Segerblom seeks turnout in Clark County district filled with Dems

Judging by the numbers, state Sen. Tick Segerblom’s transition to the Clark County Commission is all but inevitable.

After scoring a narrow primary win in June, Segerblom became the Democratic nominee in commission District E, where the party’s active voters outnumbered Republicans more than 2-to-1 as of late last month. The district covers portions of the Strip, the city of Las Vegas and the eastern Las Vegas Valley.

Segerblom’s advantage – bolstered by the hundreds of thousands he’s spent on his campaign and an endorsement from the seat’s current holder, Chris Giunchigliani – is not lost on the 70-year-old.

“Truthfully, if the Democrats support me I am going to win,” said Segerblom, an attorney and member of the state Legislature since 2007.

But that hasn’t deterred Republican candidate Trish Marsh, a 55-year-old account manager for a merchant services provider, from spending $60,000 of her own money in hopes of penetrating the all-Democrat commission. Marsh said she’s spending her money so Segerblom won’t spend it for her.

“He eats, sleeps, drinks and smokes taxes, and that’s what scares me and the residents to death,” Marsh said. “Somebody is going to have to pay for that tax.”

Segerblom doesn’t shy away from his tax-friendly politics. He supports county lobbying efforts to end state-imposed property tax caps, and he has proposed raising the county sales tax by 1 percentage point to better pay local public school teachers.

“To me, you get what you pay for,” he said.

Marsh said such tax increases are dangerous to people living on fixed incomes. She thinks the county should audit itself more closely to find obsolete programs to cut funding from.

She also favors a tough-love approach to helping the beleaguered Clark County School District. The county, she says, should work to stop funding from flowing to the district until independent auditors review its entire budget line by line.

“Sometimes certain measures might hurt, but at the same time it might start opening the dialogue to what we need to have happen, which is corrections,” she said.

Court records show Marsh filed for bankruptcy in 2011 with about $36,000 in credit card debt. The case was discharged later that year.

Marsh said she believes the bankruptcy happened closer to 2007 after she lost her sales job at an armored car company that was laying off employees nationwide. She said she has since mended her finances.

“It was a devastating time for all of us,” she said. “I thought I would retire with that company.”

Marijuana

Marsh said the county should not consider permitting pot lounges, businesses that allow public cannabis consumption, until the drug is no longer prohibited under federal law.

Segerblom, a stalwart marijuana advocate, welcomes the idea of pot lounges and allowing use at concerts.

“If it can work for alcohol, I think it can work for marijuana,” he said.

Segerblom wants the county to open a marijuana bank because most banks won’t deposit the industry’s money because of federal prohibitions. He envisions government employees in armored cars picking up cash from dispensaries, storing it and writing the companies a check.

“If they can bring us $50,000 in cash to pay their taxes, then can’t they bring us $100,000 and we’ll just give them $50,000 back?” he asked. “The biggest problem with cash is that there’s no way to know if it’s going out the back door or whatever. It’s a problem for the dispensaries. It’s a problem for us.”

Transportation

Commuting to and from the eastern Las Vegas Valley is no easy feat, both candidates agree.

Segerblom said the county should build a U.S. Highway 95 interchange at Sahara Avenue using revenues from its existing fuel tax. He’s not ready to commit to a proposed light rail system along Maryland Parkway until the county knows out how much federal money it could get for the project.

But there is one rail Segerblom definitely shows interest for. He’d like to see the Strip monorail taken over by the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.

“It’s a great resource, but I don’t think it’s ever begun to be used to way it was supposed to be used,” he said.

Marsh said she’s open to exploring light rail and extending the 215 Beltway through the east side.

“We have to start throwing out some ideas,” she said. “Anything right now to help our community is a beautiful thing.”

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.