City Council - Regular Meeting

The city council meeting in about one minute.

The August 5th, 2026 meeting of the city council is called to order. This meeting has been properly noticed and posted in compliance with the open meeting law. These proceedings are being video recorded and can be viewed live on City of Las Vegas TV on Cox Cable Channel 2. You could also watch the meeting live online and access other city content by visiting lasvegasnevada.gov slash connect. The proceedings will be rebroadcast on City of Las Vegas TV the Wednesday of the meeting at 8 p.m., and also on Friday at 4 a.m., Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 7 a.m., and the following Monday at 5 p.m. Th

Thank you for joining us, Pastor. Before we proceed with our ceremonials, I would invite everybody to join me for a moment of silence. As you all probably already know, we lost a... Uh, one of our Metro officers, I cannot reveal his name because his family has not yet been informed of his passing and we're waiting to make sure that we, um, do this appropriately. And we've been asked not to mention his name, but he is, uh, was 30 years old. He's a Marine and he'd been with Metro, uh, since 1923. He died in the line, 1923, it's not that old, 2023. He died in the line of duty and he will long be

I'm going to invite Kristin Pohl and her wife, Debbie, to come up and stand with me, please, as I read some comments. Thank you. It's my birthday. I'm going to read into, just lean into the whole needing to read with glasses. We all remember the teacher who changed something for us, the one who opened a door or awakened a curiosity, or saw something in us before we could see it for ourselves. The truly fortunate students, many of whom are here today, have a teacher like Kristen Pohl. I first met Kris in 1996, long before she became a teacher, when I hired her, which she loves to remind people

Chris also understands that education is not simply knowing about more. It's about becoming more. Her friendship with Holocaust survivor Ben Lesser strengthened her commitment to Holocaust education, human rights, and his message of resilience, tolerance, and hope. And I want to thank Ben's daughter Gail for being here to support Chris. Thank you.

In her 20th year of teaching, Chris fulfilled a lifelong vision by creating a global diplomacy and genocide studies course. Through that course, students confront some of humanity's darkest chapters while developing empathy, critical thinking, civic responsibility, and respect for human dignity. And it's important to understand that no one asked Chris. to teach this class. She was not sought out to teach it. What Chris did is create it, and then her principal said, OK, you have to get 23, 25 students to sign up, and then you can teach it. And she recruited students into that class so she could

and then i'm going to invite all you know you're in the back

For our final item, Councilwoman Bruni is going to recognize an educator who is an incredible community partner. Councilwoman?

Thank you, Mayor. Good morning, everyone. So Councilman Kelly and I did not coordinate outfits or ceremonials but here we are and so just for background August is back to school month and like Councilman Kelly I wanted to recognize a couple of groups that are helping our students be successful in the schools as we head back to school. So the first group is Dad in Schools, and at this time I would like to call up Dad in Schools founding director, Pastor Troy Martinez. The second group is Dad Inc., and I would like to call up Andrew Mason, lead pastor of the International Church of Las Vegas, wh

Dr. Jameson. Everyone that thinks they should be in the picture has to be in the picture. All right, everyone, scooch in. Let's get to the program. All right, let me have a couple of you guys come over to the side, please.

He's on. Is he on? Reconvene the meeting of the city council. Agenda item number seven, public comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action. The amount of time any single speaker is allowed may be limited. Please say which agenda item you will be speaking about. All comments made will be cross-referenced to those specific items. If anyone submitted a speaker card or who wishes to speak under this portion of the agenda, please come to the podium and state your name for the record. This is your opportunity to address the council, but the council i

Thank you so much. It's awfully nice to know somebody reads this agenda. Thank you. Does anybody else wish to speak at this time? Guests, please come forward. Welcome and please state your name for the record.

Thank you so much. Is there anybody else wishing to address the city council? Seeing no one, we will move to agenda item number eight. For possible action, any items from the 9.30 a.m. session that the council, staff, and or applicant wish to be stricken, tabled, withdrawn, or held in abeyance for a future meeting may be brought forward and acted upon at this time. Mayor Pro Temp.

Yes, Madam Mayor. Item number 51, appeal of conditions for a full alcohol on-premise license for substance nightlife LLC doing business as substance at 450 Fremont Street, Suite 270 and Ward 5. The request is to strike by our staff. Thank you so much.

I can't. Mouse is failing me. Okay. Post, motion passes. Agenda item number nine, for possible action to approve the final minutes by reference of the July 1, 2026 regular city council meeting. May I have a motion to approve the minutes?

Please vote. I am trying. I'm an I. Please post. Motion carries. Agenda item number 10. Item 10 will be trailed to be heard after the closed session. Now move to agenda item 11. Items number 11 through 50 are on the consent agenda are considered to be routine are recommended for approval by the departments and may be enacted in one motion. Are there any other items the council wishes to bring forward? Mayor Pro Tem, may I have a motion for the consent agenda for items 11 through 50?

Yes, Madam Mayor. Seeing no colleagues of mine wishing to pull any of the agenda items, I move to approve consent agenda items 11 through 50. Please vote.

I'm an aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. Agenda item 51 has been previously stricken. Agenda item 52, discussion for possible action on the proposed bill draft request to be submitted to the Legislative Council Bureau on behalf of the City of Las Vegas for the 84th session of the Nevada Legislature, 2027 session. This impacts all wards. Mr. Robertson. Go ahead. Would you care to introduce your guests?

Thank you so much for that most comprehensive presentation. Do any members of the city council have any questions or comments? Yes, Mrs. Kelly.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much for explaining that so well. One of our responsibilities and I think the opportunities that we have during this meeting is to make sure we're articulating not only the need, which you've done so well, but also some of the numbers behind it. I remember many years ago, gosh, it was forever ago, but My dad had wanted to buy a new car, and he thought they cost, I think this was in the mid-'80s, something like $3,000. And they didn't cost $3,000. So a lot of people don't know how expensive fire engines are and those kinds of things. And I know that in one of my l

Thank you, Chief. If I may, Mayor, thank you for that. I also, as I also understand some of my learnings have been, you know, the point about the upkeep. I remember having a conversation. It may have been with you or one of your deputies about a kitchen that needed to be remodeled and kind of querying about what was necessary about that. When you look at, you know, one of the things that you've taught me during this time is how necessary it is in the preparedness. And I consider it similar to my comments to our city clerk at her special election meeting when I thanked her for making sure that

Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Exactly. Thank you. Ms. Rooney.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Randy, for the comprehensive overview. I'm looking for a soundbite, like a three-sentence summary for our constituents. So my understanding is the process is the legislature will, this will be our BDR, the legislature, should they approve it, that gives us the authority to extend it, but property taxes will not increase. An approval simply means to maintain the dedication of some portion of the property tax to support our fire safety initiative. Is that correct?

Thank you so much. Madam Mayor, just want to clarify that the station in Ward 5 is not being replaced now. It is going to be some maintenance, deferred maintenance is what is in this budget and a new station is in the future.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I don't want to belabor the point. I think we're definitely all in support, but for the young people in the room and perhaps the folks at home, when you run for office, it's a little bit of open yourself up to people and you walk door to door and you send messaging and You talk at every opportunity, every ice cream social, anywhere you get invited to, and you talk thematically about how you think city government should look like. And when I did that four years ago, All I ever talked about was public safety. I told everybody I was the daughter of a police officer and the

Thank you so much. Mayor pro temp. Thank you, madam mayor. I just, you know, want to emphasize key points. Um, about how we're continuing to grow as a city and, um, as stated just about the growth happening in the Northwest part of our city, we need to be equipped and prepared. And we know that just the big rigs by themselves, not even the staff to run them are in the millions of dollars, um, to procure. And my concern is if we don't have this revenue stream coming to us for this purpose, it's very hard for us as a city to just replace that revenue stream that we have come to rely on for two d

I appreciate it. Before you make the motion, I just, Randy, I watched you in action at the legislature last session. I am very impressed by your abilities and the way you represent the city. So I think we're all looking forward to helping you in that endeavor. And I think we will have great success. I also think that having one bill draft is the appropriate thing to do given the importance of this. And Chief, I had the great pleasure of having dinner last night at fire station number 47 with the men and women that manned the station. And if they are emblematic of the quality of your force, I t

Now I don't have anything. I'm an aye. Post. Motion carries.

Thank you so much. Agenda item 53, boards and commissions, discussion for possible action regarding the appointment of nominee Matt Hodges to the art commission as one of the mayor's designees. Neil Portnoy was appointed as the mayor's designee in 2024 to fill the unexpired term of a previous member. His term has expired. Mr. Hodges is eligible for appointment and wishes to serve. I move to approve the appointment. Please vote. Yes, and if somebody can come up and fix this, that would be great.

Please post. Motion carries. Agenda item 54, discussion for possible action regarding the appointment of nominee Zachary Crane to the building and safety enterprise fund advisory committee. If appointed, Mr. Crane would fill the seat designated for a representative of the commercial development industry. is eligible and wishes to be appointed. I move to approve this appointment. Please vote. Opposed? Aye. We're going to have to take an oral vote. My system is now frozen. No. OK. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. You oppose? He's a yes. Motion carries. Agenda item 55, d

Please vote. Are all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Agenda item 56, discussion for possible action regarding the reappointment of Serena Kasama to the Ward 4 seat of the Planning Commission. Ms. Kasama was originally appointed to the seat in 2022. She is eligible and wishes to be reappointed. Is there a motion, Councilwoman Polenski?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I move to approve item number 56 and look forward to ushering Ms. Kusama into her second term as well.

Any opposed? Motion carries. Agenda item 57. Discussion for possible action regarding the reappointment of Jennifer Taylor to the Ward 6 seat on the Planning Commission. Ms. Taylor was originally appointed to the seat in 2022. She is eligible and wishes to be reappointed. Is there a motion, Councilwoman Bruni?

Motion to approve the reappointment of Jennifer Taylor to the Planning Commission.

Please vote. And I'm an aye, although I have no circle. Aye. Post? Motion carries. Agenda item 58, discussion for possible action regarding the reappointment of Carolyn Mosdien to the Ward 6 seat of the Senior Citizens Advisory Board. Ms. Mosdien was originally appointed in 2019. She has a recommendation of the Neighborhood Services Department, is eligible, and wishes to be reappointed. Is there a motion, Councilwoman Bruni?

Yes, motion to approve the reappointment of Caroline Mosdien to the senior advisory board. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Shall we vote? Aye. I'm an aye. Please post. Motion carries. Agenda item 59. Recommending committee bills eligible for adoption at a later meeting. Item 59, bill number 20, 26, 27 will be heard at a later meeting. Agenda item 60, new bills. Item 60 through 62, bills 20, 26 through 28, 29 and 30 will be heard at the recommending committee meeting. on Monday, August 17th, 2026. City Attorney, would you read the new bills?

New bills 2026 through 28, 29, and 30 are assigned to the August 17th, 2026 recommending committee members, Councilman Knutson, Councilwoman Polenski, and Diaz. If any so designated are unable to attend, the clerk's office will coordinate finding substitutes as necessary at my direction. Thank you. Agenda item 63, closed session. Upon a duly carried motion, a closed meeting is called in accordance with NRS 241.030 to discuss the following item. City Attorney's Annual Performance Review. Mayor Pro Tem, may I have a motion to enter into a closed session?

Yes, Madam Mayor. I move to approve us going into closed session at this time.

I'm an aye. Aye. Oh, I have a thought. It's not working. Please post. Motion carries. It's just now getting the mouse to work. All right. We're going to be taking a short recess as we go into closed session. We will be back as soon as the closed session has concluded.

I'm going to be doing that in a minute. Thank you. We are back from the closed session. Mayor Pro Tem, may I have a motion to reconvene?

All right. Move to reconvene from the closed session.

Please vote. I'm an aye. I'm an aye. Motion carries, all right. This is a discussion for possible action regarding annual review of the city attorney, Jeff Doricat. Ms. Brown, do you wish to say a few words?

Good morning, Mayor Sue Brown for the Human Resources Department. I've provided you with data relative to Jeff's annual review, and I will leave it to him to make his presentation.

Thank you so much. Is there any member of the Council wishing to say anything? If not, I will entertain a motion. from the Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, madam mayor. And I just want to say that, uh, having been here seven years and Jeff is now our third city attorney, I am very, very pleased with his continued, um, uh, just execution of his role as the leader of our city attorney's office. I know he has a small but mighty staff of 59 employees. Um, I know firsthand how he's been instrumental in recruiting really great people to come to work for us, to fill a lot of the. seats that many folks that had held them for 30 years, 20 plus years because of retirement have left vacant. I know that he could use a few more, but he's doing awes

That's what I move to give him for this next year of him fulfilling his duties.

Shall we vote? Aye. All those in favor of the motion please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Motion carries and thank you Jeff for your service. Thank you all. We appreciate it. Agenda item number 64. Item 64 is on the consent agenda is considered to be routine and is recommended for approval by the Department of Community Development. Mayor Pro Tem, may I have a motion on this consent agenda?

Without any discussion or wanting to pull this item, I move to approve this. Do you have a comment? This is the consent for community development. Yes.

Okay. Madam Mayor, if I may, I just want to make a minor adjustment to item 65.

But I will keep that in mind when we get to the next agenda item.

I'm sorry, it is 64. My apologies. I'm trying to do two things at once and it's not working. On item 64, I would like to reduce That extension to one year as opposed to the two that is in the recommendation. I've spoken with the development team, and they are here, and we have come to an agreement.

So, Mr. Lowenstein, can you articulate or read an amended?

Thank you so much. Will your motion incorporate that change?

Yes, Madam Mayor. I move to approve the agenda item 64 with the stated amended condition by the Councilwoman.

Thank you so much. All those in favor of this motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Motion carries. Agenda item number 65, 26-0078-SDR1, abeyance item, site development plan review. This is a public hearing. Applicant owner Maria Emma Grisilda Diaz for possible action on a land use entitlement project request for a proposed two-story, five-unit, multifamily residential development with waivers of Appendix F. Interim Downtown Las Vegas Development Standards Area 2 on 0.16 acres at 617 North 10th Street, R3 Medium Density Residential Zone, Ward 5, Ms. Summers-Armstrong. Th

Would you state your name for the record and please tell us about your project?

Thank you so much. May I have a staff report, please?

All right, I think we've heard enough, Mr. Lowenstein. This is a public hearing. Is there anybody that wishes to be heard on this item? If not, I will close the public hearing. Any questions or comments from the council? If not, I will entertain a motion. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I move for abeyance of this item until September 16th.

It hasn't been voted on yet, so you can thank us later. All those in favor of the motion, please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Now you can say thank you.

Agenda item 66, 26-0113-SUP1, abeyance item, special use permit, public hearing, applicant, partners, auto services, LLC owner, Cardona and Cardona LLC for possible action on a land use entitlement project request for a proposed motor vehicle's parts sales installation and repair. Motor vehicle repair, major use at 1250 Northeastern Avenue, suite number three, C2 general commercial zone, ward three, Ms. Diaz. The planning commission recommends approval, staff recommends denial. This is a public hearing that I now declare open. Is the applicant present?

Would you state your name for the record and please tell us about your project.

So, Madam Mayor, if I may, I know my staff has exchanged conversations prior to the agenda item arriving to us. We hadn't heard from them. We haven't met. They don't know what my pain points are. And so, therefore, I'm going to... Just out of courtesy, since we haven't connected prior to this hearing, I'm going to make the request to hold this item in advance until September 2nd. All right. That's my motion. That is your motion.

And may I urge you to please get in touch with the city council woman so that you can hear her pain points. Yes. We'd all appreciate that, actually. All right. All those in favor of the motion, we're obeying until the 2nd. September 2nd. Okay. Please signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We'll see you on the 2nd.

Agenda Item 67, Reports and Presentations, report by Michael Cunningham, Acting Director of Public Works, regarding the City of Las Vegas 10-Year Capital Improvement Plan for Regional Flood Control District Facilities. This impacts all wards. Welcome, Mr. Cunningham.

Thank you so much, Mr. Cunningham. Do any members of the council have any questions? Okay.

Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Mr. Cunningham, thank you for the information. If someone's been going through a lot of painful storm drain work, it's my ward. So I was paying attention to what's coming. I just wanted clarification because your slide highlighted Owens, but then... In your closing points, you mentioned Stewart, and so now I'm a little confused if we're going to, are we going to do work on both avenues, Owens and Stewart, or is Stewart, so if you could just clarify for me, because, oh, there it went. I just focused on Owens for some reason. I didn't really look at the Ste

Yeah, I think it's super important for us to over-communicate as soon as we know what the window may look like, especially the business corridors, because Owens and Stewart have businesses that will obviously going to be impacted by the road work. So I think The more we tell them it's coming, that it's going to come so that they're not caught off guard when all of a sudden all of the tearing up of the street is happening right in front of their business location. So I really appreciate if we can just do our best in over-communicating multiple times.

And last question is, when do we expect the Charleston storm drain project that's Maryland to Maine to be out of our hair?

Thank you, sir. That is so painful to hear. Ms. Somers-Armstrong, did you wish to speak?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just had a couple of questions. First, one comment. In addition to flyers, I think, especially in our business corridors, that some personal door knocking would also be a good idea, if you could include that in whatever PIO outreach that you all are doing. I saw some of the list, I didn't see smaller arterials. Are we having any hot spots where we're seeing, it's been very dry, but in past years that have caused any property damage to residential, Or are all of these things really tied into the arterials?

Yeah, that's been a hot spot for Ward 5 for a while, and I'm happy to hear that that's at the top of the regional list. That's great. And when we're talking about letting contracts for all of these types of things, is there an annual, every five-year list that gets put together so that we can spread the wealth and make sure that we have as many contractors as possible participating in especially our small businesses.

This was a report only. No action is required. Thank you so much. Agenda item 68. Set date on any appeals filed or required public hearings. I would instruct the city clerk to set the public hearing dates and appeals from the city planning commission meetings and dangerous buildings or nuisance slash litter abatements.

Thank you so much. Agenda item 69. Citizens' participation. Public comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters within the jurisdiction of the City Council. No subject may be acted upon by the City Council unless that subject is on the agenda and is scheduled for action. If you wish to be heard, come to the podium, give your name for the record. The amount of discussion on any single subject, as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed, will be limited to two minutes. This is your opportunity to address the council. Council is unable to respond or engage

Thank you so much. Is there anyone else wishing to speak under this agenda item? Yes, please state your name for the record.

Thank you so much. Is there anybody else that would like to speak? Welcome and please state your name for the record. Mighty City Council.

I would suggest to you, and you know this, that you need to talk to the Regional Transportation Commission. I know you go to all the meetings. I think this is an important thing for them to hear.

I think when you speak to the director at the next RTC meeting, explain this to her and she can remedy that situation. And thank you so much.

I think the most, yes. It's on video. Your course of action would be the Regional Transportation Commission, of which two members of the city council sit on. So I am quite certain that that would be your avenue to correct this, situation. I will look forward to seeing you. Thank you so much. Is there anybody else wishing to address the city council at this time? If not, we will move on to agenda item 70, council emerging issues, discussion regarding potential items for future city council agendas or awards. Any discussion must be limited to whether or not the proposed items shall be placed on

Thank you very much, Mayor. We'll start with the Southern Nevada Housing Policy Forum. which happened on the 20th of July. I was very happy to attend. There were lots of elected officials there, the mayor, MPT was there. We really had a wonderful time learning and contributing to the improvement of housing policy and look forward to their conference coming up in September. On the 24th of July, we had Youth Safe Night. That was at the Wealthy Place Ministries. They created and gave the community a safe place to spend with their families, gather school supplies, and enjoy the final days of summe

So all these amazing things are happening right at the WETC campus. They have a space there and I'm just extremely proud of these young people. proud of their teachers, their instructors, their support system, Machina's here and others. This is the beginning. This is how we get started and this is how we support our young people to participate fully in this next iteration of technology. So thank you all for providing that information and for the notes that I didn't read very well. Super proud of you and I hope that you will continue participating And we're looking for you to be employees at th

Have a great day. I noticed that you didn't highlight our visit to the Peruvian restaurant. That is not released yet. Oh, never mind.

We're waiting for comms to do the film and then we'll put it in the next one. It should be done. But we, yes, we went to Moya, which means the tender cut. I ate there twice in one day. I had to take my husband back and Aura for her birthday because her birthday was yesterday. Happy birthday, Aura. on Bonanza and Rancho. It was amazing.

On behalf of all of your colleagues on the city council, we want to wish you a very happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Alan Polanski.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I have this beautiful intern next to me, Kaylee Caswell. She is a university student in Arizona. We will lose her next week. She's been all summer with us. In addition to that, she is a fire kid. And just for the students in the audience or perhaps listening folks at home, if you're interested in interning with one of the council folks, Please contact us about two months before school gets out. Send us your resume, and we will decide who the interns are. If you're a fire kid, you might get preference with me. If you're in Ward 4, you'll probably get preference from that

Thank you Madam Mayor and happy birthday to Councilman Armstrong and then also happy birthday to Councilman Kelly. One had a birthday yesterday then next she's having one tomorrow so I'm very happy we're going to be all birthdayed out after this meeting. It is also with a heavy heart that we just pray for the family of the fallen officer and we're just so sad that that happened and we lost someone who was stepping up to serve and protect us but All we can do is wish that it doesn't happen in the future. We will get started with the first thing that I have to share with you all was my veterans

Thank you. A few weeks ago, we were delighted to celebrate the grand opening of Beale Henderson Point, an affordable housing community at Rancho and Duncan Drive. Thank you to the Michaels organization for building this stunning community that this community deserves. It was also meaningful to hear from the families of Elversa Beales and Essie Henderson, for whom the community is named. We honored their legacies of labor reform, improving access to healthcare, and community development. Our youth pickleball series was a smashing success. Youth ages 12 to 24 of all skill levels played picklebal

Thank you so much. And Councilwoman Kelly, we also want to wish you a very, very happy birthday. And why don't you bring us home?

We were at, Luann and I, Luann and I, our city clerk, were at the grand opening of the Secretary of State's office. Now, you may not see yourself there, for those of you who were there. And that's because after the outside comments, Lou Anne and I went, followed everybody, and we stood patiently waiting in line while, unbeknownst to us, the ribbon cutting was going on. So we made sure to memorialize that by taking that picture. So to the Secretary of State, we were there to support you. I know Mayor Pro Tem and the mayor made it in. I don't know who else made it in, but it wasn't us. So we wer

Well, again, a very happy birthday. Thank you very much. The City Council meeting is adjourned.