How do you beat Vegas? Ask Harvey Whittemore and Vidler Water. They've “profited” almost $20,000,000 from two very questionable water “deals” with Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA).
In the report I-Team: Deals for Coyote Springs Raise Questions; George Knapp reported that Clark County didn't buy Coyote Springs, so Harvey Whittemore did – for $23 million. And then SNWA paid him $25 million for some of it's water rights.
What's wrong with this picture? Why didn't Clark County just buy the property for $2 million less – and SNWA could have had all the water rights?
It could mean that SNWA got away with an unpopular move the County would not take.
It could mean that Harvey Whittemore somehow outmaneuvered SNWA.
Or, it could mean that some inside information was given and backroom deals made to drain $2,000,000 of wealth from Southern Nevada.
And then there's that Robison Ranch in Spring Valley Vidler Water bought for $4.5 million, and then six years later sold it to SNWA for $22 million! That's a questionable profit of $17,500,000!
Together, these two deals amount to almost $20 million that Las Vegas overpaid.
If Harvey Whitemore or Vidler Water had pick-pocketed Las Vegas residents, they'd be doing time. But they make questionable millions at Las Vegas' expense and somehow they're shrewd businessmen? Something is very wrong here. This deserves more than an I-Team investigation. Where are the cops when we really need them?
It is self-evident that something is very wrong with our system. Situations like this point out that our criminal justice system has essentially been used as a diversion. Politicians like to look like they're “tough on crime.” But they don't really mean all crime – just the crimes of the poor.
If you've got a drug addiction problem, and you get caught, you're going to prison.
If you get filthy rich destroying the future of the State, you get treated like a damn hero.
This is what corruption looks like. I feel like I'm watching a train wreck in slow motion. If Harvey Whittemore can get away with it, he's going to build 150,000 homes out there in the desert – with only enough water to sell the homes. This is a scam! Haven't we figured out yet what a scam looks like?
WARNING: That $20 million scam might only be the beginning. Harvey Whittemore also wants the State of Nevada to pay for 75% of a solar facility on his Coyote Springs development. Since the Federal government has already promised to pay 30% of all solar installations, Harvey Whittemore might make money on what would cost the rest of us money. And he still wants SNWA to build him a watergrab pipeline – at a cost of between $3.5 and $20 BILLION!
Is there no end to this man's greed?
Is there no limit to how much damage some will do for a profit?
...Of course, Harvey Whittemore isn't the only “law abiding” criminal committing this kind of mayhem. This is systematic. It's happening all over our Country. We all know this. In so many ways, our natural and economic wealth has been gutted. And we all know that it will just get worse if we ignore it.
So...
DO SOMETHING!!!
Tell your friends.
Write some letters.
Join the Bristlecone Alliance, PLAN, and the Sierra Club.
Make a donation to Great Basin Water Network (and sign our petition).
Or,
if you have an idea, leave a comment.
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