West Side advocates press SNCC for coordinated development, preservation, governance and local contracting

Multiple community speakers urged the Southern Nevada Enterprise Community Board to center Historic West Side residents in redevelopment plans, preserve landmark sites and expand locally controlled governance and contracting opportunities.

Darlene Day, chief operating officer at the Harrison House, described the site as a historic tourist destination and African American cultural center on the West Side and invited board members to a Moulin Rouge Day anniversary on Saturday, May 24. Day said the Harrison House “was advertised in a green book” and that the venue and surrounding neighborhood are central to local cultural heritage.

Catherine Duncan, representing the Unified Westside Neighborhood Associations, told the board she was “excited about all of the developments” in the neighborhood but worried they were not being coordinated. “I don't see any integration of all of these processes,” she said, listing traffic, broadband, water and sewer as examples. Duncan recommended adopting a virtual community action planning platform—an asset-based, integrated digital approach used in other cities—and urged developers to reserve a portion of project budgets for paid neighborhood participation and for community members to be compensated to review 3-D renderings.

Karen Schnogg, director of the CNI program at the Housing Authority, announced two Marble Manor outreach events. She said relocation of phase 1 is “almost complete,” that phases 2 and 3 relocation will be discussed at public sessions on the 27th with meetings at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. (with dinner between), and that the Marble Manor reconstruction comprises five phases. Schnogg said the outreach includes an event for businesses to learn how to become subcontractors on the Marble Manor project and that additional business development opportunities will be offered to help local firms compete for later phases.

Tashika Lawson read a letter from a coalition of community stakeholders proposing the creation of a regional governance mechanism—the “Greater Historic West Side Intergovernmental Council”—and alternately a coordinating committee under “Nevada Revised Statute 2 7 7,” both described in the letter as community-led, nonbinding frameworks for alignment across Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County. Lawson asked to brief the board in a future meeting and proposed forming a Historic West Side subcommittee within SNCC. Lawson also proposed creating a specialty Greater Historic West Side license plate to raise funds for community economic development and cited ProPublica filings to say the Centennial Commission raises about $1.6–$1.7 million a year and holds roughly $7 million in assets; those figures were presented by Lawson as supporting information and are attributed to her citation of external filings.

Several speakers emphasized improving public notice and outreach so residents know when SNCC meetings occur and can attend. Catherine Duncan and others urged the board to use its statutory authority to center the original West Side boundary the board was created to serve and to ensure community representation shapes development strategy.

No formal board action on these specific proposals (governance council, specialty license plate, or developer requirements) was recorded in the meeting transcript; speakers requested opportunities to present briefings or materials at future meetings.