George Harris Says Nevada Legislature Needs “Adult Supervision”

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Unknown Speaker 2:07
This is Nevada newsmakers with Host Sam shad, a no holds barred political forum now from the Nevada newsmakers broadcast headquarters. Here is Sam shad

Sam Shad 2:18
and back on Nevada newsmakers, we’re always pleased to welcome back to the program. George Harris, candidate for state senate district number eight. Pleasure to have you back on the program, sir.

George Harris 2:28
Well, thank you, Sam, and thanks for having me. And you would think that I’ve lost all my marbles. I’m actually running for office.

Sam Shad 2:35
All right. So, so Okay, you’ve had an incredibly successful career as a businessman. You retired not too long ago, although you still are running businesses, but not in the way you were before you’ve had a great political career. You a state party chair for the Republican Party for a long time.

George Harris 2:55
County chair

Sam Shad 2:56
I’m sorry. County chair, I beg pardon. And my question is, why now did you decide to run for the state senate?

George Harris 3:05
Well, a few reasons. One truthfully is, you know, I’m going to be 65 in May. I still have a lot to offer, and the legislature needs adult supervision. It really does. You know, the vernacular and the behavior patterns up there amongst the Democrats is unacceptable. I mean, the vernacular they use on social media, where they tell the governor, quote, unquote, to go blank yourself. It’s not acceptable by elected officials. I mean, look, X and all that stuff, kids. Kids are the ones who use that, and then they think it’s acceptable, you know, we want to know why they’re misbehaving and why that, because they see adults that are elected officials using that kind of language, and it’s not acceptable. And it will stop when I get there. I promise you, I understand the bully pulpit, and I will embarrass everybody who uses that kind of vernacular. I will embarrass anybody who doesn’t give every bill a hearing. I mean, you know this, this visceral hatred that that the far left of the Nevada Democratic Party has towards Republicans and non partisans is not acceptable, and it’s going to stop.

Sam Shad 4:24
Okay So let’s, let’s be fair here and say that it’s not just the extreme left. It’s also the extreme right and their vitriol against the you know, I mean, that’s one of the biggest-

George Harris 4:36
and Sam, you’re 100% correct. It is extreme right, but there’s needs to be adult supervision. And look, I’m a retired CEO of a big company. I know how to manage budgets. I know how to manage people. I know how to work with everyone. And I will tell you that, that I’ll get up there and we’re gonna we’re gonna make changes, and people are gonna start. Acting with some decorum and respect for each other.

Sam Shad 5:04
All right, so let me ask you this,

George Harris 5:05
if not, if not, I will use my abilities to embarrass you. And I have, I have a gift to embarrass people when they act up.

Sam Shad 5:17
Well. You also have a huge social media presence. Number one. Number two, you have not ever been afraid to be interviewed, either by me or any other broadcaster or any other news media. And it seems to me that some Democrats who are now running for higher office and different offices are going to suffer from the fact that for the last five years they have not been willing to do interviews.

George Harris 5:50
Well, look, if you decide you want to get into this quote, unquote, game of politics, first of all, the only reason you should get in this game is to better regular folks lives. You know, I’ve been pretty successful. I’m pretty happy. I know how to I know how to read budgets. I know how to fix stuff. I am only I’m going to be 65 I’m only going to do this one time, and I’m only going and I’m only doing this for the taxpayer. I look, I’m in what’s a word, I’ll be kind. I’m in Dutch, in Dutch with the lobbyist. The lobbyists do not like me. They know that there’s going to be a new sheriff coming to town. They know I’m not going to put up with their behavior patterns and and I’m going to be there for the taxpayer. I’m going to make sure that the taxpayer is protected and that the taxpayer is the number one issue, and not lobbyist and special interest group.

Sam Shad 6:49
All right, so if you are fortunate enough to be elected, and you’ve got to get through a primary first, but what committees would you be interested in serving on?

George Harris 7:01
Well, you know, ways and means always would be the smart thing to put me on. I energy, definitely energy, because, you know, we are facing a horrific challenge in energy. You know, we’re going to, we’re going to close a refinery here. We’re not, but that crazy man from the from the west of us, the governor of California, is going to close a refinery here in the next five weeks, which is going to make our gas prices go up. Probably take dollars, and with the war in Iran, they might end up being $9 because, because, that, you know, they’re cutting off another source of fuel. We have to, we have to bring another straw in from, I would say, northern Salt Lake, over into West Windover, build a transfer station, which could create, and will create anywhere from eight to 12,000 jobs for three years. It’s, we’re not going to resolve this problem in months. It’s just not going to happen. Not going to happen. We’re going to have a lot of hurt, but you’re going to need someone with experience like me, and you’re going to need someone that understands adult supervision, like me. The problem with the legislature now is we have a bunch of activists, a bunch of retired bureaucrats and a bunch of bureaucrats, I would be one of four business people that would be sitting in the legislature, and that’s a very scary, scary thought.

Sam Shad 8:31
Let me just correct one thing that you said. So I don’t believe that Governor Newsom is responsible for shutting down the refinery. I think the policies of the Newsom administration have caused the oil companies to want to shut down the refineries in California, and that is the problem there. Just and

George Harris 8:50
Sam, just, just, thank you for that. That just proves that I that we need to have a guy like me up there adult supervision, because your interpretation of that is nonsensical. It is his policies that are closing the refinery. Sam. He’s the guy

Sam Shad 9:06
I just said that. My response is not nonsensical.

George Harris 9:09
Governor Newsom’s not really- Yes, it is Governor Newsom, period. End of discussion. It’s, it’s absolutely insane. The policies that this man has put on Californians, which, by the way, affect the Nevadans. What else is insane is that the politicians here that agree with Newsom, ie, the Aaron Ford, the Attorney General, who who would be lockstep with this guy, it’s, it’s these frightening thought processes and the way these people, because these folks, they’re good people, Sam, they just don’t know anything about business and they don’t know anything about unintended consequences.

Sam Shad 9:49
Okay, so just to clear up a point here, you just agreed with me, so we’re agreeing on the fact that it was governor Newsom’s policies. And I will also back you up and say. That Governor Newsom, just this past weekend, was spending time in Nevada with candidates for office and higher office, and they are supporting each other in that okay, let me ask you a different question. So part of what you’re doing is going around and talking to people in the district. What are you learning from them that you didn’t know before. What has surprised you about what they’re saying?

Sam Shad 10:25
Well, one thing surprised me, when I talked to a lot of people, and you wouldn’t think and I knew this was a massive issue, you know, because I’m a grandpa, the boys and girls sports, it’s a real thing. It’s and it’s very frustrating because young ladies are losing scholarships nationwide. You know, no one ever wants to report on that, because you have boys and girls sports. Boys and girls sports is, it’s a fairness issue. That’s all it is. It’s all about fairness. It’s not fair that boys are playing in girls sports. You know, there’s a Y chromosome and an X chromosome. It’s pretty simple. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist,

Sam Shad 11:05
All right. So my point on this would be that this is such a minuscule problem, but on the other hand, it is a very top of mind issue for parents. And I understand both sides of this, but we can’t-

George Harris 11:24
You’re wrong. It’s not a miniscule-

Sam Shad 11:25
George we cannot even come up with a number for the state of Nevada of occurrences of this. I’m not saying-

George Harris 11:36
Okay, so let me help you. Let me come up with a number. Sam, let me come up with a factual number for you, the number one. Sam, if one young woman in the state of Nevada loses out of scholarship because a boy is playing in sports, that’s a massive problem. The other thing in the neighborhoods that they talk to me about every day is school choice. We have got to listen, as an ex CEO of a big company, when we recruited C, C suite executives to come help run the company, and found out at the end when they turned us down because our quote, unquote, education system was in shambles, which it is. I mean, we’re 48th in the nation, and my opponent, Marilyn Don Daryl loop has been in the legislature for 16 years. She’s been the chairman of the education committees, and she is we went from when she took over, we went from 42 we’re now at 48 it’s just time for a change. Look, she’s a nice lady, but it’s time for a change. She’s been there too long. She’s, you know, the next time I come on your show, I’ll share some stuff with you that will curl your hair, about about about my opponent, which is very frustrating.

Sam Shad 12:54
Okay, so first of all, on that particular topic, let me say that I’ve already invited Marilyn Dondero loop onto the program. We have not set a date or time yet, but she’s always welcome here on the program. And we’re coming to Las Vegas in April, and hope to have the both of you on the program then to talk about, you know,

George Harris 13:15
She won’t, she won’t have the guts to come on with me.

Sam Shad 13:19
George, it is my job to invite people. It is their job to decide whether they want to come on or not. And I think that, frankly, that is an issue for any politician that doesn’t want to come on to and it doesn’t have to be this program, but on any program, to talk to the public about why they should be in their jobs. Okay, school choice, so Governor Lombardo put in over $2 billion in the last legislative session toward education, well over $2 billion how much time as a businessman, do you allot for that to see as it works its way through the system as to whether it’s working or not. Or can you say with certainty at this point, it’s just not working?

George Harris 14:08
At this point, it’s just not working. And if there’s got to be a change, Sam, because people school choice is a pretty simple and pretty easy, pretty easy thing to say it’s school choice, meaning that that that brown kids and black kids and white kids and orange kids and Jewish kids, their parents should have the right to send their kids to whatever school they want. And what, what scares the hell out of the teachers union and what scares the hell out of the administration is the fact that now schools are going to have to compete, and school choice causes computation. Sam, what I don’t understand is we’re 48th in the nation in public schools. Yet our, our, our charter schools are like 11, and that’s because parents are involved with charter schools. This is about getting parents involved with schools. And this is about telling the establishment that, Look, you guys have had a long time to fix this problem and you can’t fix it. And I’ll tell you something, I want to make sure every kid, every single kid, has whatever opportunity their parents want them to have. And and I will tell you that the kids we need to be more concerned about, you know, is, is brown kids and black kids period. I mean, we have got to give opportunity to these children, to allow them to flourish in the school system and not just get locked in and get transferred up to the next grade, the next grade, without having any efficiency in their ability to have knowledge.

Sam Shad 15:45
All right, let’s take a break. We’ll come back more with George Harris. He’s running for State Senate district eight, and we’ll be right back after this time out. We’re the

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man, this is Nevada newsmakers.

Sam Shad 18:25
And back on Nevada newsmakers, we continue our conversation with George Harris. He’s a candidate for state senate eight. Let’s talk about the cost of housing. Are people talking to you about that as you go out on the campaign trail?

George Harris 18:41
Yes. Everybody talks about the cost of housing, but, and, you know, they’re talking about, oh, we need affordable housing. We don’t need affordable housing. We need attainable housing. Okay, when you say the word affordable, then you get, you get people that are that, that, that don’t think from a business perspective, and they start saying, oh, we gotta give. We’ve gotta give help from the county or the city to help pay rents. We need attainable housing. How do you get attainable housing, which I’ve pitched on this show for years, Sam, we need to get the BLM to release all properties within urban areas of the state back to the cities and the councilmen, are back to the cities and the counties and to the state. It’s a simple thing. The governor should call the president and say, Mr. President, you need to make the BLM turn all the urban properties over to the cities and the councils. Because when you talk to the BLM, they’ll say, Oh, we’ve had these on the disposal list. Yeah, they’ve been on disposal list for 25 years. The idea is to come up with creative ideas. Go into areas where we have in schools, where there’s no longer children living in the neighborhoods, okay, like in Las Vegas, on St Louis and Maryland Parkway, there’s a school Roy Wooster, there no kids have lived in that neighborhood. For for 15 years, sell that school off, close that school, go build it in a neighborhood where kids and families live. Sell that property off to developers for $1 and tell them they have to build $300,000 homes. Okay, you know, Sam, the Clark County School District, spent $47 million in gasoline last year, last year alone, moving kids from point A to point B. There is got to be some adult supervision on how these people are spending money. Someone has to review the budgets. And let me tell you one of the one of the one of the plans I have when I get there, it’s going to be called the procurement Review Act, and I’m going to look at every single dime the state spends on procurement, because there’s a lot of companies, a lot of lobbying companies, that get paid 10s of millions of dollars a year by the by the state, while they’re up there, lobbying for their own contracts. So I’m telling you, I will bring adult supervision to the legislature.

Sam Shad 20:59
All right. Another topic I’m presuming you’re hearing about is food costs. What can the state, if anything, do about the cost of food for Nevadans?

George Harris 21:10
Nothing. And I’m the only politician that’s going to be truthful to you, food cost has everything to do with what’s happening in time and space. Food cost will come down. Inflation’s coming down. The policies of the Trump administration are ensuring exactly what I’m talking about, adult supervision. Is it going to happen overnight? No, it didn’t. They didn’t go up overnight. But you know, during during the Biden administration, a lot of those policies led to eggs being priced out of the market. They killed hundreds of millions of chickens, and now we’re finding out that they didn’t need to do that. Look, this is all about policy and all about watching how budget remakes eggs are down expeditiously. The war in Iran, of course, is going to cause gas to go up for a short period of time, but all this stuff will balance out by by mid summer, our economy is going to be so hot people aren’t going to know they’re going to they’re just going to have smiles on their face.

Sam Shad 22:13
All right, okay, we’ll keep that optimistic outlook for all of us our sakes, let’s take another break. We’ll be right back with George Harris after this time out

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This is Nevada newsmakers.

Sam Shad 24:12
And back on Nevada newsmakers, we continue our conversation with George Harris. He’s a candidate for state senate district eight. A lot of stuff going on in the gaming industry right now, your thoughts on some of the stuff that looks kind of ominous,

George Harris 24:27
I can tell you, I got a lot of good gaming buddies, and they’re angry at the George

Sam Shad 24:33
Because?

George Harris 24:34
Because I’ve been pretty vocal about about the parking fees and about, look, you have a really good gaming company who, by The way, is not supporting me, which is the fertittas, because those guys, they know how to run a business, and they have adult supervision. Why they’re not supporting me is beyond me. I’m friends with I’m friends with Frank Lorenzo, but the gaming guys, MGM and. That they’ve got themselves in such a pickle, because, you know, they’re, they’re billions of dollars in debt. They’re charging for parking, they’re charging for for resort fees, they’re charging all this stuff, and they’ve now charged themselves out of the market. But they can’t undo this, because they’re so far in debt. They’ve got to, they’ve got to make money. They look they sold off all their property to REITs, so now they got to come up with rent $6 billion a year, and then their operating costs are like $7 billion a year. So you know, they’ve got to make $20 billion a year before they can make a profit.

Sam Shad 25:36
I’m not disagreeing with you on that. The only thing I say on the other side of it, we’ve got about 45 seconds left, is that you can’t build $4 billion resorts and not charge the kind of money they’re charging. So do you change the product?

George Harris 25:52
No, you know, you go back to how this was and Sam, that’s wrong. You just got a bunch of guys that that wanted to kick the bonds down the football field another five years. So they sold their property, they got the cash, and now they look, it’s not if they’re going to go bankrupt, it’s when they’re going to go bankrupt. And when they go bankrupt, someone’s going to come in and buy them out, and they’re going to change their policy. It’s look, it’s pretty simple. You know, you can’t, you can’t say that you’re the king of the mountain and you don’t know how to run a kingdom. And let me tell you, those lobbyists have told me to my face, they will make sure, quote, unquote, that I will not be elected. And I I accept that challenge,

Sam Shad 26:32
and that’s where we have to leave it. GEORGE Harris, always a pleasure. I’ll see you in Las Vegas. Thank you, sir.

George Harris 26:37
Thank you, my friend, and have a good day,

End of interview. 

Sam Shad 28:10
As always, you can watch Nevada newsmakers 24 hours a day at Nevada newsmakers.com and our archive goes back to 2002 so you can look at all kinds of historic interviews right here on Nevada newspaper. Thanks for watching. We’ll see on the next part you.