EDITORIAL: Accountability a ‘political talking point’ and other follies

With apologies to humor columnist Dave Barry and his annual year-end-in-review — a gut-busting look back at national events over the past 12 months — we offer our own evaluation of the silly, sad and inane from 2025. As Mr. Barry would say, we are not making any of this up.

In March, Las Vegas agreed to pay $636 million to a developer after losing multiple lawsuits concerning the City Council’s efforts to stop the construction of high-end housing on the defunct Badlands golf course. City officials paid no heed to critics who warned that they were putting taxpayers at risk by blocking the developer’s use of his own property. No public officials were forced to come out of pocket for their abuse of municipal power. The taxpayers? That’s another story …

… Clark County School District officials announced in November that the high school graduation rate improved from 81.5 percent in 2024 to 86.6 percent in 2025. “I’m so very proud of the work that all our educators, our principals and our students themselves have put in,” Superintendent Jhone Ebert said. Meanwhile, Nevada registers among the lowest scores in the nation on the ACT, a college readiness exam; chronic absenteeism was 27 percent for the 2024-25 school year; and only 19.4 percent of Clark County high school students scored well enough on standardized tests to be considered proficient in math. What’s the value of that diploma? …

… Gov. Joe Lombardo called a special legislation session late last year to address “unfinished” business, primarily a plan to offer $1.8 billion in transferable tax credits — which would be sold to insurance and gaming companies — to Hollywood moguls under the guise of juicing local TV and film production. Virtually every study of such programs concludes that the subsidies deliver pennies on the dollar. The proposal lost by one vote. …

… The Clark County Commission unilaterally extended a local gasoline tax that generates money for road improvements despite the fact that residents had previously been assured that any continuation beyond the 10-year sunset would require approval from the voters. …

… Democratic lawmakers in Carson City killed a proposal that would have required the Legislature to make bills available for at least 72 hours before voting on them. They also nixed a plan to ensure that the Legislature is subject to open records laws. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, a Las Vegas Democrat, dismissed the ideas as “political talking points.” …

… Despite the two largest tax hikes in state history over the past decade to raise money for the public schools, the Nevada education establishment seeks another $1 billion a year for education while fighting any efforts to reform the current system. There is scant evidence that the influx of money has improved academic performance.

Happy 2026!