The Sparks Fly in Sparks

Tonight was a special session of the Sparks City Council to discuss the placement of the Lazy 8 Resort. I must admit, I left before the public hearing was over, but I will give you my take on what I saw. I am just going to give you a quick overview tonight, and I will follow it up tomorrow.

My first impression was quite overwhelming. The streets leading up the city building were lined with people holding signs opposing the casino going in Spanish Springs. The minute I started walking towards the building I could see the crowd. The meeting was very poorly planned. There were far to many people to accommodate in such a small building. Crowds of people were forced to watch the session on TV.

As the meeting opened, Mayor Martini and Councilman Carrigan both disclosed Carlos Vasquez, the representative for the Lazy 8, is managing both of their campaigns. Now the Mayor stated he is just facilitating the session and therefore had no conflict of interest. Good enough for me. Carrigan's answer was not quite as settling.

Carrigan's stance was since he did not stand to benefit financially from the casino he did not have a conflict of interest. There has been an ethics complaint filed against Carrigan over his involvement with Mr. Vasquez. I do believe that Mr. Carrigan with be safe on the grounds that he does not stand to benefit financially.

That being said, Mr. Carrigan should have abstained from the vote. While he may not have been required to abstain, he should have volunteered because it was the right thing to do.

As far as the proceedings went, it looked like a huge case of NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) to me. Most everybody supported the Lazy 8 being built. They just support it being built somewhere else. Look here tomorrow for more information on the proceedings.