journal have raised the issue of whether Faraday can succeed by imitating Elon Musk's Tesla Motors.

The state and North Las Vegas have courted Faraday for more than a year. Although some political sources have reported the two entities haven't always been on the same page, whatever differences there might have been appear to have been ironed out.

Lee has read the stories and appears to have no time for cynicism.

"I have met the key leadership staff," Lee said. "I have seen personally the intelligence level and the commitment of the company, and what their goal is for the automobile industry. From my own business perspective, this company, I believe, will deliver the product."

He called Faraday's approach unconventional. So far it appears to lack a board of directors and even a CEO. It's more a big idea than an institution.

But, the mayor enthused, "This company is fleet-footed. It doesn't have that much bureaucracy. ... It has brilliant teamwork."

And it has an advocate in Lee.

"I believe we have built a great relationship with the company. Even with that said, they're learning our American system. They know they're not being pushed aside by the mayor, but being pushed up to the next level of authority in the state."

Faraday may make its decision before the year ends.

Within the limits of that confidentiality agreement, Lee will continue to root for the home team.

"I don't have any secrets," the mayor said. "I'm just trying to win."

— John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Contact him at 702 383-0295, or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.