Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Carson City School Board President Norm Scoggin has filed for the Ward 1 seat on the board of supervisors to be vacated by Robin Williamson.
Scoggin believes his many years of public service qualify him to make sound decisions for Carson City.
He is in his third term on the Carson City School Board, and this is the second time he has served as its president. He is also past president of the Nevada Association of School Boards.
"All this gives me good insight and experience and gives me an advantage in persuading others and working with them," Scoggin said.
Scoggin said he is a firm believer in being a representative of the people.
"Each board member represents a constituency, and you always have to make sure you're doing what's in the best interest of the taxpayers," he said.
Downtown redevelopment is an issue that concerns Scoggin.
"The theory behind it is good, increasing property values is good, but we're taking taxpayer dollars to reserve for a select few, and that bothers me. Monies could go to the general fund to benefit us all," he said.
"It works well in big cities where there are areas which are tremendously blighted, but I think we have to ask whether we continue with redevelopment here," he said.
Scoggin isn't sure the Nugget project is advisable at this time.
"That's $41 million of city money, and I don't feel at this time that's a good investment," he said. "The $38 million for water and sewer is a must. But that combined with $41 million for the Nugget in these economic times? I'd have a hard time stretching our budget for that - it's a little too soon."
Another concern of Scoggin's is that there are two different property tax cap rates - 3 percent for residential and 8 percent for commercial and business property.
"There should be more equity, and I'd like to re-look at that system," Scoggin said. "If more money went into business owners' pockets, maybe it could help them stay solvent or keep people on their payrolls. The next time we can re-examine the tax structure will be in the next Legislature.
"The most important thing we need right now is jobs. We need to protect what we have and grow from there."
Scoggin, who grew up in Carson City, and his wife of nearly 50 years, Lee, have two sons, a 48-year-old Reno teacher and a 46-year-old Southwest Air pilot.
Scoggin joins a field of five other candidates for the Ward 1 seat: Rob Joiner, Sean Lehmann, Paul Saucedo, Gary Schulz and Karen Abowd. Ward 1 encompasses the northwest portion of Carson City.