Two well-known names are seeking the open Clark County Commission seat representing District C in the northwest Las Vegas Valley.
Republican Stavros Anthony, an 11-year member of the Las Vegas City Council, is facing Democrat Ross Miller, a former Nevada secretary of state and son of a past governor.
They are campaigning to replace Commissioner Larry Brown, who’s ineligible to run again after 12 years in office.
The district covers much of Summerlin, extending north to the Centennial area.
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS:
Ross Miller -
Why do you want to be on the Clark County Commission?
I was born and raised in Las Vegas. My parents live here. Raising my kids, public service is always something I valued. I came from a political family, sitting around the dinner table talking about issues when my dad was governor.
The old adage about all politics being local is really true. The country is so divided, and tensions are incredibly high in so many different sectors. I think we need people in office that really focus on trying to get things done and working with stakeholders and trying to get things accomplished. I think the county commission has tremendous potential in that regard.
I put my name in the ring, hoping that this would work out. Didn’t anticipate that we’d hit a COVID crisis but we’re here now. I think, for that reason, leadership is all the more needed.
On the county’s coronavirus response:
I think we’ve done generally well with our response to COVID. I think the county has displayed some pretty solid leadership in terms of the public health response.
Obviously, we have to do everything we can, at this point, to safely reopen the economy and try to get these jobs returned to our community. We’ve got to convince really the world, as an international destination, that Las Vegas is a safe place to travel to. That depends not only on the public health response but also on the public safety response as we see an increase of violence on the Strip. All those kinds of things could lead to, I think, a downturn in our economy, which we certainly can’t afford.
What can a county commission do to support economic diversification?
If there is a silver lining to this, it is that maybe this presents a real opportunity for us to finally diversify our economy.
In 2007, when the recession hit, I was serving as Secretary of State. My office was one of the hardest hit. I worked in concert with Gov. Sandoval in trying to revamp our economic development efforts.
I spearheaded the study by the Stanford Research Institute that identified target sectors that made sense for Nevada to recruit and sat on the board of economic development on the state level.
The county can undertake a lot of its own efforts in that way. I think we’ve got to work towards trying to create a tech corridor. Try to identify some opportunities that are out there, as nationally we’re losing so many jobs, which sectors can we go out and actively recruit to Clark County so that we can try to replace some of the jobs that have been lost.
If the county needs to cut its budget again, what areas would you suggest?
I think budget cuts are an unfortunate reality. It’s what the county commission is likely to face over the next four years.
We’re going to have a tremendous hole in our budgets as is every small business, medium-sized business out there and really every household will try to figure out how to tighten their belts.
This is something I faced when I was Secretary of State in 2007. I had to make budget cuts. I imagine a similar process where you ask the heads of every agency to try to make some reductions and see where they can find efficiencies so they can get by with less.
That’s an unfortunate reality in a government that already probably needs additional resources and services. I think we’re, unfortunately, heading for some bumping times. All the more important that we have leaders with experience in that area.
Would you support moving money from the Las Vegas Metro Police budget to fund mental health services?
Chairwoman [Marilyn] Kirkpatrick has played an outstanding role in being a leader on issues pertaining to homelessness and mental health and working with law enforcement and other stakeholders.
I think we need to find a more efficient solution because as it stands now because Metro is really the first responders and really dealing with too many of those issues. They have higher priorities. They’ve got to keep all of our neighborhoods safe and they’ve got to keep the Strip safe.
As we look at budget cuts, I think we’ve got to look at public safety and make sure that remains a priority for us. But we’ve also got to figure out a way to deal with these other pressing issues like mental health and the homeless issue that we’re facing.
What role should the county have in promoting sustainability?
Climate change is an enormous issue for us globally. It’s an issue that we’ve got to assume leadership on otherwise we won’t be able to look our kids in the eyes. Commissioner [Justin] Jones has been tremendous in this regard in trying to shepherd a county plan. In Washoe County, where I lived when I was Secretary of State, they have a very robust plan.
It’s something I think we need to work towards developing. It is going to be difficult in the current budget crisis to be able to make a lot of gains in that area but now is the time that we need to put those plans together so that eventually we will have something that is robust and really tackles the issue.
Is there a risk in having only Democrats on the county commission?
People need to recognize that we’ve likely never faced the level of tension that we’re seeing in this country.
Before this pandemic even started, both presumptive presidential nominees were openly calling their movement’s revolutions. So, if you look at it in that context, as to how divided people are, I think somethings got to change. This is where I’ve always been able to, in elected office, really work to try to bring people together.
I was elected, unanimously, chairman of the Secretary of States’ Association because I was able to work with Democrats and Republicans alike. Having one lone elected member of the county commission of a minority party that doesn’t really benefit the county at all.
You need somebody who is going to work with all the stakeholders and bring people together and really has leadership in that office. That’s what I hope to bring to District C.
Stavros Anthony –
Why do you want to be on the Clark County Commission?
In my 40 years plus in Las Vegas, all I’ve ever done is public service. I did 29 years with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, retiring as a captain.
I served two terms on the Nevada System of Higher Education board of regents. I’m in my third term on the Las Vegas City Council. Everything I’ve done since I moved to Las Vegas has been public service. That’s what I know. I know how to go out into the community and talk to folks and find out what they’re thinking and what they’re interested in, turning that into public policy and being strategic about how we make Las Vegas and Southern Nevada a great place to live.
This is kind of a natural progression for me. I’ve been on the city council for three terms and I’m looking forward to going to the Clark County Commission not just representing 100,000 people in Ward 4 but representing about 800,000 people in District C.
I just want to take my background in public safety and being pro-business and my philosophies and bring them to the county commission and work for the people.
How has the county done in dealing with the pandemic?
I think everybody is trying to do the best they can. This is brand new territory for everyone. We had a major shutdown of our economy, which was unprecedented. We’re just trying to come back.
I think people are wanting to bring us back. I’m trying to bring us back a little bit faster. I want our businesses opened up. I hear from people all the time who call me and say, ‘I can’t get my unemployment check. I can’t open up my business. I can’t get back to work.’ It is devastating people economically. I think we’re at a point where we really have to work with our business community and the customers that go to those businesses and allow them to work together to have a safe place to go, a safe place to shop, a safe place to eat, a safe place to work.
I think we can do this together without the continual government mandates. The economic devastation has just got to stop. We’ve got to get people back to work. It’s causing way more havoc than COVID-19.
What can a county commission do to support economic diversification?
We’ve been talking about that for a long time. In fact, one of the strategic priorities we have at the city of Las Vegas is diversifying the economy.
It’s going out to the world and telling them, ‘We don’t have a state income tax. Our property taxes are fairly low. We want to bring you out here and we will attract a great workforce.’
I think number one – is just getting out there and letting people know that Nevada is a great place to set up a business and put people to work.
A lot of that starts with having a safe community. Businesses are not going to come here if they don’t think we’re a safe community. We have to have our number one priority is making sure we have a great police department, great police officers, safe neighborhoods, safe commercial areas, and if we do that, that’s just one component of trying to attract companies from all over the country.
That’s what local governments should be doing and I’m glad that Clark County is doing that and I’m going to continue to do that on the Clark County Commission.
Would you support moving money from the Las Vegas Metro Police budget to fund mental health services?
I think, in the first place, we have to start is making sure that we have a well-funded police department. That we have well-paid police officers, well-equipped police officers, well-trained police officers, well-supervised police officers. We have to determine what is the budget to make sure we have a great police department that has not only two officers per 1,000 [residents], which is what we need in our neighborhoods but to make sure it’s a safe tourist destination. Once we decide all that. Then we have to look at other issues that have an impact on crime and one of those is mental health.
I want to be careful about saying we’re going to take $10 million from the police department and give it to mental health because what is the effect going to be on safety for our community, for our tourist.
There is nothing wrong with talking about: What is the proper funding for law enforcement? But we have to make sure that law enforcement is funded appropriately.
The other thing that keeps coming up is: reforming the police. I hear that a lot. Reforming police has been going on for 200 years. Police are constantly reforming their mission, their strategies, how they react, what is it the community wants.
When people talk about ‘defunding’ and ‘reforming,’ you’ve got to sit down and chat about what exactly what that means.
The one thing I don’t want to do when it comes to defunding and reforming is destroying a great law enforcement community that we have here in Southern Nevada.
Do you think the county should be spending money on climate change?
I think the county should be spending money to make sure we have clean air, that we have clean water. Everybody wants that. Everybody wants to breathe clean air. Everybody wants to drink clean water. Everybody wants to have roadways that are clean. Nobody wants to drive down I-15 and see junk all over the place. We want a clean and safe community where we can grow and prosper.
I would have to look at the sustainability plan. I would have to look at what a [sustainability] manager does. I would have to look at what that cost. How it’s going to impact small businesses. How it’s going to impact other businesses.
When you say something like ‘sustainability’ and hiring a manager, you really have to look at how that’s going to impact the economic community.
Why has it been tough for Republicans to win seats on the commission?
If you look at the demographics of all seven districts, every single district does have more registered Democrats than Republicans. Obviously, that has a big impact.
The interesting thing about District C, that I’m running in, it has the smallest margin between Democrats and Republicans and there are a lot of independents that live in District C.
If a Republican is going to win a district, this is probably a good place to start. The nice thing about me is I’ve represented Ward 4, which is about 25 percent of District C, for the last 10 years and I’ve had Democrats vote for me, Republicans vote for me, independents vote for me because they know the only thing I’m interested in is when they walk out their front door I want them to look around and say, ‘I love living in this neighborhood. I like going to my parks. I like driving on the roads. I feel safe when I go to the grocery store.’ One of the reasons for that is we have a councilman and a county commissioner that really pays attention to what’s going on in their neighborhood.
When people call up and say, ‘There’s a bunch of graffiti on the wall in front of my house,’ that’s not a Democrat, Republican issue, that’s a safe neighborhood issue.
When I’m elected to the county commission, I’ll bring my conservative principals with me. I’m very much in favor of the 2 nd Amendment. I’m more of a free-enterprise guy. I’m not interested in raising taxes. I want to reduce regulations on businesses. Those are the kind of principals I’m going to bring to the Clark County Commission.
I think because of that we’re going to have some better discussions. It’s better to have a lot of different ideas, because once you shake out those ideas, you come up with better strategies in the end.
Stavros Anthony, Las Vegas councilman; Ross Miller, former secretary of state