LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Scott Black, a candidate for mayor of North Las Vegas, said he would continue to focus on public safety, affordable housing and economic development if elected.
Black is the city’s mayor pro tem and represents Ward 3, on the western edge of the city. He said he has served on the City Council for nine years and as mayor pro tem for the past four.
Black said he is campaigning in the community while continuing his current duties. “I’m doing the work, and then I’m out talking to the voters about what I’m trying to accomplish next,” he said.
Utility rates and cost of living
Asked how he would hold costs at City Hall, Black said the city is the water and sewer utility for North Las Vegas. He said the city gets its water from SNWA, delivers it and handles sewer service.
Black said the city lowered its sewer rates by 37% a few years ago. He said the city’s rates were higher than some other municipalities, and the city decided it could lower them to be more competitive and save residents money.
Black said the utility is an enterprise fund and is self-sustaining. He said sewer costs are tied to water use through a formula, and the city determined it could reduce sewer rates without affecting the utility.
He said the city’s water reclamation facility is being expanded and that large capital costs are coming because of growth. “I can’t say right now what, if any, more reductions we could do,” Black said. He said the city has programs to help seniors and others with water and sewer bills.
Black said gas prices are “not something that we have direct control over at City Hall.” He said the city is looking for ways to affect the cost of living where it can, including utilities and housing supply. He said he believes rents have been trending down and that the city is adding supply and inventory.
Affordable housing and seniors
Black said North Las Vegas receives about $2.5 million a year from HUD through its CDBG fund. He said the city can combine the money to support large affordable housing projects or award it in smaller amounts.
Over the past nine years, Black said, the city has invested $11 million in bridge funding with affordable housing developers to bring about 1,450 affordable units to North Las Vegas. He said the units are income-based, use low-income tax credit financing, are independent of the housing authority and serve people on low and fixed incomes, many of them seniors.
Black said the city has plans for more than 500 additional units.
Black said he met with seniors at Destinations Alexander, a community for residents 55 and older in Ward 3. He said that after questions about affordability, he proposed creating a senior advisory council if elected mayor. Black said the city has advisory councils for utilities, libraries and veterans.
He said the senior council would meet regularly to discuss laws, ordinances or policies that could protect seniors, including on senior fraud, medication costs and housing costs. He said the seniors at the meeting liked the idea.
Public safety
Black said public safety is “heading in the right direction.” He said that two years ago he led an effort called Save Our Safety, which involved two tax override measures that passed and kept $40 million in the community dedicated to public safety.
Black said the city recently reopened Fire Station 51 on Cary in downtown North Las Vegas. He said the city tore down the station, which was more than 50 years old, and rebuilt it. He said it is one of the busiest fire stations in Southern Nevada and one of the highest-volume stations in the country.
He said the city opened a new police station within the last few years and two other fire stations. Black said the city’s fire training center ribbon-cutting is planned and that the next fire academy will start at the new facility.
On police staffing, Black said the city hired more than 80 officers last year and plans to hire another 100 in the coming year. He said the city will open a third substation, the Washburn substation, so it has three full-service substations or area commands.
Black said the fire department hired 119 firefighters and paramedics in the last nine years, 75 of them in new positions. He said a graduating class of 39 police officers a few months ago was the department’s largest academy graduation. He said the hiring covers retirements and attrition and also increases staffing.
Black said police funding comes from the general fund and two specialty funds, including the funds tied to Save Our Safety. He said the city has the budget to pay for current staffing while continuing to grow its ranks and facilities.
Black said crime statistics are improving across the board in the police department. He attributed the change to more hiring, more officers on the streets and more proactive patrols. He said the city has doubled the size of its traffic division and has a problem-solving unit that targets hot spots for retail theft.
Black said police are also using what he called “cruise mode,” in which an officer parks with red and blue lights on solid instead of flashing. He said the city is using it in areas throughout the city as a visual deterrent.
Black said he believes ambulance, fire and paramedic response times are among the best in the valley and meet all standards.
Economic development and roads
Black said job creation and economic growth can help offset the cost of living. He said costs such as groceries and gas are out of the city’s control, but the city can attract industry that pays well and provides lasting jobs.
Black said the SNWA waterline to the Apex area is well on its way and represents an $800 million investment in the water and sewer system there. He said the city is building roadways in Apex and recently finished a traffic study to plan a connected road network. He said tens of thousands of people will work there in the coming years, which he said will build the city’s tax base.
Asked about his campaign literature on dangerous intersections, Black said residents have raised several locations with him. He named Centennial and Pecos, Walnut, and Revere and 215. He said that area has a Smith’s Marketplace shopping center, a Walmart shopping center, Legacy High School and Northeast Career and Technical. He said the city is focusing on infrastructure improvements there to keep traffic moving and make it safer.
Water use
Black said he represents North Las Vegas on the Water Authority. He said the city has a team that looks for water waste and educates customers about watering three times a week. He said the watering schedule is set to change to one day a week in the fall.
Black said residents can report water waste, residential and commercial, through the city’s Contact North Las Vegas app. He said he uses the app regularly and reported three incidents of graffiti on a bike ride at 7 a.m. on the day of the interview. He said he received a text by 9:30 a.m. that they had been remediated.
Asked about people who say the region should stop building because of Lake Mead levels, Black said Southern Nevada is using less water today than it did in 2001, with several hundred thousand more residents. He said water that goes down a drain, other than outdoor irrigation, evaporative cooling or septic systems, is cleaned and sent back to the lake. He said the region gets less than 2% of the allocation from the overall river system.
“Can we continue to build forever? Maybe, maybe not,” Black said. He said the way building is being done now conserves water and allows the region to conserve and build at the same time.
Challenges and the campaign
Asked about the biggest challenge facing North Las Vegas, Black said it is keeping up with growth while focusing on older neighborhoods. He said the city is renovating all of the parks south of Craig Road.
Black said the city recently launched a comprehensive master plan for 2055 and is holding community listening sessions. He encouraged residents to visit the city’s website.
Asked why voters should choose him, Black said he has worked in the city for nine years. He said his opponent served in the Legislature, which he said is “400 miles away from North Las Vegas.”
“I know what our challenges are. I know what our opportunities are, and I know what it’s going to take to propel us into the future,” Black said. “And so I’m ready to go on day one.”
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