By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Culinary Workers Union Local 226 members made a strong showing at the Clark County Commission meeting Tuesday to back their secretary-treasurer, Geoconda Arguello-Kline, for an appointment to the public stadium board. But the commissioners voted, 5-2, to re-appoint Laborers Union Local 872 Secretary-Treasurer/Business Manager Tommy White to the panel overseeing the Raiders’ new football stadium scheduled to open in mid-2020.
Arguello-Kline had the backing of some of Nevada’s biggest political names, including both U.S. senators, Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and powerful Harry Reid for the stadium board appointment. But Arguello-Kline of the 60,000-member union of bartenders, cooks and housekeepers lost out to White, a vocal pro-stadium advocate and big Raiders fan.
The culinary union emailed an Arguello-Kline statement on the vote. It read, in part:
“We deserve better representation on the Stadium Authority Board. The Clark County Commission let Nevadans down today with their refusal to appoint to the board a qualified candidate who understands hospitality jobs and workforce development. The Allegiant Stadium will bring our community many job opportunities, and these jobs should be open to all – not just those who know someone.
“Clearly this decision today shows that the Clark County Commission does not care about the conduct and reputation of their members on the Stadium Authority board. If they wanted to affirm that board members can be racist, sexist, and threaten violence on Twitter (like Donald Trump does) and get away with it – they have succeeded. Representation matters. The Clark County Commission missed an opportunity to show their commitment to equity and diversity today. Some commissioners are wrong to say that they ‘don’t see color’ or that the largest organization of immigrants in Nevada is ‘playing the race card,’ but the fact is there is not one woman of color on the Stadium Authority Board and the Clark County Commission’s decision is disheartening as we end this decade and head into 2020.”
LVSportsBiz.com tried to contact White after the vote, but was unsuccessful. White represents the Laborers Local 872, which shows big support for the public subsidy that is helping finance the construction of the stadium. Here’s White at a pro-stadium rally in 2017.
Local 872 also enjoys showing its pro-Raiders bus at events.
The overall Raiders stadium project is nearly $2 billion. It includes a $1.4 billion budget for the construction of the 65,000-seat, domed stadium. The public is providing $750 million toward the construction of the stadium. Allegiant Air, based in Summerlin, bought the naming rights to the stadium, which is scheduled to be completed July 31, 2020.
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.