For 23 years, I worked as a watchdog journalist, and for the past decade examined and investigated the practices and politics of local government for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

My award-winning work exposed government corruption, waste and incompetence, and resulted in public officials being removed from office or facing criminal charges.

Three generations of my family have lived for years in northwest Las Vegas and Summerlin. We recall the pride and promise of our once growing community. Schools and parks, hospitals, highways and homes took root in well-planned, balanced neighborhoods.

Over the past four years, home values have plummeted and neighborhoods have suffered.
Neighbors, we remember fondly, opted for a short sale or were forced into foreclosure after losing their job. The plumber, the carpenter and the school teacher have departed. In many cases, they have been replaced by out-of-town investors willing to wait years for values to rebound.

More than 25,000 homes built during the boom years from 2004 through 2007 have been involved in foreclosures since 2007, according to county property data. Furthermore, from 2007 through 2009, two-thirds of Clark County homes involved in foreclosures were investor-owned rentals, according to county property data.

Now, the anxious homeowner wants a homeowner next door. The tenants want to own their home; not worry that their children will change schools yet again when the lease expires, or watch helplessly as the value of their home slowly climbs out of reach.

Meanwhile, the problems associated with the drop in home values appear to be escalating across Ward 4.

Four and five cars parked in front of homes, some without license plates. Graffiti and litter. Lawns left to die, and yards overwhelmed by weeds. Homeless panhandling outside our suburban shopping centers. Two children attacked in the restroom at Childrens' Memorial Park in the past few months. Dozens of daytime burglaries in Sun City Summerlin during the past year.

It is time to turn the tide and bring back to our community the energy and enthusiasm we once shared.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and her City Council have helped bolster the downtown area. At the mayor's State of the City speech in January, she highlighted the new Smith Center, the Mob Museum and the new $150 million City Hall.

What did Northwest Las Vegas and Summerlin receive?

When elected, I will:

• Protect twice-a-week trash pickup.
• Bring together realtors, banks, HOAs, tenants to boost home ownership.
• Recruit anchor tenants for our dormant shopping centers.
• Bolster property values with landscaping on major roads.
• Push for police patrols inside neighborhoods.
• Encourage citizen input.

When elected, I will make your neighborhoods the priority in Las Vegas.

Prosperity... Not Politics as Usual.

Frank Geary