What Will Save Las Vegas?

I have had the privilege of being born and raised in Las Vegas. Not only that, my mother was also born here. That puts me in a small group who have ties to the beginning of modern Las Vegas. Needless to say, I love this City and what we've been able to accomplish in the last 60 years. Like Manhattan, Las Vegas was a city that if you could dream it, and then do something about it, your dreams could and often would come true. It was a City of ideas without the restrictions of old traditions or local rituals. We welcomed the rebel and renegades alike.

With that as the foundation of our heritage, is why we as local citizens and business people are in such a state of confusion over the economic situation here.

The only answer that can bring the City back to good health is to attract 5 to 10 million additional visitors. We must re-establish Las Vegas as a great value, where the entertainment received far exceeds the price anyone pays for it. $14 vodka-sodas must be gone.

The Convention Authority is starting to do a good job in their advertising focusing on the benefits of having trade shows in Las Vegas, versus anywhere else in the world. Anyone with any objectivity will tell you that we have the best facilities in the world for any size of meeting.

Without significant visitor increase, Las Vegas may not ever comeback to the vitality of 2005 let alone 2007. Unemployment will stay high and real estate will remain depressed.

There is the constant argument over the diversification of the job creators in Las Vegas. While it seems obvious that we'd be better off if we had more than one major industry, I would not focus on expanding the job base until visitor volume significantly picks up. We must focus on filling hotel rooms only.

I do believe that over the next 3 to 5 years our economy will become stronger with the rest of the United States. We just need to hold on, keep pushing, and as Winston Churchill would say, "never, never, never, give up."