Lake Asks Brown to Reveal Requested Details of “Slush Fund”

(Las Vegas, NV) – Today [July 11] on the Alan Stock show Craig Lake, candidate for Clark County Commissioner in District C, called into question comments by his opponent and current County Commissioner Larry Brown. Brown’s comments, in a special budget meeting on May 21, called into question increases in 48 of the 50 function areas of the service and supply budget- many of which were significantly higher than last year. Brown said the “cumulative increases are huge,” and continued they were in the millions of dollars. Brown said he feared this could potentially be a “slush fund.”

In his appearance shortly before Brown on the Alan Stock show this morning, Craig Lake asked Larry Brown to produce additional details and justification for these line items. “Commissioner Brown specifically called out these service and supply budget items as a potential ‘slush fund’,” said Craig Lake in additional comments. “I am asking today for him to provide the same detail and explanation for these increases to the public, that he himself requested from his staff in May. I am also asking for an explanation as to why he would approve a budget the same day he expressed these concerns.”

Later on Alan Stock, when asked specifically about a potential “slush fund” in the Clark County budget, Commissioner Larry Brown did not seem to remember the comments he made less than two months ago. Commissioner Brown raised the issue in a special budget meeting May 21. (Commissioner Brown’s comments can be found here at approximately the 41:20 mark http://clark.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=17&clip_id=2792)

Complicating matters, Brown made additional comments in April specifically saying these service and supply budgets were areas [in which] the County could save money. Melody Howard with Veterans in Politics asked Commissioner Brown specifically about opening up various services and supplies to competitive bid to save the County money. Commissioner Brown’s response (which can be found here at approximately 33:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy1D3l_E5Fs&context=C492f9d2ADvjVQa1PpcFM2RWemADC4PA6XcAegLv-hNiU9fATMS-M) was “Now is the time. A few years back when we had double digit revenue growth and everybody was working, everybody had jobs and the county was in a good financial position, there weren’t those complaints…It’s the contracts, the procurement process that has the opportunity to not only save money now in the crisis we’re in, but more importantly change the way we do business- and that fundamentally is an opportunity we have now, that we haven’t had in a long time…”

Craig Lake finished by saying, “I don’t understand how three months ago, I sat in an interview with Commissioner Brown, and he said these services and supplies were an area where we could save money and that ‘now was the time’. Then a month after that, he sees and has concerns about increases in the County budget and calls them a potential ‘slush fund’- but still approves the budget. Now, two months later the public still hasn’t seen the details he requested, and he does not even remember his comments. It is time to put an end to the business as usual on the Clark County Commission. It is important we elect a business owner who knows how to make tough decisions, negotiate costs, and make smart cuts to our budget.”