Las Vegas mayoral candidates Shelley Berkley and Victoria Seaman agreed the city needs to settle the long-running land-use dispute surrounding the defunct Badlands golf course that could cost taxpayers upward of $450 million to $650 million.
But they disagreed sharply about how during a 90-minute forum Wednesday at Fontainebleau Las Vegas, sponsored by The Nevada Independent and televised live by KSNV-TV Channel 3, that also touched on public safety, homelessness and affordable housing.
Over the next six weeks, voters will weigh in on who should lead Nevada’s largest city, which has been under the leadership of Oscar Goodman or his wife Carolyn for the last 25 years.
Berkley, a former 14-year member of Congress, and Seaman, who has spent five years on the city council, both said resolving the Badlands matter would be the first order of business if they were victorious in the Nov. 5 election. The city has been embroiled in a fight with developers who planned to turn the golf course at Alta Drive off Rampart Boulevard into a housing development, and it was the most contentious discussion point of the forum.
“I also think a change of leadership at the top will go a long way into moving the city council in the direction of yes,” Berkley told moderator Jon Ralston, The Indy’s CEO and editor. “Even before I get sworn in, I’m going to sit down with my fellow council members and ask how we can get to yes.”
Seaman said she voted to end the Badlands litigation every time the matter was brought before the city council, but she was in the minority because city staff and city attorneys wanted to continue the legal fight.
The city lost an appeal in a unanimous Nevada Supreme Court decision in August and paid off a $64 million judgment.
“I ran on settling Badlands. I did everything that I could to let city staff know that if we didn’t settle it would be at the cost of taxpayers,” Seaman said. “You have to have a council that is willing to take a stand and go against staff.”
Berkley said that Seaman, despite campaign promises, hasn’t delivered a vote by the city council.
“That’s not leadership,” Berkley said. “That is taking a stand and being well opposed, but not leading.”
Berkley topped a field of 15 candidates in the June primary, earning almost 35.7 percent of the votes. Seaman was the runner-up with 28.9 percent of the vote. Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear finished third with almost 19 percent.
Crear has not endorsed either Berkley or Seaman.
Berkley said in an interview she has the endorsements of council members Brian Knudsen, Olivia Díaz and Nancy Brune. Council member Francis Allen-Palenske has not made an endorsement, and neither has Mayor Carolyn Goodman.
Experienced candidates
Following 2019 legislation that required eight Nevada cities to move municipal elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years starting in 2022, this campaign marks the first time the nonpartisan mayor’s race is on the ballot with partisan contests, such as for president and the U.S. Senate.
Berkley’s candidacy marked her return to the political stage a dozen years after she lost a high-profile race for the U.S. Senate, which ended her seven terms in Congress as a Democrat.
After leaving Washington, D.C., Berkley came home to Southern Nevada and held leadership roles for nearly nine years in the Touro University System and with Touro University Western Division, a private medical school in Henderson. Berkley previously served one term in the Assembly and two terms as an elected higher education regent.
Seaman has been on the city council since 2019 representing Ward 2, which covers southwestern Las Vegas. She previously served one term in the assembly as a Republican. Before running for elected office, Seaman, who holds real estate and business broker licenses in Nevada, created and owned day spas, which have since been sold.
This year’s mayoral race is the first time in 25 years a member of the Goodman family is not on the ballot. Oscar Goodman served as the city’s mayor from 1999 to 2011; his wife Carolyn was elected that year and has served as mayor ever since. She is term-limited and couldn’t run.
Both candidates praised the Goodmans.
“They changed downtown,” said Seaman, who only served with Carolyn Goodman. “We’ve done a lot for education. We’ve done … a lot for homelessness. I think that she brought a lot to the city.”
Berkley said the Goodmans helped propel Las Vegas into the 21st century.
“It was a family endeavor, for them,” Berkley said. “ They’re leaving Las Vegas in very good shape for whoever becomes the next mayor.”
Click below to see how the candidates addressed the following topics:
Homelessness and mental health
Why you’re running
Berkley, who retired from her position with Touro in 2022, said serving as mayor would be an opportunity to continue her long career in public service.
“Being able to be mayor of your hometown is nothing short of extraordinary,” Berkley said. “Four generations of my family have now called Las Vegas home.”
Berkley said her vision for the city is not just looking to tomorrow or next year, but “what I want this city to look like for my grandchildren when they are my age.”
Seaman said she’s treated her city council position as a full-time job and has taken a leadership role on various issues.
“I spent time trying to understand everything about the city,” Seaman said. “What I love the most about the job is that you get close to the people. You don’t have caucuses [like in the Legislature]. You can get things done. I believe we need someone who has some institutional knowledge of city government to continue moving forward.”
Leading the council forward
Costs associated with the Badlands court fight have prompted the city not to fill certain vacant job positions. That’s one reason both candidates want the matter settled.
Berkley said her experiences in the private sector would help her guide the council over the next four years
“You are the representative [of Las Vegas] to the outside world because it’s a world-class destination,” she said. “I think my background and who I am and how I conduct myself makes me best able to represent this community.”
Seaman said her motivation to run is to make Las Vegas the most economically diversified city in the country. She wants to help lead the city’s efforts with philanthropist Elaine Wynn to bring an art museum to the downtown area and she would like to see the city create additional charter schools.
“When I moved here 20 years ago, we didn’t even have a sports team. Now, we have so much more to offer,” Seaman said. “There’s so much more that we can do moving forward.”
Public safety
Both candidates expressed their commitment to working closely with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and Sheriff Kevin McMahill.
Seaman touted her endorsements by organizations associated with the different law enforcement agencies in the state. She also defended her comments that crime is on the rise in Southern Nevada even when shown news reports of declining numbers for burglaries and nonviolent crimes.
In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal earlier this month, McMahill said
homicides were trending down about 18 percent this year and robberies are down about 20 percent.
Ralston asked Seaman why she was painting “this kind of dystopian picture” of Las Vegas.
“I want to make sure we’re a safer city, Seaman replied. “We bring in 42 million tourists a year. I will take bold action to combat crime and restore safety to our city.”
Berkley said her responsibility as mayor is to ensure Metro has the proper financial resources, manpower and technology to keep the community safe. She noted both Clark County and the city fund Metro’s budget. She said she wasn’t concerned about the endorsements.
“I have worked well with the police and I’ve had their endorsements in the past,” Berkley said. “[If] I’m lucky enough to become mayor, I think all of the police organizations know that I will have an open door and we will work together.”
Affordable housing
Seaman said she is committed to “ensuring that builders and developers will have the tools and incentives they need to significantly expand affordable housing opportunities within our community.”
Berkley said she agreed with a recent city council ordinance that eases certain development restrictions that would allow for more affordable housing.
“There isn’t a magic wand that a councilwoman or a mayor can wave and automatically have hundreds of thousands of affordable houses, but we can start making a dent that I think will go a long way,” she said.
Homelessness and mental health
Both candidates suggested the two issues are somewhat intertwined given that proper mental health services are needed to reduce homeless encampments in the city.
Seaman expressed a commitment to work with Gov. Joe Lombardo on bringing a branch of Haven for Hope, a San Antonio, Texas-based transformational homeless campus, to Las Vegas. She added the city’s Courtyard Homeless Resource Center has been a good starting point.
“I want to continue to make sure that we have those resources for people who need to get off the ground,” Seaman said. “I work very closely with nonprofits, and I will continue to do that and to make sure that we can get as many people we can into recovery and mental health services.”
Berkley said the city “is spending a fortune on homeless services and since Victoria has been a city council member, homelessness has not only increased, it’s almost doubled.”
She added the city “can do better” in tackling the issue.
“This is a humanitarian problem,” Berkley said.
Improving medical services
Seaman said her goal is to bring a standalone children’s hospital to Las Vegas and began discussions with Intermountain Health on exploring some land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management in Ward 2. However, Intermountain Health is looking at a site in unincorporated Clark County.
“Guess what? I’m okay with that,” Seaman said. “I believe that Southern Nevada needs a children’s hospital. I think we have great children’s hospital wards here but we need our own hospital.”
Berkley said she was working on a feasibility study with Intermountain Health for the hospital, which calls for the medical corporation to pay two-thirds of building costs for the hospital.
“I also support the fact that they’re going to build one,” she said. “This will help the people in the city of Las Vegas that have the desperate need.”
