Name change
In order for the state to follow through on a plan to transfer Floyd Lamb State Park back to the city of Las Vegas, the municipality is required to create a long-term blueprint for managing the facility.
On Wednesday, the City Council adopted that plan, meaning the park will likely be under city control by mid-June.
Under the proposal, the city would improve the park’s trails, create two lakes and establish a historic museum. None of this will happen soon, however — the city professes a lack of cash to implement the improvements, so they’ll have to wait.
In the meantime, though, the City Council can take at least one concrete step forward as soon as the state hands over control: change the 660-acre park’s name.
The park used to be known as Tule Springs Park. But after the state acquired the property from the city in 1977, lawmakers renamed it Floyd Lamb State Park, after a prominent state senator. One problem: Floyd Lamb was later forced to resign after being caught up with some other Nevada politicians in an FBI bribery sting.
Oops.
Despite the scandal, state officials were reluctant to drop the Lamb moniker for fear of offending his family, a longtime presence in state and local politics. But do Southern Nevadans really want one of the region’s largest recreational facilities named after a man whose accomplishments are overshadowed by his involvement in a political corruption case?
Would Las Vegans today stand for a Dario Herrera County Park? Or an Erin Kenny Elementary School? Not a chance.
Nor should city officials stand for keeping Floyd Lamb’s name on this property.
Change it back to Tule Springs.