LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — After a daylong session at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the Las Vegas City Council listed public safety, economic development, health care and housing as top priorities for the next five years.
WATCH | Steve Sebelius speaks with Mayor Shelley Berkley on City of Las Vegas priorities
The choices almost directly mirror those made by a different City Council in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
But council members added housing to the list this time in the wake of surging home prices, high interest rates and a lack of affordable housing that's left many locals struggling to find a place to live.
During the session — facilitated by former Clark County manager and university chancellor Thom Reilly — financial analyst Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis showed the council some disturbing statistics on housing.
According to Aguero, Nevada ranks near the bottom of all states and the District of Columbia in terms of home ownership. And, he said, nearly 80% of households here can't afford the median priced Las Vegas home.
Mayor Shelley Berkley said after the daylong session that taking time to plan for the future is more important now than ever.
"We need to prepare the city now so that we can accommodate the growth and make sure that we're providing adequate and accessible health care, education for our kids, transportation," she said. "These are all bedrock issues for any community."
The council voted unanimously on the four priorities, which were whittled down from a larger list into a few "buckets." Each council member was given three "dots" to place beside what they believed were the top priorities for them to tackle.
That included the council's newest member, former Vegas Chamber President Kara Kelley, who was sworn in on Tuesday before the planning session.
Kelley replaced former Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, who resigned last month to take a job with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She will serve until a new council member is elected next year.
Berkley and other council members discussed the importance of affordable housing, especially against the backdrop of homelessness in the city.
She said the council was approving new housing all the time, including projects at the Cashman Field site, the Badlands golf course site and in northwest Las Vegas at Skye Canyon.
"Not a city council meeting goes by that we are not approving additional housing," she said. "So we recognize the challenges that people have."
From here, City Manager Mike Janssen said officials would gather feed back from the community and from city employees on the council's priorities. That will include a full-day workshop with city directors and their deputies next month.
Then next year, Janssen said he would bring an action plan to the council, followed by a full written plan next spring for final approval.
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