Corruption in Las Vegas? Say it isn't so...

WARNING: This is a rant. It contains profanity and the sentiments expressed would probably be considered subversive in nature by those working within the Power & Greed Machine.


I was recently talking with a friend who works at the Las Vegas Valley Water District, our "not for profit water supply agency." Our conversation left me depressed, outraged, and even more cynical about the state of our so-called modern society. 

In February of this year, Patricia Mulroy, the General Manager of LVVWD since 1989, retired. I don't know a whole lot about Ms. Mulroy, except that during her term The Springs Preserve was created and it's an amazing center for conservation, education, culture, and history here in Las Vegas. She has also been very active within the community and from what I've read, held in high regard by many.

I know even less about her successor, John J. Entsminger, except that he's a lawyer who has been with the LVVWD since 1999 and one of the first things he did was to lay off a whole lot of people. Seems like everyone in the Power & Greed Machine are still crying the poor mouth, in spite of the fact that our economy is improving. Perhaps they think that if they keep talking about the lack of money, they won't have to reinstate all the things they took away when the economy really was bad. And they can justify taking even more things away (like people's jobs), because "there's no money."

So here's the outrage part (like laying people off isn't enough): For years there have been signs all over the Water District's buildings and offices that carry the agency's "mission statement." Recently, all those signs were taken down  and replaced with NEW signs (how many thousands of dollars did that cost, Mr. Entsminger?). There was no announcement about this. One day the old signs were there, the next day they weren't.  And guess what? The new signs look exactly like the old signs with one exception: the old mission statement signs carried an "Ethics Statement."  The new ones don't.

 What. The. Fuck?

Does anyone else have a problem with this? Because I sure as hell do. You don't have the money to pay people, but you can pay for signs that clearly state the new regime's mission: WE HAVE NO ETHICS AND INTEND TO DO WHATEVER THE HELL WE PLEASE. How can anyone think this is an OK way to behave?  This is yet another example of "business as usual" brought to you  by the P & G Machine.

I wonder how long it'll take me to dig a well. Oh, wait - you're breaking the law if you're not connected to our "not for profit" water supply agency...