Legacy’s future worries neighbors

Residents anxious about home values, new development

Henderson residents living in homes surrounding the recently purchased Legacy Golf Club are voicing displeasure about its closure and uncertainty about future uses.

Tom Sarnelli, a board member of the Grand Legacy Homeowners Association, told members of the Henderson City Council last week that he has been inundated with concerns from residents upset about the golf club’s purchase on July 3 and its closure the next day.

“The Legacy Golf Club is not obsolete,” Sarnelli said during the Tuesday meeting. “We believe that

it’s not just the heart of Henderson or Green Valley, but it is the pride of Green Valley and we want to keep it that way, and we’re going to continue to do what we can on our part to keep it that way.”

Tracy Connor, a resident and a real estate agent with Realty ONE Group, said she is concerned not only about potential effects on the property said. “After filling out the form twice, they haven’t even tried to reach out to me. I don’t know when I’ll get my refund.”

A spokeswoman for the new owners said members should visit thelegacygc. com and fill out a form to start a refund process.

Elizabeth Trosper said the new owners are waiting for O.B. Sports, the previous manager of the golf club, to provide a closing financial report that reflects all gift card activity and membership status.

“Once they have that report, they are set up to begin refunds immediately,” she said.

value of her house but also about the property value of her listings.

Many people are now hesitant to look at homes for sale near or on the Legacy course because of uncertainty about future development, she said.

“This directly affects our biggest

LEGACY

nials and minority groups.

“That favors the Republicans,” said Eric Herzik, who heads the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno. “The people who aren’t going to show up are going to be disproportionately Democrat.”

Midterm shift

In 2016, nearly 50,000 more Democrats than Republicans voted in Nevada, where the open U.S. Senate seat, three House seats and both chambers of the Nevada Legislature were won by blue candidates.

Democrats will need to avoid the missteps of 2014 to have any hope of retaking the governor’s mansion, keeping control of the Legislature or taking the second U.S. Senate seat.

One of the biggest issues for Nevada Democrats that year, Herzik said, was a lack of talent at the top of the ballot.

“None of these candidates” received the most votes in the Democratic primary, beating the technical winner Robert Goodman by nearly 4,000 votes.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s high approval rating prompted big-name Democrats to stay away, and Sandoval beat Goodman by 47 points to win re-election.

That lack of enthusiasm trickled down the ballot. Democrats held a voter registration advantage of 60,000, but party turnout was 42 percent compared with the GOP’S 58 percent. Republicans swept the congressional races and, for the first time since the 1980s, won control of both houses of the Nevada Legislature.

If Democrats want to avoid a repeat of 2014, Herzik said, “they’ve got to energize their base. And their base is often less connected to voting than the Republicans.”

Herzik said he expects Democrats to have “quality candidates for all the offices” for a 2018 election that

is already beginning to take shape. U.S. Rep. Jacky Rosen, who’s running to unseat incumbent GOP U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, and Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak, who is taking his near $4 million campaign war chest to the governor’s race, have announced their intentions for next year.

Outreach vs. backlash

Newly elected Clark County GOP Chairman Carl Bunce said Republicans must focus on registering new voters to give his party any chance of replicating the 2014 election.

That starts with going into districts that have been historically dominated by Democrats at the state Senate and Assembly levels, he said. While those races might never go red, Bunce added, additional Republicans will help with statewide races, such as governor.

“We just need to start doing work in the community, which frankly hasn’t been done in Clark County in quite a few years,” Bunce said. “We need to not give up on districts we think are lost.”

Democrats, meanwhile, expect voter blowback against President Donald Trump and are counting on that to help mobilize the base in 2018.

“I think there’s going to be real backlash against Trump in this state,” said Alana Mounce, who was hired this month as the executive director of the Nevada State Democratic Party.

Mounce said that with a strong group of candidates and angst about Trump, Democrats are confident going into 2018 despite midterm struggles of the past.

“We have incredible candidates this cycle who we’re ready to talk about,” she said. “We know exactly who we need to talk to and how to be successful.”

Contact Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-4638. Follow @ Coltonlochhead on Twitter.