Letters: A Letter to Commissioner Rory Reid

Commissioner Reid:

Thank you for your service on the County Commission. I am not in your district but I am grateful for your efforts to improve the valley as a whole.

After hearing you speak on State of Nevada last night I wanted to share with you some excellent questions I’ve read regarding success as a community in terms of environmental and social sustainability.

These selected questions, bulleted below, come from architect Dan Williams’ focus on community measures in the AIA’s Roundtable on Sustainable Design III: Measures of Sustainability.

• How much energy is used to provide your water needs?
• What natural amenities have you created in the acquisition, distribution, cleaning, or disposal of water?

We need to act more aggressively to maintain our water security in the future. The county and the commission addresses this issue, but I would like to see additional effort brought to bear in minimizing the impact of new development. Providing additional water service and treating additional waste should occur when a clear and substantial benefit to the community is present. Density could minimize these impacts. I’d also like to see better integration between county services when cost savings and mutual benefit can be realized.

• To what extent is the community protected from natural disasters and/or designed to mitigate damage from disasters?
• What post-disaster planning has been done, and how well does a rebuilding plan take advantage of opportunities for greater sustainability?

We need plans for major disruptions: natural, industrial, economic, as well as for terrorism. On this anniversary of September 11^th, we must remember the towers falling; remember the feeling in the pits of our stomachs, and the feeling of what’s next. We have also seen cities like New Orleans emptied by hurricanes and Detroit emptied by a narrow scope of investment. Please consider diversifying our economy and decentralizing our infrastructure in an effort to make the systems we rely on for our daily life more robust and survivable.

Nevadans choose to be self-reliant and independent. Help us maintain this choice in the future.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Sincerely,

Paul Cline, AIA

CC:     David Berns
          makingprojects.blogspot.com

Paul Cline, AIA is an architect and builder in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a member of the Young Architects Forum Advisory Committee and writes on issues of community, sustainability, and innovation in design and construction.