By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
The atmosphere was dignified and civil throughout as the two Mesquite mayoral candidates engaged in a debate on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at the Casablanca Resort. The debate, which was organized by the Mesquite Chamber of Commerce, brought the two candidates before a roomful of carefully social-distanced people for the Chamber’s monthly luncheon.
Mayor Al Litman and City Attorney Bob Sweetin went head to head for about an hour, debating a variety of subjects, and expressing their visions for the future of the city. Sometimes those visions were surprisingly similar. Other times the viewpoints varied significantly. But the discourse remained orderly and respectful between the candidates.
The well-run debate employed a question and answer format. A panel of three moderators led the candidates through a series of questions which had been submitted by Chamber members. The panelists included Chamber CEO/President Carol Kolson, Board Chairman Adam Anderson and Chair Elect Mark Whetzel.
Opening statements
Each candidate had two minutes at the beginning to give an opening statement in which they outlined his main discussion points.
Litman spent that time emphasizing his stability as a long time Mesquite resident, and the long history of his service: first as a City Councilman and then as mayor.
“I have been here for 16 years and I have no intentions of ever leaving Mesquite,” Litman said with a smile. “In fact, I will be located in a spot up at the new cemetery someday…but not for a long time to come!”
Sweetin said that Mesquite was at a hinge point in its history where a new direction and a new pace is needed.
“For many years, despite living through one of the largest booms in our lifetimes, Mesquite has remained essentially stagnant,” Sweetin said.
Sweetin briefly outlined three focus points he would use to move the city forward. They included economic development, building workforce housing and more local autonomy in the education of kids at Mesquite public schools.
Downtown redevelopment
Sweetin said that he would bring major reforms to the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) making it easier for business owners to make improvements to Mesquite Blvd. properties. He said that the reason that the downtown district had remained stagnant was because not enough had been done by the City to help and incentivize the property owners in those areas to improve things.
“Through the RDA, we need to pass specific rules that allow business owners to come into City Hall and have access to more than $99,000 to improve their businesses,” Sweetin said. “They are currently limited to $99,000; and though that sounds like a lot for a household budget, it really isn’t much for renovating a commercial property. So any major project is not going to be successful under the current structure.”
Litman countered that plans are already in the works for important projects that would bring economic growth.
Litman said that he had been in close contact with downtown property owner Dixie Leavitt and regional commercial developer Quantum Development to bring an all-new look to the downtown block directly across Mesquite Blvd from City Hall.
Quantum is the company that built Thanksgiving Point near Lehi, Utah, Litman said.
The proposed Mesquite project would include mixed housing, commercial shops and other businesses, Litman said.
“This will happen,” Litman assured of the project. “I have it in writing from Quantum Development. And we will be using RDA money on that.”
Bringing economic diversity
Litman said that he had been active in bringing new industry to the area. He talked specifically about his involvement in bringing Deep Roots to the community.
“When I became mayor, nobody was doing anything about bringing Deep Roots to Mesquite,” Litman said. “Several City Councilmen at that time were vehemently opposed to bringing that business here. I met with them. And I met with as many people as I could to encourage them coming here. I brought it first to town hall for discussions. And now you see what we’ve got here. They are a great business with tremendous economic benefits and no real downsides.”
But Sweetin said that the city has been missing additional opportunities for bringing in more industry and jobs.
“For a long time we have been known just for gaming, golf and grandparents,” Sweetin said. “Of course those things are important. But there is certainly more to it and plenty more ways to diversify our economy.”
Sweetin said that the city has a technology and commerce center that has been open and ready to be developed for many years.
“We have tech companies that are fleeing northern Utah and coming to St. George because of how inexpensive it is to do business there,” Sweetin said. “With our favorable tax climate in Nevada, we should be a prime location for those businesses to come.”
Workforce housing
Both candidates stressed the vital importance of bringing new, affordable housing projects to the city to provide for an expanded workforce.
Sweetin emphasized that the city needs to work with public housing authorities; but also with private builders who have expertise in that type of housing product.
“As I’ve been running for mayor I’ve talked to at least four different private developers who want to build single family workforce housing in the city,” Sweetin said. “That would allow workers to start the American Dream of home ownership and building wealth.”
Litman said that the city is already in the middle of bringing workforce housing projects. He cited two such projects which would bring around 140 units: some apartments, some townhouses and others condominiums. And other projects were soon to come as well, he said.
“All of that is already underway,” Litman said. “The Rural Housing Authority piece is guaranteed in writing because I’ve got the paperwork.”
Tale of Two Cities
One debate question asked the candidates about the popular perception that Mesquite is actually two cities, a divided community. This referred to a popular point of discussion that the city is divided either between the north and south sides of the interstate; or between the retired population and the young families.
“What I have found on the campaign trail is that this is a false narrative,” Sweetin said. “We are not two cities, we are one Mesquite with a diversity of different segments. Our retirement community wants a comfortable, safe and clean place to live. Our families want to raise their kids in a safe place where schools are properly funded and they want jobs that pay well. There is a lot of common interest there and we can bring these two segments together in many ways. I think that the city can do a lot more to bridge those gaps and terminate that false narrative.”
Litman agreed with his opponent completely. “Of course we are one community!” he said. “As far as good jobs go, everybody on the north side of the city wants that here too because it builds our economy and keeps our young people here. And that is important.”
Education
Sweetin started the discussion about education early in the debate saying that there was a need for the community to, once and for all, take responsibility for the education of local children. He talked about the wealth of resources that were available in the city for this purpose if they could only be tapped.
“We have a unique community,” Sweetin said. “We have experts who live in our retirement community. We have young families who want to innovate and provide a better growth experience for their kids. I know that we can bring all parts of the community together to accomplish our goals.”
Sweetin also said that added pressure needed to be put upon the Clark County School District to fund the local schools properly.
“If they don’t do it, then we need to visit other measures,” Sweetin said.
In connection to this, Litman recalled statements that Sweetin had made earlier on the campaign trail which indicated that, if push came to shove, Sweetin would advocate for a separation of Mesquite schools away from CCSD.
“That idea of a separate school district is a wonderful idea, certainly,” Litman said. “The problem is achieving it in this state because we do not have home rule here. It would take a complete change in the way our legislators in Carson City look at schools. Could it happen? Of course it could. Will it happen in our lifetime? I wouldn’t bet big money on it.”
Later in the debate, Sweetin returned to this subject, stating that he was unsure if the city would ever need to go as far as a complete separation.
“Look, we have a reorganization law that exists,” Sweetin said. “Under that law, we should be able to essentially have our own schools here, governed by a local precinct and treated almost as charter schools. The CCSD has not followed the law and has not allowed us to do that. We have not been doing anything from the city side, and from what I would do from the mayor’s seat, to build those relationships and work through those issues with the school district directly and make sure that our students are properly educated.”
Closing Remarks
Sweetin closed out his remarks by reiterating his focus on his three points: revitalizing Mesquite Blvd., bringing affordable housing and improving schools. “I can do those things as mayor!” he pledged. “I know what we need to do to get there. I know how to do it.”
Litman concluded by reflecting on what a strange election year it had been with COVID-19 looming over the whole of it. But despite all of that, the city is on the right course, Litman said.
“I know where we are going and we are going in the right direction in Mesquite,” Litman said. “Yeah, we got kicked a little bit with this COVID. Up until the virus, we had everything in the bag. Will we have that again? Absolutely! We are working our way through it. And as mayor, I will continue to keep us in the right direction.”
