Annual State of Metro address given without alerting most media

Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo gave his annual State of Metro address Wednesday, but few people knew about it, including most of the Las Vegas Valley’s news media.

The hourlong speech, which took place inside The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday morning, was not publicized in advance, and KLAS-TV, Channel 8, reported it was the only media outlet inside the building, although the department later said a print outlet had also attended. It marked the second consecutive year the Las Vegas Review-Journal was not invited to the speech.

Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook said the deliberate exclusion of media from government events of public importance is wrong.

“Every other local government entity approaches their annual address with the spirit of openness,” Cook said Wednesday. “As an agency that is funded by the public to serve the public, Metro should want the largest audience possible for important updates on policing priorities.”

According to an emailed statement from the department sent about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday, the two media outlets that attended the event had “asked the sheriff about attending after interviews with him where he mentioned his State of the Department (address).”

“It was not Sheriff Lombardo’s intent to exclude any media outlet,” the department said. “In the future he will consider opening the event to all.”

KSNV-TV, Channel 3 News Director Stephanie Wheatley said she sent emails to Metro public information officers asking why her outlet was not notified of the address.

Wheatley said Metro told her the event was invitation-only. She also asked Metro which outlets were invited to attend the event, but as of 6:30 p.m. Wednesday she said she had not received an answer. It was unclear Thursday morning if she also had received the emailed statement.

Government officials who have held public annual speeches since the start of the year include Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara and North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee. Gov. Steve Sisolak gives a televised address every two years at the beginning of each regular session of the Nevada Legislature.

Henderson Mayor Debra March is set to give a State of the City address on Feb. 13 and, while tickets are required to attend, it will be livestreamed on the city’s website. Tickets also were required for Lee’s speech, but the event was livestreamed on the city’s Facebook page.

According to a tweet from Metro sent about noon Wednesday, Lombardo announced during the speech that overall violent crime decreased 12 percent in 2019. Homicides were also down by 30 percent from the previous year, the department said.

According to records maintained by the Review-Journal, Metro saw a dramatic drop in homicides in 2019, from 161 cases in 2018 to 109 last year.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Dalton LaFerney contributed to this report.