What a difference four years makes; Lowden follies

In the course of correcting the record about former North Las Vegas mayor — and current gubernatorial aspirant — Michael Montandon (R) on a different Web site, I had to cause to dust off an old press clipping. Back when Montandon was mayor and taking a go-slow attitude toward casino expansion in NLV, Station Casinos claimed to be totally down with Hizzoner’s approach.

Well, that sure changed when Boyd Gaming was able to swap a gambling-enabled parcel it inherited from Coast Casinos and trade it for acreage within what was to have been Gary Goett‘s northern counterpart to Southern Highlands. (The gaming entitlement was removed from the former Coast site and transplanted to Goett’s.)

While this didn’t increase the number of prospective casino sites in NLV, it was evidently enough to get Station’s corporate shorts in a wad. Ergo the subsequent and ongoing insistence that it be allowed to build Losee Station on non-gaming-entitled land it held near the Goett project. Never mind that Station had benefited — twice — from the same kind of one-for-one tradeoff that enabled Boyd to move up to the 215.

Perhaps Station was incensed that Montandon had gone back his public stance regarding Goett’s Olympia Development Group: “Are they going to be allowed a casino on their site as well? I am not in favor of that.” However, since Montandon was able to preserve his goal of not adding casino sites by allowing Boyd to pick up and move, his position holds (slightly) more intellectual water than did Station’s ensuing umbrage. (You’ll also note from the article that Aliante Station [above] went from $450 million to an ultimate $662 million — a 47% cost overrun.)

As has been covered here, Station and Boyd conducted a proxy war in the last North Las Vegas mayoral election. Since Station’s candidate won, we could — economic development permitting — see a very different casino landscape in NLV. Then again, I’ve been told the problem with the locals market isn’t that people haven’t ceased going to the casino — that much is obvious — but that for every five bucks they used to drop, they’re now spending two. So whether Montandon’s go-slow policy remains in place or not, the economy has applied its own set of brakes to northward expansion.

Sue Lowden. As a political candidate, she makes a helluva casino executive. Or maybe not, if she thinks a 21-point loss translates into a victorious “sweep.” Since Lowden is Archon Corp.’s treasurer, you have to wonder how it keeps its books balanced, in light of Ms. Lowden’s mad math skillz.