Mining industry is the real sacred cow

To the editor:

When it comes to the Review-Journal’s Wednesday editorial on “sacred cows” and public-sector pay and benefits, you conservatives always turn it into class warfare. You endlessly pit the working middle class against the working poor in the name of fairness. Tsk, tsk.

Those of us who have lived here longer than a weekend junket from Chicago know that the real sacred cow is the mining industry. You have all the energy of a North-South rivalry at stake. But can that really withstand the economic realities of our impoverished state against $900-an-ounce Canadian gold companies?

This is one sacred cow that is down to its last moo.

CHANDLER LEVRICH

LAS VEGAS

Stop growth

To the editor:

I had to write a response to the Review-Journal’s Tuesday article, “Utility officials water down pipeline fears.”

I assume everyone agrees with local, state and federal occupancy limit laws for homes, businesses and public areas. For example, it is unlawful to have 10 families living in a single-family home, or for a dance club to have 1,000 customers in the building which is built for safe occupancy of no more than 150. There are built-in limits to the water, utilities, sewage and open spaces for every home, business and other location.

The people in the single-family house with 10 families living in it are not allowed to run long extension cords across the street and the sidewalks to their neighbors’ homes to pull in more power, nor are they allowed to build additional pipes to neighboring homes to bring in more water. Their problem is that too many people insist on living in a space that cannot support and never was built to accommodate such a crowd.

Why does this logic not extend to cities in the Southwest? Las Vegas is already at, if not beyond, the saturation point in regard to its population. When do we take the responsibility for the good of our own city and of our own lives to say, “Stop the growth”? When we have to wait five or more cycles for that elusive green light at each intersection? When we have mandatory water restrictions? When we cannot see the Strip clearly on a normal sunny morning due to the heavy smog and pollution? When our natural recreation areas such as Red Rock Canyon are destroyed from fire, urban growth right to their front door and overuse?

When will it stop?

Steven Slowik

LAS VEGAS

Shut out

To the editor:

In response to the Review-Journal’s Tuesday article by John G. Edwards, addressing the inadequacy in the present foreclosure process:

One of the most unpleasant duties of the Henderson constable’s office is to carry out court-ordered evictions on properties that go into foreclosure. We have seen many heart-wrenching examples of families displaced by foreclosure, often through no fault of their own.

The worst-case scenario goes like this: The landlord rents out a house to the tenant. The landlord then stops paying the mortgage, but keeps collecting the rent. The landlord receives letters and certified mail warning of the impending foreclosure. Then the tenant, who is paid up on rent and unaware of any foreclosure action, hears a knock on the door and it’s the constable’s office with a notice stating that the tenant has 24 hours to vacate the property.

Sadly, this unfortunate situation repeats itself every day in the Las Vegas Valley and throughout Clark County. While some of these scenarios may be considered criminal fraud, the majority fall though a loophole in our current law.

The constable’s office has been trying to fix this problem for quite some time. During the past legislative session, at the direction of Constable Earl Mitchell, our office was working with Las Vegas Constable Bobby Gronauer and other constables within Clark County to persuade state legislators to pass a law requiring proper notification for all parties impacted by a foreclosure.

Although this Landlord-Tenant Protection Act never made it to the legislative floor during the 2007 session, we have strengthened our effort on this important legislation and are determined to make this law a reality at the next session in 2009. Several states have already passed similar laws which protect both landlords and tenants by requiring that proper notification be physically posted at the property with enough time to safeguard the rights of all parties involved.

We understand that the foreclosure/eviction process is a necessary one; we just want to make sure that it is a fair one as well.

Steve Kilgore

HENDERSON

THE WRITER IS DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE HENDERSON CONSTABLE’S OFFICE.