The Goodmans forever changed the role of the mayor of Las Vegas. So who should be next to fill their shoes? In this latest episode of Mayoral Mondays, our special series on the 2024 Las Vegas mayoral race, co-host Dayvid Figler sits down with candidate Cedric Crear. Cedric has had a long career in marketing and advertising here in the Valley, served on the Board of Regents, and was elected to the Las Vegas City Council in 2018. We chat about his track record as a councilman, his fixes for homelessness, and when and how he’d resolve conflicts of interest when voting on issues in the council chambers.
Stay tuned for more upcoming candidate interviews. Listen to Shelley Berkley here and Victoria Seaman on May 13.
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Want to follow along while you listen? Here's the episode transcript.
Disclaimer: This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos or confusion.
Dayvid: maybe one of the great takeaways from our special series, Mayoral Mondays. is that the role of Mayor of Las Vegas matters well beyond the tight boundaries of the City of Las Vegas. Today on CityCast Las Vegas, we sit down with Mayoral Candidate Cedric Crear. Born and raised in Las Vegas, Cedric comes from the world of marketing and advertising.
He also served on the Board of Regents prior to being elected in 2018 as a City of Las Vegas City Council Member for Ward 5. We asked Cedric what his Biggest accomplishment on the city council has been so far. Question him on the city's approach to homelessness and get real about his take on possible conflicts of interest.
Quick note, this episode was recorded on April 16th, days before the latest Badlands development ruling, which went against the city. It's Monday, May 6th. I'm David Fier and here's what Las Vegas is talking about.
Councilman Cedric Creer, welcome to CityCast Las Vegas.
Cedric: Mr. Judge Figgler, how are you, sir?
Dayvid: Doing great, man. Um, let's jump right into it. Cedric, it's been said that the mayor of Las Vegas is just one of a council of seven, that their vote doesn't count any more than anyone else's, and you've had that vote there for a long time as a member of city council. Why go for mayor now?
Cedric: Well, I mean, look, the mayor's vote is one vote of seven. I mean, that's technically correct. The mayor has the ability to be the leader of the meetings, sets the agenda, sets the tone, I think, for not only the meetings, but for the city of Las Vegas. It helps create the direction of where the city is going.
You know, no one, as I've said before, would be a better global ambassador for me. You know, we're an international city, we are known around the world, and you need someone to lead that charge. And so, as much as I have loved being a councilman for Ward 5, and as much success as we've had in Ward 5, I want to be the next mayor for the city of Las Vegas because I love this city.
Dayvid: Now we have, two candidates, uh, in this race who are coming from the city council, yourself, and your fellow council person, uh, Victoria Seaman. So what do you bring, say, to this race that Victoria Seaman doesn't?
Cedric: Well, I bring a lot. One, I'll be the first Vegas born mayor in the history of our city, which I think is important to have someone that is born and raised here, that has seen this city grow, that understands the long history, the rich history of our city, and also that has the ability to lead the charge moving forward.
You know, I always say that we're taking a pen and a piece of paper and we're charting our own course with Las Vegas. We haven't been around as long as many cities, but we are progressing faster and more than most cities. Uh, and we need someone that can get some things done. I have a long history of getting things done in my short time of being on council.
Uh, you know, about twelve years on the Board of Regents, two years on a Planning Commission. No one has ever served on the Las Vegas Planning Commission. As well as being an elected official before, uh, six and a half years on council by the time I take office as mayor. And so, I have a wealth of experience, I have a wealth of knowledge, I have a history of getting things done, and nobody loves this city more than me.
Dayvid: Alright, let's bounce off of getting things done. From your perspective, what would you call your biggest accomplishment, uh, that you've achieved as a City Councilman?
Cedric: Well, look, we have a lot of accomplishments as a, as a councilman.
Dayvid: Well I know what I said! What's the biggest one, Cedric? So, you gotta pick one right now.
Cedric: you know, when I, when I got in office, the priorities are, you know, one, two, and three. You know, unemployment in our ward is at 15%. We've got to get people ready, trained, and prepared to go to work. Uh, we have half the homeless population resides in my ward.
All the social services that the city offers is in our ward. Um, as well as revitalization on the historic west side. Um, and so we have made strides in each one of those areas. We're building a 15, 000 square foot workforce development center in partnership with the College of Southern Nevada. We have a urban farm, which we never had before, helping the food insecurity in our community with the help of MGM Resorts.
We have built out our Homeless Courtyard Resources Center, which we didn't have when I got in office. Now we have that in place with our Recruitment of Care Center, which is taking care of our, of those who are indigent, that are physically ill. We have Advanced Symphony Park. With the expansion of World Market Center, Parkhaven, Orick, uh, Southern Land Companies, Red Ridge Development, which is also in the midst of a 240 million, um, uh, development with, with for sale housing facilities.
You know, we just broke ground on a, uh, Workforce Housing Facility in the Historic Westside is the first ground up, uh, housing facility building in the Historic Westside in 70 years, which is going to have 140 units of workforce housing, uh, 15, 000 square foot of retail space, and a Vegas test kitchen that's there.
Uh, we're going to get a 40 million brand new library. Which, which is amazing to have. We just broke ground on that. So it's tough to pinpoint on one thing when we have so many accomplishments that we've made. Plus the 200 million of infrastructure we've done underground and above ground in the city, uh, and in my ward.
So, it's a lot.
Dayvid: Yeah, and that is an impressive list. Do you think that, your opponents or others would, give you the, the, the Ability to claim that that's your accomplishment?
Cedric: Um, well I think they wouldn't have a choice. Uh, I mean the facts speak for themselves. Nothing was going on before I got in office in any way, shape, or form. And now we have so many things going on. And I'm going to leave, uh, This, this, uh, office that I'm in as a Councilman of Ward 5 in a much, much, much greater space than it was before and also set up for the future.
The next five to ten years in the, in the, in Ward 5 is going to be completely on the rise compared to where it was from before. So whether you, whether you personally like me or you don't like me, you can't say that we haven't done a lot and we haven't accomplished much. Our actions are speaking for themselves.
Dayvid: All right then, Cedric, let's look forward a little bit. What do you think should be the top priority for the new mayor for the whole city, whether it's you or someone else?
Cedric: Well, look, the number one issue. In our city is public safety. We have to continue to keep our community safe and I work with three area commands now. Bolden Area Command, Downtown Area Command, Northwest Area Command. And so we have to ensure that our residents have a sound quality of life, that our neighborhoods are safe, that people feel comfortable going out of their homes and participating in our community.
So we have to work onside our partners at Metro with Sheriff McMayhill and others to ensure that our community stays safe. Um, you know, I'm a big believer that we need someone who is a huge global ambassador for the city. You've heard me say that. Um, someone who can lead that charge to go out and grow and diversify our economy, to continue to, uh, push our, our tourism, you know, we get 40 million visitors that come here a year.
We get 20 million visitors that come, 22 million visitors that come into downtown Las Vegas alone. And so we need someone that is going to be a champion for that. And I know that I can be that person.
Dayvid: Now, I think it's pretty well known that the Las Vegas City Council, per se, has no control over Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department policies. You certainly can't order them to Uh, enforce more laws or patrol more areas, et cetera. So what's an example of a policy that you think you'd be able to push forward as the mayor, uh, understanding that you really don't have, uh, specific control over the policies of the elected sheriff?
He's only responsible to the voters.
Cedric: Well, I would beg to differ to a certain extent of that. You know, I sit on the Fiscal Affairs Committee. Uh, I have been on Fiscal Affairs for five years now. And I have worked to ensure that our, our frontline officers and our Metro Police Force have the necessary resources they need. To keep our community safe, uh, to make sure that we have the number of, uh, cops on the street and make sure we have the tools we need to, to, to keep our community safe.
You know, the City of Las Vegas contributes about 180 million a year towards the budget for, uh, for Metro, so it does have a say. It works closely with the Sheriff, and I've traveled with the Sheriff to Maricopa County in Phoenix to look at crisis stabilization units, which are temporary facilities for those experiencing some form of mental illness.
We're looking to bring those CSUs into Las Vegas, as well as to San Diego, in San Diego County, working with Metro. Uh, I've traveled around the country with Metro looking at homelessness, um, with Assistant Sheriff Kelly. Looking at what's working and what's not working and bringing those resources back into the community.
So the city has the ability to be a true partner with Metro and Metro has the ability to be a true partner with the city and relationships make a big difference. I've already have those relationships. We've established them not only just from a perspective of let's grab a cup of coffee but actually by getting things done and I think that's important.
You can work across jurisdictional lines. The mayor has the ability to do that and I know that I can get that done.
Dayvid: Okay. with regard to, to, to Metro, would you ever consider holding back funding or attempting to hold back funding if they weren't, uh, adhering to the policies that you thought were important for the city or practices that you agreed with?
Cedric: Well, I think that's a very broad question. David, I mean, that's like saying I would never sign an ordinance to do something. You have to look at every situation. I'm not a person that just takes a hard stance across the board for anything. But, I will tell you this, if it's working, we'll continue to do it and we'll try to figure out ways to enhance it.
And if it's not working, we will not do it and, uh, figure out why it's not working and try to make it better.
Dayvid: Alright, Cedric, you mentioned homelessness, uh, and a lot of people cite homelessness, I think, over public safety as one of the top issues in this race. Certainly, we've seen an increase in the Valley's homeless population, uh, of about 16 percent between 2022 and 2021. 23 alone. The city's efforts have been widely criticized.
Uh, the huge turnover in third party providers over at the Courtyard, Resource Center, the fact that a lot of, uh, people who are homeless don't want to use that facility or are interested in other things, not getting that housing, the, uh, camping bans, not necessarily having an impact. Are any of these or other criticisms that you've heard Fair,
Cedric: Well, I think that homelessness is a bottom line number, and our point in time counseling every year, we have improved on those. I'm not sure if you're familiar with our PIT. You know, when I got in office, I was tasked to deal with homelessness because of the fact that just all the social services for homelessness reside in Ward 5.
And also, like I mentioned, half the population resides in Ward 5. And I've traveled around the country, as I mentioned, looking at Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Seattle. Looking at best practices and bringing those back into our community. The city stood up its only low barrier shelter with our courtyard.
And based off of what we saw in San Antonio, their Haven for Hope, we have our Homeless Courtyard Resource Center. Where we are taking care of people every single day and mitigating homelessness. Uh, that facility is a, is a, is a sleeping facility. We have kennels there, we have storage facilities there, we have mental health professionals there.
Uh, we have a pharmacy there. We have those who are helping people go from homelessness to transitional housing and into permanent housing and getting themselves back on their feet. Men, women, and children. Uh,
we
Dayvid: but also, and not to interrupt too much, but you know, that shelter doesn't have walls for the sleeping areas. I mean, is it that great a thing?
Cedric: well, it is an open air sleeping facility without a doubt. You know, in San Antonio, they've mitigated 70 percent of the homelessness with the exact same facility that we, that we, uh, duplicated. We put 25 million out of general fund money to go into that facility to stand it up. It is taking care of sleeping about 7 800 people a night.
And those that are taking advantage of the services really like what's there. And they are working to get themselves off the homelessness and get themselves back into the community. And so we also signed Phoenix Recuperative Care Center, which they call Respite Centers, um, which we call our RCC, where those who are physically ill are trying to, They go into emergency rooms at UMC.
UMC is trying to get them out. Where do they bring them? To our low barrier shelter. And keep in mind, we've got the county, we've got North Las Vegas, we've got Henderson, all bringing people to this low barrier shelter. Uh, but they are
Dayvid: that fair? Is that fair to the city?
Cedric: Well, they aren't contributing towards it, but the way we look at it, we're going to try to help people.
And we're going to help people get off the street and help them, you know, get back into being contributing citizens of our community. You know, the RCC has doctors there, nurses there, you can physically rehabilitate while you're there. Uh, we sleep in quarters there. We also have workforce and mental health professionals out of there.
And so the goal is to get you physically able to go back into society, uh, get you from tra from there to transitional housing and not back out on the street and then get you to a long term lease so you can start working and contributing back to our community. So we've done a lot and you know what else we've done is that we have our MORE teams.
Our MORE teams are a, are a agency that goes out to the community to offer. When I got in office, we had one more team that went out for the entire city of Las Vegas. Because of the work that we've been doing and the efforts we've been making, we have five teams that go out now. Our marshals have our flex teams that go out.
We open up a substation in our ward in downtown at Fremont Street, which has been wildly successful, to help keep crime down and to work with our indigent population along the Fremont corridor. For All those things are happening and all those things are showing progress.
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Dayvid: All right, I want to move on to some other issues. But last question on that one. Is there anything that isn't being tried now with regard to homelessness that you would bring as mayor? Or would it be kind of more of the same of all the things that you've just described?
Cedric: Yeah, great question. Well, one of the things that we need to do a better job is to work in a collaborative space across jurisdictions. And I'm a big believer in strategic operations. How I've been so successful with the work that we've done in the Historic Westside is because we're working off of a strategic initiative called the 100 Plan in Action.
And, uh, we need a strategic blueprint across the county, Las Vegas, Henderson, and North Las Vegas. And I know that I can bring that. We're already working with a number of county commissioners to start that process. Um, I know as a mayor there's a lot more that I can do. And also to bring us all together.
And I think that's really important. Because, you know, the county Uh, you know, technically the county in their charter is responsible for mental health and responsible for homelessness. Uh,
Dayvid: I mean, they administer,
Cedric: Yeah.
Dayvid: majority of social service funds. Cedric, let me cut to the chase here. Why have relations between the city and county been so tense over the years,
You've been on the city council for a while, you know what I'm talking about.
Cedric: yeah. And I'm not, I have, I have no tension with, uh, the members of, of the County Commission, with staff. I work very well with them. We've collaborated on projects in my community. I can't speak for the past, but I can definitely speak for moving forward. Um, I think solid relationships.
That are now in place are going to be able to come to fruition once I become mayor of the city of Las Vegas.
Dayvid: Cedrica, another issue that seems to have emerged in the mayor race is the Badlands controversy. Uh, so far the city is on the hook for what seems to be a quarter of a billion dollars.
What went sideways there? You've kind of witnessed most of it happen as a city council member. What, what went sideways?
Cedric: I have I even was there when I was on the planning commission with with it. Um, And I can tell you that i've been fighting for the neighbors Um, I have been on track since the Planning Commission to fight for the neighbors, because understand something, if this goes south in Las Vegas or Badlands, and it can go south throughout the entire state and throughout the entire country, you as an attorney, you know, you know about this, an Advocates Brief, which we have filed, we had 25 cities from around the state sign on to that, because they know that if all you have to do is to sue a jurisdiction in order to get land use.
Then everybody and every developer would do that. I mean, imagine when you live now and someone came in and said, Hey, I'm going to do this. And if you don't like it. I'm just going to sue you until you just break down and, um, and then we're going to do what I want to do anyways. Well, you know, the city's fighting for that and I don't think the city's done anything wrong.
You know, land use is not something that is, that is given. You just can't walk in and build a gentleman's club right next to a church. We have rules and regulations and you have to be granted those entitlements to do that. And that's exactly what we did. Um, I think that, you know, The issues that we are fighting are issues that are very well fought and we need to do it on behalf of the neighbors and on behalf of the entire state of Nevada.
Dayvid: Got it. Although I'd imagine there's some churches who wouldn't mind being next to a gentleman's club. It might be gentleman's clubs who mind the church being so close by. Uh, last question on that one though, uh, I gotta ask, as mayor, what's the fix? Do you settle or do you just keep potentially racking up a bigger liability, uh, that's gonna be a payout from the city coffers?
Cedric: Well, you know, look, the situation is much deeper than what the superficial or the press puts out, right? People like the headlines and they like the fact that This judgment came down without really digging down into it. I don't know if we have time to do it. Uh, but you know, there are four parcels of land that is in contention.
The developer was granted a parcel to develop on one. He decided to let those entitlements expire.
Dayvid: Yeah, I mean there's a lot of nuance to it and a
Cedric: yeah, there are. Hey, look, you're, you're an attorney,
Dayvid: Oh, I know, I know, but I'm just guessing the question is, do you got a fix if you inherit a 250 million or more judgment against you.
Cedric: look, I think we have, we have, uh, some cases in front of the Nevada Supreme Court now. Um, I know I believe that we will be ruled favorably. Um, I think our legal counsel believes that we will be ruled favorably because we haven't done anything wrong. So, we'll see what happens.
Dayvid: Cedric, I'm going to go into A little bit of past here. In 2020, you had faced criticism for not recusing yourself from a vote to approve a cannabis dispensary in your ward, uh, despite your brother was being on the board of a competing dispensary, and you also own a long time successful, uh, marketing and advertising company with clients past and present who often have business at City Hall.
So here's the question. What would be your standard for recusing yourself from City Council votes related to companies that could financially benefit your company or your family?
Cedric: Look, I think that, um, the, the, the cannabis issue, which is not an issue, uh, one, we received legal counsel from our counsel saying there was no conflict whatsoever and my brother's on the board of some company that had absolutely possibly nothing to do with the company that was before us, so there was no need to recuse, there was no need to even, um, state the fact that my brother was on the Which we did anyways.
But you know, the first step is to, if there's any conflict then to talk to our legal counsel. Um, if there is, if we have to go to the ethics commission, they'd be more than happy to do that. I have. I've never prospered from anything, uh, from being on city council, uh, probably quite the opposite considering the fact that, you know, I spent a lot of time working on the city and not a lot of time, as much time on my business.
But, you know, uh, anytime an issue comes up, I will make a statement. Whether it's a billboard business, which I have, and we haven't had any issues and I don't foresee any issues coming up.
Dayvid: Now, Was a colleague of yours, Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who did recuse herself from every single vote on cannabis dispensaries because, uh, her son Ross is involved with one. Do you think that that is a good standard, uh, for recusal?
Cedric: you look that's that's been going on long before I got on council Number one, I don't know what direction the mayor has received and I don't know what the all the details of it So I I can't comment on it, but the mayor feels that she needs to do that and she does it She's pretty consistent about it.
Dayvid: She, she pretty much is, right? all right. What about former clients of yours if, or current clients of your, of your marketing and advertising company? If they're before, will you disclose and then seek the
Cedric: of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. You know, I, I would never have any reason to try to personally prosper from being on this position. I have nothing to gain from that. And of course I would. Um, and anybody that works with me knows what I do. For a living, it's no secret how to, you know, what I do and how I do and how I run my business.
So I think those clients would know as well.
Dayvid: Quick question, and I, I was trying to look it up. way back in ancient history, you used to work for the Stations Group. Long, long, long time ago. Have you ever had any beef with Culinary Union? Have they endorsed you in prior races? Is it something that you've tried to mend or even have a worry about?
Cedric: Well, look, I think I have a great relationship with culinary, um, and I worked for stations. I was an employee. Uh, I clocked in, I clocked out, you know, I started out dealing blackjack on graveyard at palace station. Uh, I wouldn't call that a very glamorous, you know, sitting in the upper echelons of stations.
Uh, I,
Dayvid: But, but, how's your relationship with Culinary now?
Cedric: Yeah, I think my relationship is great with culinary. And, um, you know, I, I, I dealt cards. I worked in slot department. I've turned over guest rooms. I've done everything in the business. You know, I was a person that had it, had a job. And, uh, like many of the culinary workers, actually, who clock in and clock out, I know exactly what you, uh, have done.
I've done it. I've done your job. And I understand that I have a high level of respect for the work that they do. they keep our city moving.
Dayvid: Cedric, let's end with some fun stuff. Um, your campaign has in all likelihood taken you all around the city. So what's your favorite new place that you didn't know about? Or a new place that just popped up in Las Vegas?
Cedric: A new place I didn't know about. You know, there's so many things that keep popping up. All these speakeasies that, um, pop up, which I hear about, which I want to go see. Uh, I was out at, um, a restaurant, a Korean out off of Durango. And it's like a, there's a bunch of Korean restaurants inside of a restaurant, like, like an incubator.
I thought that was kind of cool. I went there for lunch. I hadn't been out there before. We keep, we keep, you know, growing. As much as, as much as we, um, are going through, coming out of recessions, the city keeps growing and keeps reinventing itself. So it's pretty cool. And that's one of the things I really love about this city.
Dayvid: All right, Cedric, here's another one. As Mayor, you could pretty much summon anyone you want for a long lunch. So who, who is the first person you would ring up to have a long talk about the pulse of the city, and you can't name a Goodman or a Figgler on that one?
Cedric: Well,
I'll tell you what, if you do, I will, I will, I will say this. If you do get a chance to have a long lunch with a good man or a figler, it is a good lunch. I will, I will tell you that. Uh, God, there's so many people that are doing so many amazing things, uh, on the, on the pulse of the city. I've, I've, I've been fortunate that I've met with a lot of them, whether it's not necessarily over a, a, um, a long lunch.
But, you know, a lot of the people who are Just doing work that you don't really get a chance to, you know, aren't asking for a lot, but just out there doing those. And
Dayvid: Everyone's named names, so give me a name. Just throw one out.
Cedric: Yeah.
Dayvid: of mine.
Cedric: don't know if I want to just throw one out. Um, you know, we've
Dayvid: or three if you need.
Cedric: huh?
Dayvid: You could do two or three if you're struggling with just coming up with the one. Maybe it's a big party of four.
Cedric: it'd be great. You look, it'd be cool to have. I never had lunch with Wayne Newton. That'd be kind of cool. Just understand the history of, uh, Las Vegas and, and, and the entertainment pulse of it. Uh, if I know, can you do, can you do dead or alive someone who were deceased? Please.
Dayvid: think it has to be alive because you want to get the pulse. You don't want, you know, the one thing they don't have would be a pulse if they were dead.
Cedric: I guess that they have a pulse, huh? Um, who haven't I had lunch with? Um, it'd be cool to have lunch with, a long lunch with, uh, Jack Binion. Uh, it'd be cool to have a long lunch with Larry Ruvo. Uh, it'd be cool to have a, uh, Long lunch with, uh, cookie jar. Oh.
Dayvid: Oh, if he still has a pulse, I want to join you for that one, Cedric. That would be really interesting. All right. Very, very last question. Cedric, more than half of the Vegas Valley can't vote for you because they don't live in the city. What is it about,
Cedric: to move. Right, David?
Dayvid: oh, well, it's getting close. What, what is it, what is it about the mayoral race that you think all Southern Nevadans should really care about?
Cedric: Well, like I think that you, no matter where you live. Las Vegas is the hub of our community. It is the face of our community. You want someone that is a strong global ambassador. You want someone that is going to lead the charge for the city. Uh, when Las Vegas does well, then we all do well. And so we need someone who is going to be that champion to continue to drive where we're going and move it forward.
You know, I always say the Mayor's job is more than just showing up for proclamations and showing up for ribbon cuttings. We are real city and we are moving our community forward. We need someone with the vibrancy and the energy and the know how of how to get things done that can lead the charge. And that's important for everybody involved.
Dayvid: Cedric Rear? Thank you for joining us today on CityCastLasVegas.
Cedric: David Figler, thank you for having me.
Dayvid: That's all for today here on CityCastLasVegas. Now there's a lot of undecideds out there, in fact the majority, so we have content related to all the mayoral hopefuls on our website. Make sure to check that out at lasvegas. org. dot CityCast. fm. Next week on The Pod, we talk with mayoral candidate Victoria Seaman.
And if you're enjoying this series and our show, go tell a friend! Leave us a review, too, and subscribe to our morning newsletter. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more news from around the city. Till then, stay lucky.
