Las Vegas Staff Workshop Shines a Little Light on Trash Pickup Controversy
I attended a Las Vegas city staff workshop Monday morning in which the proposed extension of Republic Services’ residential and commercial monopoly franchise contract was discussed. From a process point of view, here’s how this could play out… Next Wednesday the Las Vegas City Council will meet to hear and discuss – with public comment […]
Republic Services Can and Does Compete…Everywhere But Southern Nevada
For some reason some people seem to think it would be “rude” to ask Republic Services to actually compete for the 12-to-15-year, $1 billion-plus monopoly franchise contract to pick up residential and commercial trash in Las Vegas. But the reality is, Republic is not only quite accustomed to competing for business outside of southern Nevada […]
Las Vegas Trash Fight Heats Up on Campaign Trail
Efforts by the City of Las Vegas to grant Republic Services a new 15-year NO BID extension of its monopoly franchise contract for residential and commercial trash collection – which would cut residents’ twice-a-week pickup to once a week with no reduction in monthly service fees – has become a campaign issue in municipal elections […]
Tolles Brings War on Tele-Medicine to Nevada Legislature
From Bruce DelValle last week came this dispatch from the political front-lines announcing that Nevada is again embroiled in yet another troglodyte fight against technology (remember the Uber brouhaha last session?) in pursuit of protectionist capitalism… “A new frontier has arisen in the seemingly ceaseless tug-of-war pitting inventive technological efforts to provide the best possible […]
PROOF: “Trash-Talking” Councilman is Misleading Public on Garbage Contract
Most members of the Las Vegas City Council have been pretty tight-lipped about a proposal to extend Republic Services monopoly franchise agreement for residential and commercial trash hauling an additional 15 years… Four years before the current contract expires… Which would be worth over $1 billion dollars… And would cut residents’ trash pickups from twice […]
Nevada GOP Legislator Proposes Banning the “Uber of Eyeglasses”
Longtime readers know how my stories and political adventures sometime take interesting, and even bizarre, twists and turns. Yep, this is one of those stories. So grab a cup of coffee or a beer, sit down in a nice, comfortable chair, and enjoy… If you’re like me, you don’t know the difference between Neodymium and […]
In Carson City, the Democrats’ Circus is Back in Town
The Nevada Legislature is “Open Under New Management.” Democrats are back in control. Lord, help us. In watching all the fawning hosannas for the D’s “Black-&-Blueprint” agenda – so nicknamed for the beating taxpayers, citizens and businesses are taking under it – I can’t help but compare it to parents of two-year-olds singing their offspring’s […]
What the Las Vegas Garbage Contract Has in Common with King Tut’s Tomb
As the City of Las Vegas continues considering awarding Republic Services a new 15-year NO BID monopoly franchise contract extension for residential and commercial trash collection, I came across this rather interesting declaration… “The free, open and competitive production and sale of commodities and services is necessary to the economic well-being of the citizens of […]
“Stapling” Trash Collection in Las Vegas
A Bloomberg News article in Saturday’s Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that office supply giant Staples intends to close 70 stores in the U.S. this year. “The latest announcement comes almost a year after Staples’ failed attempt to acquire Office Depot,” the story noted. “Federal regulators blocked the merger on anti-trust grounds last May, arguing it […]
Republic Services Can Play Hardball and Sweeten the Pot…When It’s Forced To
As the City of Las Vegas considers granting a 15-year monopoly franchise agreement to Republic Services for residential and commercial trash collection, some seem to be taking the attitude that it would be “rude” to ask such a benevolent company to actually compete for this $1 billion-plus contract in an open bidding process. But when […]
Nevada Dems Deeply Embarrassed by New State Party Chairman
Now, this is funny… Here’s how the Nevada Democrat Party’s “Leadership” page looked before Saturday’s election when Roberta Lange was the State Party Chairman… And this is how the party’s “Leadership” page looked on Monday after the election of Billy McCurdy Jr. as the party’s new-and-improved grand imperial pooh-bah… Apparently, Nevada Democrats are so embarrassed […]
The Democrats’ “Affirmative Action” Candidate for Party Chairman
I don’t go looking for these fights. They just seem to find me. Nevada Democrats are electing a new State Chairman today. For the purposes of this column, we’re going to talk about just three of the candidates: Owen Carver (white guy), William McCurdy II (black guy) and Erin Bilbray (white gal). Frankly, I’d paid […]
Big Brother Government + Crony Government = Bad Nevada Government
Nevada Democrats have gone bonkers. Not only are they suffering from a combination of PESD (Post-Election Stress Disorder) and TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), but apparently they’ve been caught up in some kind of time warp. Liberal legislators have resurrected the silly ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) issue that was killed and buried 35 years ago, along […]
Hoover, Ford, Spiegel, Goodman and Beers Can’t All Be Wrong
In a recent tweet at the start of the 2017 Nevada legislative session, Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford (D-Las Vegas) wrote… “As we are curating jobs we must protect those jobs. We want to give Nevada companies the first crack at state contracts.” I think he meant “creating,” not “curating” (darned auto-correct!), but the sentiment […]
How Las Vegas Can Clear the Foul Odor of Crony Government
Mayor Goodman Puts Her Finger on the Air Freshener the City Needs If Shakespeare were alive today he might declare that something is more rotten in the city of Las Vegas than the state of Denmark – especially since we’re talking about garbage. Republic Services has had the exclusive monopoly franchise for trash pickup in […]
Cloobeck Reveals Self to Be a Clueless on Sanctuary City
We’ve all heard of “Fake News” (see: CNN), but a liberal time share salesman named Steve Cloobeck on Tuesday introduced us all to the concept of “Fake Guest Column.” Clueless Clooby, a 2018 Democrat candidate for Nevada governor, used the Las Vegas Sun to scribble a campaign ad disguised as an op-ed. In it he […]
Ford Has No Mandate for His Far-Left Black-and-Blueprint
While new President Donald Trump bolted out of the starting gate and was halfway around the track before the left even knew the race had started, new Democrat Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford stumbled out of the gate over his two left feet on opening day of the 2017 Nevada Legislature. Indeed, on the very […]