A few notes for those who defend the V&T Recon project no matter what the facts or costs are:

"It's entertainment, not interstate commerce."

According to someone who knows, I'll leave him nameless but he's a long-term project consultant, the reason the Overman Pit section looks like a freeway is because at the time NDOT only had one standard for railroads and they built to that standard.

Currently Ken Dorr is continuing the freeway not because of any engineering requirement, but because of the environment of liability we live in. What engineer wants to build a project to minimum specs.

To the people who stand behind the Commission 100%, say they will stay in Carson, and say this project is worth it no matter how much it costs, please send your checks to Kevin Ray of the V&T Commission. All they need is another $30 million to finish off their wishlist.

It's interesting to note the recent audit that the Carson City redevelopment agency just went through. There are so many violations of law, no bid contracts and other misuse of public funds it's likely going to a grand jury.

The Commission makes the Carson Redevelopment board look like amateurs. Here's just one example. The Commission bought the land on Drako Way and gave the tenant a leaseback at $1 per year. This went on for awhile until the Commission finally realized that was an illegal setup.

Turns out in this crazy country government must rent land out at fair market value, according to both state law AND the Federal Regs the Commission has voluntarily put itself under. At a meeting over a year ago, they called off the deal, saying they couldn't find a way around the federal laws.

The Commission regularly ignores state and federal law in the way they acquire property. If this is the kind of government you want, you've got it!

Now for me, since the Commission is toothless for now, I'm just going to quit paying attention. But keep your eye on two things:

One, Sen. Amodei has a bill draft request to reshuffle the Commission and add three seats. Rumor is these seats will go to Carsonites like Mayor Marv (once he's done being Mayor he's off the Commission) and Janice Ayres.

You tell me, how does adding two or three more political appointees who know nothing about railroads make this a better project?

Also, despite their losing the Carson City tax vote 61-39, the vote was only advisory. It's very likely that the current or future Board of Supervisors will implement the tax regardless of the vote and the Commission will get another $10 million.

For a $20 million dollar project this is getting pretty expensive. For those who disagree with me, please tell me, what are your limits of financial support?

If this project costs $70 million is it worth it? How much more should Carson City spend to benefit Reno hotels?

Signing off...