Good afternoon, everybody.

Um, delighted to see everyone.

I'd like to thank the members of the Centennial Commission for going above and beyond the call of duty and attending a special session.

Uh appreciate it very, very much, but this is a timely subject.

Um item number one, I'd like to call to order the February twenty-sixth, twenty twenty-six special commission for the Las Vegas Centennial Board meeting to order.

Okay.

Thank you.

Chair Berkeley?

Yes, here.

Commissioner Bryan.

He's here.

Commissioner Arnold, excused Commissioner Stodle.

Present.

Commissioner Brown.

Excuse Commissioner Coffin.

Commissioner Hilton.

Present.

Commissioner Sinna.

Here.

Commissioner Mowbray.

Present.

Commissioner Truesdale.

Present.

Commissioner Brandenburg.

Excused.

Commissioner Creer.

Excused.

Commissioner Mills.

Commissioner Prado?

Here.

Commissioner Diaz.

Thank you.

We do have a quorum.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Um, agenda item three.

Public comment during this.

Excuse me.

I'm sorry, can we do item number two and announce that we are in compliance with the opening?

Oh, I am so sorry.

I thought that was a given.

Um, we are in compliance with the open meeting law.

Is that the case?

Yes, we are.

Thank you very much.

Agenda item three.

Public comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action.

If you wish to be heard, give your name for the record.

The amount of discussion as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed may be limited.

It will be limited to two minutes today.

Is there any member of the public wishing to speak?

Seeing no one, we will move on to agenda item number four.

Commissioner Mobra here, uh page three, line six.

That's incorrect.

And I don't believe I said that because the trial was held at the old courthouse built in 1958 at 200 South Third Street.

The reason I wanted to be specific on this with this world of AI, somebody will do a search, Howard Hughes Courthouse.

And I don't want sending somebody down a rabbit trail.

So I would like to have uh that deleted, which is now part of the mob museum.

So I don't believe I said that.

I'll second it.

All right.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Opposed.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

You're opposing the motion.

Oh, they say okay.

All right.

Um the motion uh to approve the minutes is passed.

Agenda item number five, 26-0064-CLC one.

Final report by Michelle Evans, Director of Sales, Catering and Core Arena with the Plaza Hotel and Casino regarding the completion of the 2025 Las Vegas Days rodeo event, funded by the commission for the Las Vegas Centennial and held at the Core Arena located at 324 South Main Street, which is in Ward 5.

Um Michelle, did you care to come and give us a report?

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

We appreciate it.

Natasha White, our director of marketing is gonna go ahead and kick off the recap from the 2025 Heldorado Days Rodeo.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Hello, my name's Natasha White, and A T A S H I A, last name is W H I T E.

Uh we'll be going over the Heldorado Days Rodeo from 2025.

Um we're gonna recap, have a recap video, go over the rodeo itself, our contest, the new additions that we made, marketing fulfillments, and then if we have any questions at the end.

Oh, how do we go back?

How do I make this play?

Ladies and gentlemen, it's like this.

If you missed last night or you're making your first trip to Hel Dorado, this is a little taste of what you're gonna see tonight.

All right, so as you can see, it was an amazing event.

Um it was more than just an event, it was a community experience.

So on November 7th and 8th, we hosted our uh Haldorado Days Rodeo.

It was a traditional rodeo with uh PRCA and WPRA sanctioned events, and so here are the listed of the eight rodeo events as well as mutton busting.

Uh this year we had 377 contestants, which was up from last year, roughly about 10 contestants.

I I want to just jump in.

We are one of five rodeos in the state of Nevada that is PRCA sanctions, so that's something to really tutor horn about.

Um then this year we had um tickets um that we sold.

So general admission tickets, we did 2321 tickets, and then for VIP, we had 1124 tickets, which was up for 553%.

Um we had our theme nights.

Sorry.

That's for both nights.

For both nights.

Okay, so that was the total of all kinds of tickets.

Thank you.

Yep.

And then over our theme nights, we had Neon Night, which everyone we encouraged them to wear bright colors.

It's all about the kids, their future, and making sure that we're wearing the bright colors to just show that.

On Saturday, it was Patriotism Night.

We honored the military.

We asked everyone to wear red, white, and blue.

And then we also honored a veteran Damien White that served in the Air Force from 2002 to 2006.

This slide, I really want to showcase that we're having contestants and also their stock that are also participating in the NFR.

These two, it was two years in a row that they participated.

So Freckles is the horse you see there, the white horse, and then the trick riders are the two young ladies at the top that participated, participated in the NFR.

And then onto our contests, which was traditional contests that we continued on that we did the coloring contests.

I remember last year we spoke about the numbers being up.

So I made sure to show how many participants we had in the coloring contest last year as well as this year.

And this artwork you see at the bottom is the artwork that we designed.

What's the animal?

The bighorn sheep, which is uh for the state of Nevada.

Um, and so multiple contestants entering.

Um on the right, you see the in-kind gifts that we had from our sponsors for all of the youth that participated in the coloring contests.

And we also had the whiskerino contest again this year.

Um, this was one of our contestants here that won.

It's five different categories.

Uh we had 11 submissions, and for us, we feel that we can definitely increase the number of submissions.

So we are trying to come up with new ideas to increase that submission.

And being that it is over November, potentially partnering with like uh Movember, um, all about growing the mustache or your beard, um, pretty much for the men's health awareness.

Uh and then, of course, we had our uh award recipient um for the Helen Jane Stewart Award.

Her name is Alexandra, and she is from UNLV.

She's a senior over at UNLV.

In the hospitality.

In the hospitality college.

Um, and then some of the new additions we added this year was the nightly line dancing.

Um, that was presented to us or presented by DFX Entertainment.

We had El Dorado Days merch, so t-shirts and hoodies.

Uh, and in those items, we were sure to include the logo on all of the merch there.

Uh, we also had an after party with the forest art car, and that's the art card there on the left, and then this is just a photo of people hanging out for the after party.

And the after party was both nights.

We also had a charitable angle for it this year, so we partnered with Crown Royal, and we had the Purple Bag project.

So basically, all of the people that attended the um rodeo were able to write a note to the military.

Again, we had you know the Saturday uh military night, so they were able to write a note thanking them for all of their hard work that they're doing and keeping us safe.

The next one, sorry, was the then and now tent, which is not a new initiative, but what we did was we partnered with LVC VA, and we had a lady by the name of Kelly that works over there.

She brought a few of the items, so up in the top right, you'll see some of the things there that people were able to, you know, touch and feel.

We expanded on the then and now tent, um, added a few more posters, but not just the posters.

I think really having Kelly there so that people can see the head garments that the show girls wore, or you know, just seeing the other pieces, artifacts that were here from back in the day that they can actually touch, you know, a camera that was from a while ago that you can't really just go to a store and see.

So that was definitely a nice addition.

Yeah, it's more of an interactive um, and kids really enjoyed looking at it as well, and they're you know, looking at their parents going, wow, can you believe how old that is?

The parents were like, Well, yeah, I use that camera, so it was fun.

And then uh with our festival grounds, we had a carnival ride, which you may have seen a little bit of it in the video, as well as games.

We had a petting zoo, uh, we increased our food vendors and um a few photo installations, just trying to create more again an experience for people so that it's not just the rodeo, it gives them other things to do while they're on the grounds.

Um again, I talked about the LVC VA activists there, um, Happy Dad, Red Bull.

Uh we had a barber, um, a local barber from downtown.

He set up shop, and people were able to freshen up their mustache or whatever you have you.

And then Sky Zone was another in-kind partnership that we did, and along with that, we allowed them to come down and engage with the youth.

This is just a map to showcase how it looked and where everyone was able to go.

On the left is the carnival, the top right to the right of that carnival, you'll see where's the festival grounds where all of the activations were, and then we had the rodeo off to the right.

And then this is a snapshot on the audience that attended.

We did a survey on uh the attendees, and it's just a snapshot again.

Um out of that survey that we housed we did, 61% said that that was their first time attending El Dorado Days.

So for me, I took that as we definitely reached a new audience and just showing them the history of Las Vegas.

Um and then the Plaza AI data, I was able to get that from the city.

Um, and so this is showing last year over this year, um, with all of the activations that we added, we were able to have people stay on grounds longer.

And then on to the marketing initiatives.

Um, these are just some of the top performing posts that we did on the first two on Instagram, reaching 126,000 views, the interaction was 2800, and these are pretty strong numbers.

Um especially because you know we're adding um, and I'll get to that slide in a few, but we do have where we're putting ad spend behind the event to draw more people to come down.

Um, and so I feel the numbers were decent.

Um, we did a giveaway, hoping to again spread the word.

That interaction there was pretty high, 27,000 views, 227 interactions, and then the last one was the Facebook.

It's the same giveaway, but just showing it on different channels.

Um next to our website um views or visits.

So this year um there was a total of 34,000 sessions, um, active users was 24,000, and then new users is 22,000, where you can see that growth year over year.

Um, we're really putting forth uh the effort to try and get the word out about El Dorado days.

Uh we sent out emails up towards uh 100 and thousand plus, and the open rate was 9.8.

And then for our paid media, we did Google Ads and Meta ads.

Um on Google impressions were at 8,000.

Um click through rate 31.25%, and a meta.

Uh this meta ad ran a little bit longer.

Uh it's kind of interesting.

We had our tickets up online, and then we saw there was another company uh pretty much selling the tickets as well.

We didn't give permission for that.

So that's when we initiated the Google ads, and that's why the interaction there is a little bit lower.

But that was our way of hoping that people would purchase from us and not purchase from the scalpers or whoever it was that was selling these tickets that wasn't authorized.

Um, and so again, impressions on meta ads was 44,000, and then the click-through rate was 2.4.

Um again, I said, you know, we're putting on a full-fledged rodeo, um, and it is recognized within the WPRA and on PRCA uh sanction.

And so this is us winning the small rodeo award for three years in a row, and then last year we won the medium-size rodeo.

And that's it.

Do you guys have any questions?

Now, this is an informational um agenda item only, so there's no vote.

But does anybody wish to ask any questions, Bob?

Just a couple of questions, and and I'll try and make my voice high so it doesn't sound like this is an interrogation.

Um but the contract that uh was signed by the Plaza Hotel.

This final report says specifically that we will have an accounting of the expenditure uh incurred and how the centennial funds were used, a detailed report on the funding.

Yes, sir.

And I didn't see that detailed report on the funding and from the budget.

It looks like about three or four thousand dollars was allocated.

Uh I have to I'm gonna leave that because I one of the other things just you can put in the back of your head.

I was surprised at the very limited uh uh involvement in the in the coloring book, so to speak, and uh in the with 11 people for the whiskerino.

Uh uh those those numbers really let me use the shocked me that I was expecting a lot more.

That's I think the rodeo is a great event.

But we don't sponsor events, we sponsor historic preservation per se.

The send the uh convention authority is is uh where you go to bring visitors and tourists in that's we only have about 1.8 million.

Convention authority has hundreds of millions of dollars.

So I I'm very protective about historic preservation money.

So let's go back to my question about the detailed report on how the money was spent in this last uh rodeo.

Absolutely.

So our CFO and our accounting department do submit that immediately following the rodeo.

So that's sent over.

Diane, do we have every year?

Why don't we have it?

Seaburn for the record, they the plaza does send us the um for their reimbursement request, yes, but that's not something that is part of this the end report.

If the end report is does require a a budget breakdown, we we don't do staff doesn't do that.

I mean, we have what we paid the plaza after the reimbursement request when we you know verify that they have proof of um payment for everything that they have spent.

But the final report that is required from you to us, the centennial commission should include that and and the other it's my understanding that the request for the the presentation uh was asked, and that would have been included in the board's packet, so we could have reviewed it ahead of time.

Is there any reason why we're seeing it now for the first time or it's just got done or which which part I'm sorry, the yeah the the video your the report itself, the final report.

So the recap is something that we just sent over.

I didn't know that there was a deadline prior to when we had sent it, so I apologize if I missed a deadline.

It's not a recap, it's a report which includes very specifically in the contract and accounting of the expenditures as well as a detailed report on how the centennial funds were used, and then B the elements of the commemorative of the history of Las Vegas, and I think you covered some of that with the whiskerino and the so forth.

But not the budget.

I hear what you're saying now.

So we have not done that previously.

I just assumed that the recap that accounting had sent over, suffice that because we've never included that additional.

I'm happy to have that sent over as soon as I get back back to the office.

But when we do send it, um, like you should have received for the next portion a proposed budget.

When we send that over, for instance, uh it may say bleachers two thousand dollars.

That's just what's allocated out of the centennial commission funding.

Those bleachers are upwards of fifty thousand, sixty thousand dollars.

That's just the number that's allocated.

So I will certainly specifically at the the money for historic preservation and education.

That's where that's where we're charged with not putting on events like the rodeo.

I'm sure you guys did a fantastic job of the rodeo, but we're here for a historic preservation and and and education.

So I was looking for how that that's why I was asking specifically about the dollar figures on on that.

And again, I was surprised 11 Whiskerino.

That's yeah, I'll uh I'll let Natasha speak to that.

She manages the contest.

But isn't the isn't the Eldorado Days rodeo that it was established in 1936 in and of itself a historical portion?

I mean, is yeah, of course.

Of course we it's a pretend historic portion.

We were never never a cowboy town.

And and I do remember having you said that before.

We have a fantastic rodeo in December.

And so if we needed a rodeo, we have one the the national championships.

National financial.

But now's not I think we'll be able to discuss that when we have the actual request for a for the granting of more money.

Uh that will certainly uh certainly come up.

But but putting on a rodeo, we did that for a while with with with the elks, and and that just wasn't money, money well spent.

And I'm not sure that putting on a rodeo in downtown Las Vegas is really how we want to spend another 1.5 million, which we've already roughly spent.

Sure.

So now we're gonna spend two million dollars on a rodeo, and we think that's historic preservation, not me.

Sorry.

Um well, uh we obviously get to have uh a very spirited conversation in a little while.

But Diane, um if I'm not mistaken, Michelle, you said that after uh the the event you send a report, a financial report to the city.

The accounting department does, yes.

Our CFO does send it over to cover the funds that uh were granted by the Centennial Commission.

There are additional uh expenses beyond that, but she does send that over.

Okay, so we have that in our possession.

Is that correct?

Uh C Brain, for the record, that is correct.

So the way that this works is once the rodeo has been completed, the plaza's accounting department does send us the documents, including the invoice, the payments to their vendors or consultants or contractors.

I mean, this is for all our grants, not just the rodeo.

Um, and then we review that, make sure all the expenses are appropriate.

That comes through our office, it goes up through um the director Floyd, then it goes to our finance office, then it goes to our accounts payable office, so it is checked and double checked at least four times, and then they are sent a check for the repayment.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Does anybody else have any questions?

Yes, Louise.

Yeah, I think Senators Commissioner Bryan speaking, excuse me.

Me too.

I think Bob's request is a reasonable one.

In other words, if we're supposed to get a detailed report of the expenditures and how much was used of the centennial grant, we need to see that before a meeting.

I mean, well, I think that's not her problem, it's our problem.

I mean, the city already had it, we just didn't.

So oh Mayor, all right.

If I could submit that's a detailed report, then is it?

So, Mayor Seth Floyd for the record, if I could clarify.

So I think we're talking about two separate but related things.

Um yes, the plaza does submit for reimbursement purposes, their costs that we then review as Diane described.

There is a separate reporting requirement that is in their contract, and it reads um I think Jeff has the version there.

It says it requires that as part of their final report within 90 days of a completion of the project, the grantee is to submit a report to the commission final report, which includes an accounting of the expenditures incurred, including a detailed report of how the centennial funds were used and the elements of the commemoration of the history of Las Vegas.

So I think we we have done our part, and their version their report is by contract supposed to include a similar but related report that specifically details how they commemorated the history of the city of Las Vegas.

Dr.

C.

Brant, have I submitted that before on any?

I don't remember having done this before.

I would have to go back and look at your other PowerPoints.

But normally what happy to do it.

What does happen is final report?

This is their final report.

We don't require some written report.

The final report is their presentation with a PowerPoint to the commission.

Usually what happens is the grantees will include a slide that shows we spent this much on the the horses.

We spent this much on the whatever that blind item may have been.

That was um not included in that, and apologies that we did not um ensure that that did it was included.

Okay, wait, let me know.

Go ahead, Louise.

This is Louise Helton for the record.

And um I I agree that must have been an absolutely fabulous event.

Um I don't know exactly what your grant amount was for last year.

15050.

Okay.

So would uh at 150,000, then let me just do that math real quick.

Then it cost us sixty-seven dollars to get each person to come.

I can tell you that in the past we have looked at talk, we've talked about this before, and it's always been that the amount has been reduced and reduced to the point that then you all were gonna carry it on your own, and you weren't gonna look to us for money anymore.

Is that still the case?

I I'm not sure that this is the time to bring this up, but that's why we're doing the special session is going over the options that are available for whether there'll be more funding or not.

It was sent in the narrative.

Hopefully, you got the copy of the narrative.

I got the agenda.

Okay.

All right.

Mr.

Bryan, if oh yes, please.

Yes, Senator.

You know, I'm not suggesting that there's any kind of impropriety here, please.

Uh not not at all.

But I look at the action item and we're supposed to approve it.

I don't know how you can approve something when you've never seen it.

Maybe maybe that's old fashioned.

I'm not difficulty in the 21st century.

So maybe it's me.

And again, no accusation.

But not at all.

I'm asking to approve something I've never seen.

Commissioner Bryan, Jeff Dorkex, the attorney, the action items the next item.

Mayor, why don't you go ahead and just open the next item?

Uh not yet.

You don't want to you want to hold off because I mean they're going there anyway.

If you want to finish the report, I think we have some other questions, and then I wanted to call on Diane to give us a little history of the funding.

Um so if I may.

Um John, did you want to did you have a question?

No, uh right.

And in that case, Mr.

Coffin.

Thank you, Your Honor.

I uh I'm not sure who to talk to about this because it seems to me that when a request or a traditional submission is required.

That it is in the name of the committee.

If it goes to our staff, that doesn't mean we shouldn't see it all.

Everything that goes to staff is supposed to come to us.

That some of us are pretty detail-oriented, and we can read these things, believe it or not.

And so why I am I'm disappointed that we don't have our hands on what you gave staff.

And I'm not poking any blame at anybody, except they may have felt that that's not needed, you know.

It's just in their bailiwick, that's all we need to do to write the checks or whatever.

But in fact, it's meant for us.

And I've sometimes I don't know why staff doesn't give us everything.

Do they think we're doing this is a controversial topic?

I would think we would want to have everything.

And we haven't seen it.

Staff in the future, everything you receive, please send to all of the commissioners.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

I in uh before we go on to item six, which is our action item.

I would like Diane to give us a little history of the funding of uh this uh event.

Thank you, Cebra, for the record.

So since the obviously the rodeo has been running longer than the Centennial Commission has funded it, but since the rodeo came back into play, and when the Centennial Commission started funding the Elks Lodge, who at that time managed the rodeo um that from the years 2007 through 2015, uh their average amount awarded each year for the rodeo was 192,000 each year.

Then in 2016, uh the rodeo uh management went to the Pro Bull Riders Association, and that was from 2016 through 2018, and the average amount awarded each year for the Pro Bull Riders Association was 290,000 each year.

And then after the Bull Riders, it didn't um man, it was managed by the Plaza Hotel and Casino since 2019, and since that time, um there was about 200,000 each year for the rodeo.

Right, okay.

Um, agenda item number six.

Would you care to present your proposal to us?

Thank you.

Excuse me.

I'm sorry, Chair.

Would you please read the item?

Yes.

Item number six, 25 dare 0065 dash CLC 1.

Discussion for possible action regarding approval of the first amendment to the grant agreement concerning commission for the Las Vegas Centennial Grant number 23-0450-CLC 1 to the Plaza Hotel and Casino for the production of the 2024, 2025, and 2026.

And the amount of 500,000 and extend the grant deadline from November 7, 2026 to November 30th, 2028, and authorizing the president to execute the grant agreement as approved by the city attorney ward five, Ms.

Summers Armstrong.

Would you care to make your presentation?

Thank you, Mayor.

So Jonathan unfortunately is out of town and not able to come and uh explain what it is that we would like to do, what the options may be as he sees it.

Um so you're stuck with me and Natasha.

Our pleasure.

Thank you.

Um he would prefer just to take ownership of the rodeo and continue to invest and grow it and accept 100% of the risk and discontinue funding in asking for the name Haldorado Days Rodeo ownership.

Um I understand that that's not a direction that some of the commission would like to go.

So the second option that Jonathan would like to present is what the mayor just read off, asking for an additional 100,000 for 2026, 200 for 27 and 28, um, in order to continue the rodeo um and the historical events that that we've implemented.

We've consulted with the PRCA to see if moving the event to May in conjunction with the city's birthday and the documentary is an option.

Our only concern, as we've stated before, is the heat for the athletes and the animal athletes if we do it late enough in the day.

Starting in 2027, we we're not able to put a rodeo on of this magnitude in 2026.

So that basically those are the two options that we're we're asking.

If you would like to give us the name Haldorado Days Rodeo, we'll take 100% of the expense.

If you see that there is no value in the rodeo, we'll take the name, we'll we'll take it from there.

If you do see value, then we would appreciate the continued support as all of the expenses are going up.

We do spend about 25% of it on equipment, 50% on labor, 20% on supplies, and 5% on marketing, and everything as you know is continuing to increase.

That's it in a nutshell.

Oh, thank you so much.

Um does anybody have I'm sure there are a number of questions.

Um shall we start at that end?

Mr.

Mowbray, have you any questions?

Well, the concern I have is I don't have any backup, and I I just can't uh really support this at this time.

I'm not gonna vote in a void.

Um be glad to consider it, uh gives give the applicant more time to submit the record so we can start taking a look at this.

But I think it would be Commissioner Mowbray, C Burn for the record, there is backup.

There the backup was sent along with the agenda when you get the notice from the city clerk as well as from Teresa, those links link right to our website, and all the backup is there.

And could I ask what exactly you need, what more information you need.

So whatever you need that is not already contained in here, we can provide or uh they can it can be provided to you.

But I'm I'm kind of having a hard time uh trying to figure out what more you need to help make your decision.

Well, perhaps I didn't read the email that I downloaded the attachments, but I didn't click on the link.

So that's probably my fault.

Commissioner Mowbray, the the links that you clicked on is the backup material.

So that should have brought up when you when you clicked on those links, it just brings up the original grant.

It brings up the request for the um extended funding and time, and then it also brings up the amended um grant agreement that our city attorneys did.

I'm sorry, but it does store for the record, and it I didn't see anything in there into the first proposal regarding ownership of El Dorado.

No, that presentation is not in there.

So the CBRM for the record, it is um on the um it should be backup number three.

Where they would we would give them the Centennial Commission, first of all, can't give them the uh the Heldorado, because I believe that's owned by the city of long term.

Correct.

The it is owned by the city.

So I'm a little confused because we provided all the backup.

That is we have the agenda memo, the original grant agreement, the first amended grant agreement, and the additional narrative and revised budget.

And in that additional narrative is where the plaza mentions the um request for the money and the mention of the um Heldorado Days Rodeo trademark.

And may I may I uh make an inquiry?

Um I was under the impression that the idea of give uh having uh relinquishing uh the um event from the by the city has been brought up before and soundly rejected.

Am I mistaken?

Uh statement for the for um relinquishing the trademark?

Yes, uh the which is what uh the alternatives are.

They'd be more than glad to buy it from the city if we want to relinquish it, but it was my understanding that the city was a hard no on that.

I don't believe it's ever come up in a public meeting.

I believe there have been some private meetings where it was discussed.

Um we did through uh Senator Bryan were able to obtain the trademark for the city from the Elks.

Um it was a very long process, which required several meetings with the Elks and different negotiations, and um they don't the city owns the trade.

The city owns the trademark, correct.

And I honestly uh I would be loath to relinquish that.

Um I don't think uh it's an asset that I think the city should be very um careful to guard.

So I'm not sure I would want uh anybody uh that no matter how good they are to buy that asset from us.

Okay.

John, anything else before we move to Louise?

Yeah, usually my assistant gives me all the backup materials.

He's been out with a bad cold.

Oh so I did it myself.

And that's where I missed that link, but you're right.

It's there, and uh apologies.

No apology is necessary.

Louise.

Um this is Louise Helton for the record, and my position is that in the past we've discussed this, and that this was going to be the last time we gave you money, and we were not you were never gonna have to come back to us again.

And I don't see why that would change.

Your Honor, Mr.

Bryant.

I'm just uncomfortable voting for this today.

I was on the commission when the Elks, my father was the exalted ruler, and I have a member of the Elk very supportive.

We began down the path of funding them, and then we were led to believe that each year thereafter they would be at less until ultimately they were able to fund the event for Heldorado.

You're asking for more money.

I'm just at this point, I'm not persuaded.

I'm not again accusing anybody of any misconduct, but there's just too many things that I'm just not comfortable with at this time.

So that's my two cents worth.

Okay, Mr.

Stodal.

Uh three things.

One the agenda item does not reflect uh the uh question regarding buying El Dorado.

Uh uh it just doesn't say anything about the uh on the agenda, and in the past years, we have been severely strongly told that we have to deal with the item that is on the agenda.

So uh uh not that I would uh uh vote in favor of it, but that's not on that's really not on the agenda.

The backup is in 2023, the Plaza Hotel came to us and said, give us some money for a three-year period, the first year X, the next year lower, and the third year lower than that, and then the fourth year we will assume all all of the all of the costs.

This presentation is going back and saying, well, we didn't mean that for the third year, we need more money for the third year.

So we want to rewrite the contract we already gave, plus we want to give, we've changed their minds.

We can't uh we're not gonna fund this, so give us some money for two more years.

Um the the fact that the held uh the the Heldorado uh you want the the city to turn that over to you.

The the parade was originally excuse me, the rodeo that you had was was called Las Vegas Days, not El Dorado.

It's only been you've only used it for 24 months for two.

So you don't have that much it it it invested in in so you could put on a Las Vegas Days Heldorado.

It's not gonna win or lose uh just because the name Harold Dorado is there.

El Dorado is what our parade is is in May 15th.

So I I'm very apprehensive about any more money for a rodeo.

It just is not that much preservation of our history, and 11 Whiskerino contests and 82 coloring books and a belt buckle just doesn't cut it uh as far as giving um uh two three million dollars.

So I I can't I can't vote for this, uh your honor.

Uh uh the rodeo, I would I'm very excited that and I would stand before the Las Vegas convention authority and support your request for money for a rodeo.

I would be more than happy to do that as a private citizen, but this is historic preservation money, and we only have this much.

We don't have million tens of millions of redevelopment funds, and we don't have hundreds of millions of dollars of convention authorities.

We got 1.8 million, and a lot of that has already been allocated to the the parade and and different things.

So I I'm very protective of historic preservation funds.

Thank you, Mayor.

I thank you very much.

Mr.

Coffin, Mr.

Chuscale, nothing.

Okay.

Well, I'd like to say first of all that I believe we got a lot of commissioners on here that are very smart, very intelligent.

And after everything I've heard, I'd have to sort of agree with them at this point.

Excuse me, the Las Vegas place to have the rodeo downtown.

And I think it's it helps downtown.

It helps everybody downtown.

But I would have to say, I'll stand with you and go before the convention city authority and see if we can help seek funds.

But if the commissioners agree after another meeting that they want to give, then I'd approve it.

But I have to go with my fellow commissioners on the well, you haven't heard this commissioner yet.

Yes.

Um I let me see.

Uh I um uh the ultimate irony here is I'm the least outdoor western person I know, and yet um I I think uh that this rodeo is so uh important for uh to commemorate our past, and I understand what Bob is saying is this has never been a rodeo town.

That may be so technically, but for somebody that came to Vegas in 64, um that was one of the first things my parents took us down to the El Dorado Day.

Well, it was the the parade, and now I think you said that um you would be willing to move the rodeo to coincide with the El Dorado Day Parade, so we have an entire extravaganza here downtown.

Now I understand the um mission of this commission, but I think that it is so much a part of our history, and are you telling me that if uh that without this additional funding, the plaza hotel will not be able to continue putting on the rodeo?

That's gonna be a Jonathan question.

It's uh his yeah, is there a way to make this let's say no more historically significant?

And I I think just the very fact that we're doing uh doing the rodeo downtown and people associated with our history.

I think for me that's enough.

But for those members on the uh on our commission that have uh, and and this is our mission to have a historical link so we're preserving our history.

What more can be done should you get this funding?

And I understand you're asking for uh a hundred thousand for this year, and then to continue the contract, extend the contract so it's 200,000 and 200,000, which quite candidly what we gave the Bull Riders Association, the Elks Lodge, is dramatically less than we gave them in years gone by, even though I suspect it costs more to put anything on now than it did in 1910.

So what can we do to make this more historically significant?

Thank you.

That's a great question, Mayor.

We have um previously looked to the commission for ideas.

I know we've had conversations with a few of the board members.

We're always open to it, Natasha.

As a UNLV grad, um works closely with the school over there to get information.

Um we have worked with just about any historical group that we can to to bring their items out.

We work with the combs family.

Uh they've brought out their their covered wagon, or what do they call that?

It's like the uh Chuck Wagon.

Chuck Wagon, and they dress in in costume and they sit there with their their uh I don't want to say they had an open fire because I don't know if the fire marshal's gonna be watching this, but they sit there and they tell the stories, and it's a very interactive thing that goes on the whole uh the whole time the rodeo is happening.

So we're open to adding anything that we need to.

Um have any of you actually gone to the rodeo?

Any anyone?

Thank you, Mayor.

We also since it's been a plaza.

Yeah, wonderful.

I also met with the Paiute group to see if they could do a performance for us.

Um they came back with a rather high uh fee, and so I couldn't commit to that.

Um we also met with councilwoman councilwoman Chandra uh this year, and so she gave us a lot of ideas to add more historical elements to the event.

It was just two weeks prior, so it was too late to implement anything, but she did have some great ideas and additional people for me to meet with to add more to it.

Did you care to say something, Bob?

Yes, honor.

I've been here since 51.

Um, not as long as our great governor over here to my right, but we both lived in Huntridge neighborhood, and we both could walk to El Dorado, and we did, and it was close, but it was always in uh central location.

I don't think the public is still ready or is believing or having the rodeo in the parking lot at the plaza, but I think that the plaza needs to be commended for keeping it alive.

I I don't think it'll make any money on this deal.

I'm sure they're losing quite a bit.

Yeah, uh huh.

And the decider is not here.

Uh the one because several questions that have been made here about checks.

The guy that signs them is not here.

His name's on my check.

Yeah, and I'm thinking, you know, I don't want to kill it yet.

I don't want to do that.

That's not me.

Uh I'm more thinking along the lines of um negotiating and bringing out the rest of the casinos too, and just forcing those guys to sit down with y'all and try to figure out a way to everybody help this go and and make the plaza be since they're the only ones that were willing to invest money for a long time.

The only ones to invest property that they, you know, they're the lead dog, unless somebody says, hey, wait a minute, let's share that.

You know, it's not fair that you let the plaza have it.

We say to them, where the hell were you when we needed you?

Yeah, we've approached them.

Yeah, uh I've spoken to some too.

I have not partners.

I have not, or there's some logical standout people there.

Anyway, the point is uh I don't want to put the death sentence here on this uh event, and I I want it to keep going in some way, but there is that practical aspect of it.

Uh by the way, whiskerino, it was big then because not many people wore beards.

Now they do.

Everybody got some sort of beard.

Well, then there should be more people in this contest.

Well, you would think so, except they don't they comb them, they trim them, they shave them, they do things.

Twisterino was not for the key question that you asked in some ways has been answered.

And and that was when you asked if they don't get this funding, will that shut down the rodeo?

That's gonna be a Jonathan answer.

And and except that you have already answered it.

And that is if we give you Eldorado, the rodeo is gonna go on.

So that question is the the plaza is willing to accept the expense of putting the rodeo on if it owns it.

If if they own the El Dorado.

So I I uh can't imagine that when we ask Jonathan, if we say, Jonathan, are you going to put the rodeo on if we don't give you Hel Dorado and give you any money?

I would be surprised if he said we're gonna think about it, but in the end, he would put the rodeo on uh because it's a great attraction for the the Plaza Hotel.

So your question's been answered.

Will they shut the rodeo down?

I don't think so.

You know, I appreciate you answering the question for me.

I really do.

I'm not sure I'm getting that, Bob.

And I have tremendous regard for you, as you know, over many many decades.

But I'm I'm thinking this is such an extraordinary thing for for our the history of Las Vegas, and it should be continued.

And the lead sponsor who has been doing this for us is uh coming to us in a special meeting and saying we uh we're spending a fortune on this, and we need a little bit of help, and we're willing to do just about anything in order to increase the historical significance of this, and I I'm just loath to say no to this request, especially given the fact that the city in the past has given so much money to the original sponsors of this, and now I think uh I I think it's a bargain to continue um uh this rodeo, particularly, and I know you can't do it this year, but the idea that we'd be aligning it with the El Dorado parade, so it would be an entire day of coming to downtown Las Vegas, enjoying all of the amenities, enjoying the rodeo, enjoying the parade, uh and and uh learning about our past.

And I think that is the one thing that I think we need more clarity on is how does this help us perpetuate our past and educate people uh uh as to what existed in Las Vegas in the 30s and how is it significant now?

Can you give us an answer that can give us a little bit something that everybody could bite on?

Because I think that's what we're hearing from so many of the commissioners is how does this help us forward our mission?

And our mission is the history of uh preserving the history of Las Vegas.

How will us funding this continue that or enhance that I should say?

Absolutely, thank you, Mayor.

So originally the the request to take over the rodeo came from um this side of the street.

It was asked to Jonathan, would you like to?

Can you?

We want to see this rodeo continue.

PBR is no longer doing it.

Jonathan said, well, uh yes, as a relationship with the city for the community, for everybody involved, absolutely.

And that's when we first started learning about rodeos, and then to Mr.

Stottle's credit, he said there's got to be historical elements.

So we asked back then when we were starting this, what do we need?

And we got that guidance.

If we need to expand on that, then again, we look for your guidance to tell us what you would like to see.

What do we want to get Nellis Air Force involved?

I'm still an honorary commander out there.

Is there something historical there that we can put in?

Anything that we need to do, we're happy to, but we we're not mind readers, we can't see inside your heads to say what it is that we need in order to make this successful.

We want it to be successful.

Natasha and I are not roadie.

I grew up in Southern California.

She lived in Alaska, so I mean, this is something that um as again a UNL V grad, and I'm a former Miss Nevada, worked with uh goodness, Bob Miller was the governor back then, and um did a lot of old you are.

I'm not gonna thank you.

Thank you.

Um so our roots are here in Nevada and in downtown and at the plaza.

So we want to make this successful.

We hope it can happen.

If it doesn't, we've got day jobs too.

This is not, we don't do rodeo 24-7.

So we we really want to make it successful.

Um let me uh let me share with my fellow commissioners.

Um I I uh by virtue of the fact that I'm mayor, I'm also on the convention authority board.

I did in fact put in a request um uh this year for funding for the rodeo, and I believe they gave us a grand total of 25,000.

So I don't think that the convention authority is particularly interested in historical preservation of the history of Las Vegas, and if being a member of the um of the convention authority uh only yielded $25,000, and I could be pretty persuasive, then I don't think that is uh that's a good expenditure of our time.

They've pretty well told us also I've had the opportunity, and I know Jonathan has, um, to um speak with the other major players in on Fremont Street uh in that area, and there is little if any interest in helping the plaza.

Um, and and I understand the competitive nature of the gaming industry and the hotels saying, look, this is yours, you took it on.

Uh it's it it we don't we don't want to help fund it, and we don't want to be involved with it.

I get it, they have other types of things that they do, and they uh kind of think that this is the plazas.

Now the plaza's coming to us and saying uh we can't make the numbers work.

We need continued support from the city of Las Vegas.

And I don't want to divorce uh what we're doing here from this.

I mean, I I thought it was something that we were all in this together, and it was not only um for historical preservation, but uh we're also dealing with um and for selfish purposes, uh the mayor of Las Vegas, it does bring people down here, gives them an opportunity to learn a little bit about our history, but also to enjoy our current our current Las Vegas life.

And I just think it's a win-win win for everybody.

If this is uh, and I understand, Louise, that uh uh when uh when the plaza or I think the city went to the plaza first, the plaza said, well, this is what we would need to put it on, and thought, and correct me if I'm wrong, but thought that by the fourth year they would be self-sustaining, but you are here on the third year saying not only is this not self-sustaining, we are spending an awful lot of money, and we need help from the uh from the city, which is the centennial commission.

Um I right on that.

Yes, Mayor, that is correct.

We um were our goal was self-sustaining.

As you know, we only sold tickets to the VIP seats two years ago.

And and we've spent upwards of 350,000 in total.

That does not include the hotel labor, the EVS, our time, our travel that we go to the other events.

So it's probably closer to 400,000.

So again, John, yeah.

Did you ever believe you'd become an expert on rodeos?

No, but I can tell you all all kinds of different dirt and how it's treated and how it's stored.

Um yes.

Rather not know.

My boys laugh at me, but I did wear my boots today.

Oh, very impressive.

A couple of quick questions.

So please go ahead.

Um, one is that if if we do not approve this today, you still have a hundred thousand dollars uh uh with the commitment from the Plaza Hotel to put on the rodeo.

So I'm assuming that you would still put on the rodeo for 2026, or is that another question for Jonathan?

Um, we have not submitted yet for the PRCA approval on that, but we typically don't do it until May because be our event being in November, we're the first rodeo of 2027, even though it's held in 26.

So we're the first one, Reno is the last one.

The the second one is just a comment on my part, and I appreciate it because you know that I've come over to the plaza and met, and we had a long discussion and came up with different ideas.

But the reality of is it's not the commission's responsibility to come up with ideas to to give money away per se, not give it away, but to uh uh uh uh allocate.

Uh it is more in this case the Plaza Hotel coming to the Centennial Commission saying, here's our budget, here's what we'd like to do, here's the historic preservation elements to it, it's gonna cost X, Y, and Z, and we're gonna do this, this, and this, and this, rather than each commissioner coming to you and saying, why don't you do this or what or why don't you do that?

That said, Mayor, I think we have two options today.

One is with some outstanding questions that only Jonathan can answer, including whether or not there will be a rodeo this coming year, funded only by a hundred thousand dollars to uh by us, which is already in a contract, to whether or not if we don't give them any money, whether or not Heldorado uh or the rodeo is going to continue, uh that's a question for for Jonathan.

So we can either I can propose a uh a motion to deny today's request or a motion to obey.

Let me ask one question before we um do that.

Um why uh uh there was a request for a special commission meeting, which we are in right now.

What time I was informed that time is of the essence.

Why did you need approval today?

And can this be obeyed until our next meeting, which is in a few weeks?

It's in March.

Yeah, there are other events that we are looking at in the arena, and uh Jonathan wanted to make sure that we have the support of the commission to secure the the space moving forward, and these are multi-year deals, not just for 2026.

Right, right, right.

So all right, so what you are what you are requesting is a hundred thousand dollars um uh additional for this year, correct, and then two hundred thousand dollars for the next two years.

Yes.

It would this be in it was obvious that in three years you could not be self-sustaining.

What about two years from now?

Are you gonna be back asking for another extension and 200,000 for more?

Uh eventually, I mean I think the commission is saying that uh they gave allocated these funds with the understanding that uh they were getting you know getting you started and that you were gonna take over.

Is there uh because if we are back doing this two years ago, I think you'll have a lot of very unhappy commissioners.

So what what is the plan for the future?

As enjoyable as this has been and always is um I would like to say no, you won't see us back here again, except for the report.

Please.

Um well, all right.

If we when is our meeting?

When is our next meeting?

Mayor, the next meeting is on March 23rd.

March what?

23rd.

March 23rd.

If we obey this until March 23rd, is that too late for you to do what you uh need to do?

No, Mayor.

Your Honor.

I move that it'd be obeyed to March 23rd.

Well, wait, wait, wait.

I've got a solution here.

The one thing I've heard about to tie it into the preservation is the word Eldorado.

Now does the city own that or does the commission own the copyright to that?

The trademark Eldorado Days, the two-word combination is owned by the City of Las Vegas.

That's who the Elks uh gave it transferred to the city.

And the city went ahead and registered that with the trademark office in Washington, D.C.

And also with the Nevada Secretary of State.

Full answer of saying City of Las Vegas owns it.

But as the mayor pointed out earlier, and this is Jeff Dorkak, City Attorney for the record.

As the mayor pointed out earlier, with her position as mayor and chair of this board, um, she was able to give some direction and has some history about well, the city's not interested in necessarily giving up that trademark.

So that's why what's before you today is the proposal for more money.

Well, my suggestion is that you can the city could grant a license, either exclusive or non-exclusive.

That's already done to the applicant, correct?

It's already done.

Correct.

So for the record, so when the uh plaza approached us saying they wanted to use the name Heldorado Days, City Attorney's Office created a um, I don't know what he's called, memorandum of our understanding license.

Um that they are able to use it with our permission.

Okay.

They don't own it, they just use the we need to be very careful, stole off of the record.

Yes, the city of Las Vegas owns Eldorado Days.

Not El Dorado.

We borrowed it from Arizona, and Arizona has could they had their Eldorado events long before the city of Las Vegas back in 1935.

They were doing this in the 20s.

Arizona owns Held Dorado.

We kind of get around it by saying we own Eldorado Days.

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure the proper party who has the right to that is going to be at the table here.

Because it was mentioned earlier that it wasn't on our agenda, and uh we wouldn't have any say in that anyway, right?

Okay.

I'm not quite sure what you're saying, John.

Excuse me.

Well, it came out, it wasn't on the agenda, so there was an issue there about public uh notice on it.

But even if it had been, I don't think this body would have been the one to be the adjudicator whether they could grant a license to the applicant.

That would have been a city of Las Vegas issue, which apparently has already been done.

Correct, Jeff Dorconnect, City Attorney for the record.

Yeah, I would agree with you.

At the end of the day, because the city has the trademark, any action is going to be done on the city side.

But I I think it would be fair to say from staff's perspective, and the mayor knows with us communicating with her, we would probably come to this commission and have a discussion item about whether or not you all recommend that the city transfer that trademark an advisory opinion.

Yeah, exactly.

We wouldn't and we're not gonna pull that one out from you guys, no way.

As a mayor, uh as as and you know, you just hold these jobs for so long and then you turn it over to the next person.

Um under my watch, I would be loath to um sell uh uh an asset that the city has I I think that would be very, very short-sighted and very selfish of me, and so I would be very opposed to selling uh that trademark to anybody.

I think that's worth preserving, but then I have the Plaza Hotel, which is a wonderful uh you know, corporate citizen saying, Look, you know, uh we thought we could make this work, we we can't, we're having trouble, um, we need more money.

Will you fund continue funding us?

And that's when I said, Well, how much money have we given in the past?

And that was uh then Diane gave us a uh uh her uh presentation which demonstrates that the city has been uh has been heavily funding this for quite a while, and uh uh I know it sounds uh absurd, but I mean uh I think the plaza is offering us a bargain to continue doing this and enhancing it, and I think it is important to protect our historical um the historical significance of this.

And uh, and again, I I laugh at the fact that this has never been a rodeo town, because when I first got here, I thought this was so western.

Oh my god, I was from New York.

This seemed awfully western to me.

And um, I I think it's worth uh worth preserving, and if the only way to do that is the Centennial Commission's uh uh decision to do that, um uh then I think it's incumbent upon us to really consider the ramifications of saying no.

And I understand the motion before us is to obey it until the next meeting on the 23rd of March, but I would suggest if we do, and I I'm feeling the sentiment of the commission is to have you come back um in a month.

Um but I think um when you come back, I think we need to have all our ducks in uh in order and and share with us what your vision is to preserve the history of the city of Las Vegas when it comes to Heldorado days, and I think that'll go a long way to ease everybody's angst um because we don't do events, we do historical preservation.

Absolutely.

And if I may respond to Member Mowbray's uh point about not knowing um about the name I don't know how the agenda I is is taken, what words she pulls out of the narrative and Diane, you might be Dr.

C.

Brent, you might be able to speak to this, but it literally says in the narrative that I had sent, we are asking for either the rights to the name of Haldorado Days Rodeo or full financial support.

So it was literally in what I had sent over.

So I apologize that didn't um end up on your computer.

Look, uh our our guests don't uh don't write the agenda item.

We do.

So if there's an issue with that, we'll we'll have to you're saying no.

So Mayor Berkeley, I think the the reason why that didn't show up on the agenda is exactly a discussion that Jeff had.

This commission actually doesn't have the authority to give the name.

So that really couldn't be part of the agenda.

And that's why the other part of the request, which was the grand part, which is in your purview was on there.

And I think uh I'm sensing everybody, even if uh members of the commission don't attend the rodeo themselves.

Um we know it's going on, it's exciting, it brings people downtown, and it's a part of our past and our history.

Um give us something that uh will uh will give people the comfort level on because they're very protective of our mission.

Our mission is to uh uh provide historical preservation so that people will know uh the Las Vegas uh of old as we move into a far more modern era.

Give us that so we can have a sense of what you're gonna do, what you incorporating what um the councilwoman's suggestions are.

I mean, this is a a rich history, and and we need to exploit it, and we have to depend on the Plaza Hotel to do this for us because you're the ones that are putting it on.

I did have one question with the other events that were hosted.

We kind of went over the different years where the Elks had a PBR and then now the plaza.

If I did more research, can I find where they had more historical elements that I could potentially pull?

Because I know I did research in the Helks.

Well, you got a couple things that that's a real challenge to you.

The money was was the the Centennial Commission came up with the idea for 2005 to put a rodeo on, and that was by put a rodeo on by the Elks.

They were the original, so it wasn't just the rodeo, it was bringing some life back into the into the Elks.

So the rodeo is part of it, the Elks were part of it, and their challenge was to find a place in Las Vegas where they could put one on every year.

And there wasn't any place.

I mean, it just there's just uh and so they faced that challenge.

Plus, there were some other issues within the funding of of the of the rodeo.

They said they weren't able to make any money.

Well, that was the original reason why the Elks created El Dorado was to fund the building of their fraternal organization, and every year the money that was raised from Heldorado went to the Elks.

Nothing wrong with that, but that's what it was was was for.

And originally was not to celebrate the city of Las Vegas, it was to celebrate this make-believe 1850s period, and there was no rodeo, and so and so things got mushed around, and then later on it was finally decided.

Let's really celebrate the city.

Let's do that in May, and and that's a great time to have a party and a parade and a rodeo and so forth.

But the Elks couldn't handle it.

It just was not their thing.

The Elks at one time uh I'm gonna probably go on for 10 minutes.

So the Elk the Elks at one turn.

The Elks, there were three powerful organizations in the city of Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the Elks, and maybe the city government.

Those were the three.

So but that that all changed, and in the 18 in the 1990s, the Elks just couldn't put on the rodeo anymore as a fundraiser, so it stopped.

So it it's it's a challenge for the Plaza Hotel to reflect that we want to do a rodeo that celebrates the history of Las Vegas.

Well it doesn't celebrate the history of Las Vegas.

First of all, it's in November, it should be in May.

Uh there's lots of little asterisks that that go through that.

So that's my little speech.

But the question that's before you is and before us, what's going to be on the agenda is two-fold.

You're asking for multiple year funding, but also an additional amount for for this year.

We already have given you, so to speak, a hundred thousand dollars.

So one of the questions will come up is if we don't give you more money for this coming year, are you gonna put the rodeo on?

And and so those are all what we're calling Jonathan uh answers in questions.

So uh I'd like to call for the question.

All right, and okay.

Um I do have one other thing to say.

Um don't call for the question.

Oh, I didn't mean that.

I didn't mean that.

All right.

Some semblance of Robert's rules of thought.

Is there a second rule?

I guess there had been a second.

There has been a second.

Although technically we do not have to be able to do that.

I moved the question.

Well, what's I gotta say something?

Um I I think the answer to uh if we don't give you the extra hundred for this year, I mean it's too late to stop this, but it it just means that the plaza is gonna lose more money.

Am I correct on that?

Sorry, at this point, Natasha and I, our marching orders are to continue planning the rodeo.

We we've already booked a trip to Corpus Christi for the rodeo association committee meeting to work on additional sponsors and things that we can do with other rodeos.

So we're moving forward.

My answer was I can't speak on Jonathan's behalf.

I don't know what his answer will be.

We're continuing to work on it.

Okay.

Well, the question has been called for, so I'm gonna call for the vote, and the question uh uh the vote is that we are going to obey this agenda item until our next meeting, which is on March 23rd, at which time you will come back and make an additional presentation with an emphasis on the make-believe historical preservation.

Absolutely.

I I don't know that Natasha got an answer to her question though.

The reason why I brought it up was that you know, we have till March 23rd to add additional historical elements to our presentation to the event that we're gonna host.

Um, and so my thought is if I did more research on that end, and I know the elks stuff, it obviously had the historical preservation side of it, but if I went deeper into the research there, will I find more information that I could potentially pull and showcase at all?

Or when nobody answered this and give Natasha I I don't know.

I don't know.

Does anybody have a conversation?

Commissioner Mover here offline, but uh Cashman Field would be a good search term.

I've met many radios there during the period in the 50s and the 60s, and the funny thing about it, you're the dirt queen, right?

With all learned soil.

No, thank you.

So we have the radio, the rodeos in in uh May, and then we played our home football games there in the fall, and when we had out-of-state pinks come in, they didn't know where the potholes were.

And so uh we had a couple challenges there when the quarterback would call a play, he made sure that the ends didn't go near these little fine fields.

So I'll help you out with that.

Thank you.

I guess Louise.

I can tell you, you know, this is that we have worked with the Elks, then we work with the PBR, and now we're working with Q all.

So it's been like five years or so for each entity, and nobody's been able to make it work, unfortunately.

I can tell you that the PBR, when they had the money, what they were doing to satisfy the more uh education for uh historic purposes, was that they actually created um a huge display that was everywhere that you went.

It was when you came into the to the venue.

You walked down a hallway that had nothing but pictures and information about the history of Las Vegas, and then they had a place where they had hay bales set up for the kids to do all kinds of things, or to sit and have your you know, it was the tent where you had your food.

It also had um walls or paper walls that have nothing but information about the history of Las Vegas with lots of big pictures.

So it's kind of that was what they did.

Um and they can do, you know, and there's a whole lot more that that could be done.

That was just the most visible element.

But when we're looking at the amount of money that we've spent on the number of rodeos that we have paid for with this historic preservation money and the quality of the historic preservation aspect or value that we've gotten for that money, even the success of how many people came divided into the money.

What did we pay?

How much did we pay for every one of those people to come and see what that's historic?

And now we're going into, you know, that's one of the things that you're hearing pushback from us is if we're gonna pay $64 a person to teach them about Las Vegas history.

How many other ways could we spend that money?

Where first of all, I suspect you already stole up for the record, have started with Wikipedia.

Of course.

Uh I've also looked at the videos you guys have produced for the city in the documentary.

Didn't deepen this for some years.

So the Wikipedia is fine, it's accurate.

Uh this particular Wikipedia is accurate, I know for sure, as well as the documentary, which has more of a celebratory feel to it than a documentary.

Absolutely.

So that's one that uh the that you can use.

I'd also would talk to folks uh uh like the gentleman to my right who has a long history with with the elks and and what particular historic elements can you provide beyond the rodeo.

If you focus simply on the rodeo, then you're gonna be very limited on so I visited the Springs Preserve, the Nevada State Museum, the Ma um Special Collections of UNLA.

Yeah, I went to like five different museums.

I've been and so that's how we developed the then and now tent where we showcase the historical images, kind of like what you were saying.

You were saying the PBR did.

Um and so to add to it, we had someone physically there to showcase more things that people could actually pick up and and interact with.

And it was all historical.

Um and the hay bales, we had a U-Haul full of the hay bales right next to that tent.

I understand, right?

But it was right next to the then and now tent.

You got to get some historic hay bales.

All right.

Um the question has been called for all those in favor of obeying this item till March 23rd, please say aye.

I oppose.

All right.

Who's that?

Um that was Commissioner Sinek on the on the phone.

Commissioner Diaz?

Yes, I'm an eye.

Oh, thank you.

All right.

Uh ladies, thank you so much.

I appreciate you being here.

And now you know what you're charged with.

Um, show us historical preservation.

And I think that they'll uh we just need to sink our teeth into that so that we can justify spending this money.

Um knowing that it's going to uh help educate people about the make-believe past of Las Vegas.

So, Chair, okay.

Agenda that motion carried.

That motion has carried an agenda item seven, citizens' participation, public comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters within the jurisdiction of the commission.

No subject may be acted upon by the commission unless that subject is on the agenda and scheduled for action.

If you wish to be heard, please come forward and give us your name for the record.

The amount of discussion on any item, a single subject, as well as the amount of time any single speaker is allowed, will be limited to two minutes.

Is there anybody wishing to address the commission?

Yes.

You can speak as anything you wish.

Yes, but we don't have a future agenda items because it's a special one.

But yes, you can speak as a public, yes.

And that's simply I would like to see the opportunity is doing the documentaries.

We have run into a roadblock that there are very few Las Vegas historians.

And I would like to throw out at a future meeting whether or not the Centennial Commission could fund a scholarship specifically for the City of Las Vegas Historic Preservation at UNLB.

That's all I wanted to say.

Thank you.

Interesting concept.

Does anybody have anything else they wish to bring up before the commission?

Do any commissioners wish to bring anything up?

In that case, meeting is adjourned.