Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom is making headlines.
Never have I understood why anyone would want to become a politician. The hours are long and the criticism can be long and ungodly.
But every once in a while, a politician stands up and takes a stand that affects every single one of us living in Las Vegas.
Clark County Commissioner/attorney Tick Segerblom has stepped to the forefront to take on an issue that has been pleading for leadership for decades.
Properties left un-maintained are unforgiveable. They affect surrounding property and drag property values down.
The drawbacks of decaying properties are endless and so are the consequences. If Segerblom gets his way – and he usually does – county landlords had better pay attention when he comes a calling.
As the former real estate editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal from 1985-89, I became fascinated in builders/developers who took barren pieces of land and turned them into works of art. The ability to turn vacant land into works of art is something that has fascinated me for many years.
To this day, I will never forget Mart and Al Collins of Collins Development and their creation of the Lakes on the far western edge of the Las Vegas Valley.
Al Collins flew us by helicopter up what was Sahara Avenue (a dirt road then) telling us how that road would eventually be paved and readied for the creation of the Lakes.
I simply could not fathom that such a dream would become a reality, but the Collins brothers started a process that would be followed by Joe and Mary Blasco’s creation of Spanish Trail near the intersection of Rainbow Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, along with other master planned communities.
To this day, the Lakes and Spanish Trail – not to mention Green Valley – are works of art that I marvel about every time I drive by each of the developments. Homes in master-planned communities hold their values and for the most part, those same developments remain pillars in a very competitive real estate market.
However, with the growth comes the dreaded reality that some neighborhoods can be ruined by property owners who simply don’t give a damn. Those lacking pride can be like a cancer to the rest of a community.
Enter Clark County Commissioner common sense kind of guy Tick Segerblom who caught my attention the other day when he addressed the many eyesores of residences in Southern Nevada. He’s getting tough on violators who seem to feel that it’s just fine to leave a property in shambles.
In a story written by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Shea Johnson, Segerblom promised to fight what has been referred to as a “blight fight.”
As Segerblom pointed out in the story, “The County is entering a new phase. We’re not going to tolerate this kind of development and the lack of development, and we’re not going to let buildings like this lapse. It destroys neighborhoods.”
I like Segerblom because he has always been a fighter; and in this case, he’s fighting for the little guy who is sick and tired of watching once-impressive residences turn to into garbage.
In this particular case, Segerblom was talking about District E northeast of Paradise and Flamingo roads, but there’s also blight – or at least potential blight – in way too many neighborhoods in Southern Nevada.
As much as I hate to admit this, it seems that homeowner associations and their power bases are better off than people like us who do not have an HOA.
In our subdivision, we carefully handle issues among ourselves on a one-time basis although we certainly don’t have the power that a homeowners association undoubtedly has.
However, while there is no HOA in our neighborhood, we do have a collection of neighbors who sincerely care about our homes and our investments enough to speak out (count me among them).
Frankly, the Las Vegas Valley has failed to address violations in neighborhoods for way too many years. Between the graffiti and the rest, our neighborhoods have disintegrated for long enough.
Fittingly, you’d be hard-pressed to find major issues in a Summerlin community. That is, unless maybe there are untold circumstances under the roof of the mentioned residence.
Meanwhile, the county is getting tough with an administrative citation fine that slaps homeowners with fines of $100 per day for a first offense that can run as high as $500 per violation per day for a third offense.
I love what the county has done and really appreciate the fact that we’re not alone in our battles to maintain neighborhoods while keeping them safe at the same time.
It has been determined that the county labored to encourage the owners of real estate to clean up 275 properties for a grand total of $438,000 in 2018.
And you can bet that number is going to get even bigger in 2019.
Right on, Tick. Keep getting the headlines and let’s keep up the rally to save our neighborhoods.