When candidates speak to the public prior to elections, one of the first questions out of their mouths is "are you better off today than you were two or four years ago?" That's a pretty easy question for most residents of Douglas County to answer. And, although the answer cannot be exclusively tied to the housing and building downturn, it certainly is the primary factor in our county.
The proponents of the building permit allocation and growth management ordinance would have you believe that the ordinance is needed to stop, what they call, a boom and bust cycle in terms of housing starts and population growth in this county. I believe they are way off base.
This county needs to be ready to revive itself, economically, when things do turn around. Any ordinance that stands in the way of allowing free enterprise to exert itself and hampers the ability of our workers to start to profit again is a bad ordinance. That is exactly what this building permit allocation and growth management ordinance does. Even though its' effects are moot at this point, when our economy does shift back into a growth cycle, the ordinance will block momentum in the building industry.
The proponents will tell you that builders, developers, Realtors, government officials, business people of this community are intent on "paving over the valley." Nothing could be further from the truth. Even during the "boom" times that the proponents constantly refer to, we never grew at outrageous rates. There was never a real threat that this community would be overcrowded or that we were losing our natural resources like water. Those were scare tactics that were used to try to sway our locals into thinking that we might become the next Orange County. What a laugh. That could never happen in a thousand years.
What folks in the building, housing, financial and retail sector, and many in other lines of work, hope to achieve is a healthy economic climate in Douglas County. Once again, I would ask you if you are better off today than you were in the years from 2000-05 when the economy was thriving in this county and locals were spending money at area businesses. Just look around you. How many businesses, big and small, have closed their doors over the past year or so? It's hard to hang on when the one industry that drives the local economy is beaten down to a point where layoffs, budget cuts and hope have been stifled by national and local economic forces. If the largest working segment of our population isn't making any money, it stands to reason that local stores, restaurants, theaters, service providers, etc. aren't making any money either.
I urge you to vote "no" on Advisory Question No. 1, and send a clear message to those who want to put guard gates at the borders of this county that you no longer believe the false propaganda they've been dishing out since 2002. It's time to put this county back to work and put some money in the pockets of the folks who actually are trying to make a living.
- Rob Wigton is a co-owner of Century 21 Clark Properties, President of the Nevada Association of Realtors and a 15 year resident of Gardnerville.
