Strategic Plan to Address Growth in Southern Nevada

5. Community Involvement

The Authority’s Community Outreach Program contained three key elements:

• Public Education and Access
• Community Participation and Involvement
• Citizen Input

Community involvement, although not specifically mandated by SB 383, was certainly the desire of the proponents of SB 383, and therefore emerged as an essential component of the Authority’s work. Limited funds have been available to support community outreach activities, but persistence and creativity on the part of each entity represented on the Authority’s Public Outreach subcommittee has paid high dividends in achieving the goals of the Community Outreach Program:

• To educate the public about the SNSPA, its goals and actions
• To provide the public with access to the Authority’s deliberations and actions
• To obtain quantifiable citizen input

The following activities were accomplished in pursuit of the programs’ goals:

Public Meetings

The Authority members have spent countless hours in both official Authority and committee meetings and work sessions. For example, the Authority has met at least once each month since September 8, 1997. Each of the deliverable committees with the exception of the Legislative Recommendations Committee held bi-weekly or weekly meetings to accomplish their work. Authority members presented status reports to inform the public of the status of the Authority’s work. The public was invited to each of these meetings, as they were officially posted in compliance with the Nevada Open Meeting Law. Once the draft plan was released by the Authority for public comment, a series of “town hall” meetings were held by each of the local jurisdictions represented on the Authority. The public were invited to receive an overview presentation on the strategic plan, and to submit their comments, questions and concerns about the plan. Public comments received during the public comment period (November 10 through December 7) were addressed at a meeting of the full Authority on December 7, 1998.

SNSPA Citizen Questionnaire

To assist in obtaining citizen input to be incorporated into the SNSPA Strategic Plan, the Public Outreach subcommittee worked with Strategic Plan committee staff to develop a tri-fold questionnaire designed to solicit general comments and ideas on key community issues. The return postage-paid questionnaire asked residents to outline their perceptions on issues ranging from water to parks and housing to schools.

These questionnaires were mailed directly to thousands of households as tear-out inserts in the following publications:

• Southern Nevada Water Authority “Water Wise”
• City of Las Vegas newsletter
• City of North Las Vegas newsletter
• City of Henderson newsletter

In addition the questionnaire was made available for pickup at all customer service counters at the following locations:

• Clark County Government Center
• Henderson City Hall
• North Las Vegas City Hall

The input form was also made available for download on the SNSPA website, located at http://www.snspa.org. Both the form itself, and locations where citizens could obtain the form, were advertised in a series of Public Service Announcements running in heavy rotation on the Clark County Community Channel (Cox Communications 4), as well as via the local media. The
questionnaire also listed a “hotline” telephone number (393-9500) which was used to disseminate information on public meeting dates and to receive citizen input.

The Authority felt it would be important to receive public input in the form of a survey. While the “Wanted: Your Two Cents” Survey was not scientific, and was not intended to garner solid conclusions or direction for the Authority, it did generate a substantial number of comments in most of the key areas. Over 600,000 surveys were mailed to homes via the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Wise publication and the City of Las Vegas’ City Life publication. Several thousand were distributed by local jurisdictions at their customer service counters. Approximately 1,360 surveys were returned, in addition to several detailed letters. Transportation and traffic was identified by 76% of the respondents as the area of most concern. The issues of Air Quality/Environment, Water and Land Development were extensively addressed by 70% of the respondents. Health Care, while at the lower end of the response rate, emerged as an important issue of concern to over 57% of the respondents. One thing became evident as a result of this survey: Southern Nevadans care a great deal about their quality of life, and have a lot to say about how we can best address critical issues in the region.

The “Wanted: Your Two Cents” Survey Analysis is included in the second book.

Public Information

Daily public information has been available through several sources throughout the planning process. General information about SNSPA, including meeting times and locations, was posted and updated on the SNSPA website, and outlined in a series of Public Service Announcements running in heavy rotation on Channel 4. General SNSPA Public Service Announcements have also run on local commercial television affiliates 3 (NBC), 8 (CBS) and 13 (ABC).

In addition, the Public Outreach subcommittee worked with the local media on SNSPA-related news stories, and booked radio and television talk show appearances, including the issue program “Nevada Week in Review” on PBS affiliate KLVX.

Editorial board meetings were arranged early in the SNSPA process to discuss issues with staff from both the Las Vegas Review Journal and Las Vegas Sun. Additional editorial board meetings are anticipated during the legislative session.

Local newspapers have printed dozens of articles related to the Authority’s work. Local news programs continue to cover important Authority milestones and discussions.

Strategic Plan

The Public Outreach subcommittee and Strategic Plan committee staff organized a media event surrounding the release of the SNSPA Strategic Plan at the beginning of the Public Comment period on November 10, 1998, at the Flamingo Library. This event provided an overview of issues addressed in the plan, and informed citizens of locations for obtaining copies of the plan. An electronic copy of the plan was also posted on the SNSPA website. A student art contest facilitated by the Clark County School District was held in conjunction with this event. Selected illustrations have been
incorporated into the Strategic Plan document.