(Tim Ross, AOPA ASN-VGT) – Here in Southern Nevada, we pride ourselves on a culture of independence, free enterprise, and a deep respect for private property rights.
We believe that when a citizen earns a living, invests their hard-earned money, and acquires property, that asset belongs to them—not to a government committee, not to a board of directors, and certainly not to an unchecked municipal bureaucracy.
Yet, right in our own backyard, the Clark County Department of Aviation operates under a philosophy that feels less like local governance and more like a textbook exercise in command-and-control monarchy.
Jim Chrisly, the Clark County Department of Aviation Director, hired a consultant in June 2026 to create a “Reversion Policy.” A reversion policy transfers ownership of a hangar (personal property) to the airport at the end of the lease, without any compensation.
For years, local aircraft owners, hangar tenants, and aviation small-business operators have watched with growing alarm as traditional notions of private property ownership are quietly eroded.
In a true market economy, when you invest in facilities, lease land, or build up an aviation enterprise, you maintain equitable control, stability, and the freedom to manage your assets. But under the heavy hand of the Clark County Department of Aviation, private initiative is increasingly subjugated to the sprawling appetite of centralized control.
When a government agency claims the unilateral authority to dictate who can use and own property, forces out long-standing private operators, and absorbs hangars and aviation assets into an expanding public portfolio, it crosses a dangerous line.
It transforms independent citizens into tenants at the mercy of state-adjacent landlords. It is the steady, quiet march of taking what belongs to the individual and turning it into government-controlled property—a concept that looks far more at home in a monarchy than in a Nevada airfield.
And over one-third of the aircraft hangar owners are veterans. Veterans who risked their lives to protect our freedom and liberties.
Airports are economic engines, vital lifelines driven by the passion, sweat, and capital of private aviators and entrepreneurs. They thrive when fueled by individual liberty, not bureaucratic oversight.
When the Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA) treats public land and private investments as its own personal kingdom, it stifles the very enterprise that made our aviation community great.
The CCDOA has received a $200 million grant to extend the runways at North Las Vegas Airport. The CCDOA administration would like to move out small single-engine aircraft owners and focus on large private jets, like the Gulfstream G650 and G800.
But the FAA has clear “Grant Assurances,” like Grant Assurance 22, which protects against what the FAA calls “Economic Discrimination.” Grant Assurance 22 protects against moving out small operators to focus only on larger jets.
CCDOA is trying to circumvent the fundamentals and protections of Grant Assurance 22, which violates the rights of the customers (tenants). In fact, part of the reason the $200 million grant was received is that the airport is a multi-purpose airport and serves small general aircraft operators.
It is time to remind our local officials of a fundamental truth: public agencies exist to serve the public, not to absorb it.
We are a government of the people, not a people of the government.
Property rights are the bedrock of our freedom, and they must be defended—whether in a personal residence, on Main Street, or on the tarmac.
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