Clark County Commission District D covers the historic Westside and parts of North Las Vegas. The current commissioner, Lawrence Weekly, will be termed out at the end of this year.
Running to fill the seat are Democrat William McCurdy II and Independent David Washington.
William McCurdy was a state assemblyman for District 6, which overlaps District D.
DISCUSSION HIGHLIGHTS:
Do you think the state did a good job when it came to handling the COVID-19 outbreak?
I think with the situation we were placed in I believe, under the leadership of Gov. Sisolak and all our health administrators and professionals, we did as best as we could do with the tools and resources we have available to us.
What do you see as the path forward for our economy?
Right now, there is a lot of uncertainty. A lot of families are hurting. We just recently witnessed the eviction moratorium be lifted on Oct. 15.
Many folks who are listening can imagine, there is going to be a very difficult time ahead of us. I believe that the first thing we have to do is get a vaccine, and once we do that, that is going to be directly tied to our economic recovery.
With nearly 40 million visitors visiting Las Vegas annually, we have watched that number dramatically decrease. What we’re going to have to do is make sure we have assistance from the federal government, make sure we have the resources we need here, not only in the state but also in the county, to get us back on a track where we can start to slowly get things back moving, as well as, identify ways to diversify our economy so that if future emergencies or disasters or pandemics occur, we won’t be so dependent on upon the hotel corridor.
That is something that I’m going to be looking to work with other county commissioners on – the diversification of our economy. As well as, looking at ways to make sure we’re resilient in the face of future pandemics. Hopefully, they’re not as bad as this one. This has taught us a lot, and I believe once we have an opportunity to sit down and the dust settles, we’ll be able to look at what we did right and what we did wrong and what we need to improve on.
If you’re elected, and the county has to make tough budget cuts, where do you look first to do that?
That is going to be a decision made based off where we’re looking at.
Right now, my focus is going to be making sure that all the community resources are kept intact. At this moment, I don’t believe it’s appropriate to talk about where the cuts should come from at this time.
When those discussions happen, I’m going to be looking forward to having a conversation with all of the stakeholders who will be impacted as well as employee organizations to determine how we keep folks employed but also provide much-needed services to the community.
Would you support a call to reduce spending on police or to move some funding Metro currently uses toward other sectors?
We’ve experienced a lot in our nation over the past few months. Speaking to George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and so many others - right here in Las Vegas – and we have to have a discussion about how we’re being responsive to our communities.
We can’t ignore the voices of those who have been harmed and those who feel as though there needs to be structural change within our system. I am looking forward to playing a very important role in facilitating a discussion between the community, as well as, hearing from law enforcement.
It is extremely important, in this moment, that we actually come to the table with an open heart and an open mind and really listen to one another and see how we can make changes that is going to benefit the people.
What do you think the county’s role is in facilitating these conversations?
The county funds, along with the city of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. We have our fiscal affairs committee. We need to take a look at how we’re providing safety to the community, as well as, things that are going wrong within the community that needs to be improved on.
As we continue to look at the many areas in which there needs to be reform, we need to also work with the state and work with the post committee that is responsible for training officers and making sure they have the resources that they need to make sure they’re responsive to the community.
I see the county being a very critical piece in leading on the discussion about how we re-invest our dollars back into the community to provide for, let’s just say, social services professionals to go out maybe with officers and make sure that if there is someone having a mental episode they have the capacity to actually treat that person right there on the scene and not have the officers waste their time doing that.
I don’t believe folks should be incarcerated if they cognitive disabilities. I believe we have to look at the methods and the reasons why we’re incarcerating folks. It is more of a burden on the taxpayers, as well as, taking resources away from areas that could be funded to actually alleviate the issues that we’re seeing right here in our community.
What have you learned about the district as a state assemblyman that you could use to represent the area as a commissioner?
District D and Assembly District 6 is a very vibrant community. It’s the working-class folks who are just looking to take care of their family and make sure their children have the resources to take their dreams to the next level.
What I’ve identified in the district is that folks want to see reform within the criminal justice system. They also want to change the relationship that they have with law enforcement officers who are on the street.
In addition to the criminal justice reform that the residents want, I would also add that my district, Assembly District 6 and Bolden Area Command, shouldn’t be a place where you bring new officers in. I don’t believe new officers should actually be in the Bolden Area, just because of the diversity of the district and the many issues that we face.
I believe there needs to be more cultural competency when you have new officers coming into the district. But I would like to see more experienced officers. Someone who has been on the beat and has a little more experience with working in diverse communities because it is not okay when you see kids just walking down the street, and you see someone pull them over, the question comes to mind: Why are they being pulled over? Was it that they fit the mold of a suspect that got radioed into them? All in all, we need to have a discussion about how we police our communities, but it is going to take every one of us coming together to identify positive ways forward to make our quality of life better within, not only Assembly District 6, but District D.
What do you think should be done to ensure students in your district receive an equal opportunity to education as their peers in more affluent neighborhoods?
We know that if you live in an affluent area because of the resources that are surrounding the area you are going to have more investment within that school.
But what I think we need to have is a conversation about equity. Just because you have equal education, does not necessarily mean it's equitable. We need to have more direct resources allocated to our schools in District D. We need to prioritize that based on their free and reduced lunch rate. We need to have more wrap-around services. There is much more we can do to provide opportunities for our children in this moment.
There are thousands of students who haven’t even been identified this school year because they haven’t logged on. They are internet insecure, so to speak.
We can not have any student in our state being without Wi-Fi. I want to be clear about that. I plan to be part of the discussions, bringing the stakeholders who have the ability to positively impact that issue to the table and see how we can move forward in a way that ensures that our kids are connected.
Lawrence Weekly has been the commissioner for District D for 13 years now. If elected, would you pick up where he left off or start someplace new?
I think that Commissioner Weekly has done a really good job with his service to the district.
I’m going to be more focused on economic investment in our area. I believe that there is a lot of untapped potential sitting right there in Commission District D, whether we’re talking about the historic Westside, whether we’re talking about downtown, or we’re talking about the eastside.
We need to have a hyper-focus on the diversification of our economy, and I believe that diversification starts right in Commission District D.
Commission District D, I might add, has a majority of the city of Las Vegas and the city of North Las Vegas jurisdictions. So that means any progress made in terms of economic development is going to have to be had through collaboration and through relationships with the two jurisdictions.
We’re going to have a hyper-focus on economic investment. We’re going to have a hyper-focus on improving the social infrastructure in the community, particularly with people who are experiencing homelessness, getting them the services, they need, as well as, getting them back on the path to self-sufficiency.
I would also like to take a look at our agencies within Social Services, Department of Family Services, for one. We have to make sure we’re treating our kids right. We have to make sure that we are providing their parents, who will probably be dealing with Social Services at one of their low points, the resources they need to reunify the family.
I plan to lead but also learn from those who are currently there who are doing the work. I just plan to be someone who is an advocate for the people and making sure that their voice is heard.
William McCurdy, Democratic candidate for Clark County Commission District D
