When Zarelli disappoints, there's no half measures.

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Zarelli is my state senator. I've had major problems with his off-scene political machinations... but few this session, save his rebirth on the welfare fraud effort that he killed when Marc Boldt managed to get the bill out of the House over to the Senate over a decade ago.

Today's disappointment?

He's shilling a bill that might result in a taxpayer subsidized NASCAR track in Clark County.

I don't think much of NASCAR. My interest began to wain when they stopped running different model cars and started running cookie-cutter cars that no one can realistically tell apart from each other, save the name painted on the outside (Or is it "stickered?")

The idea that these guys race cars that have few, if any, parts from the model they're alleged to be running for just killed it for me. Besides, drag racing is my thing... and there's damned little difficulty in telling the difference between a Mustang and a Camaro.

All of that said, Zarelli is cosponsoring a bill "for a county with a population over 400,000" that's sponsored by a guy with no part of his district in, you guessed it, any county over 400,000, namely, Brian Hatfield.

I've had heartburn with Hatfield in the past; his buddy, the Lt. Governor (Brad Owen), developed a job and hired him for it that's had a payroll ripple effect in the Owen's office amounting to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, since the Lt. Governor hired him for more money than his own chief-of-staff was making... and had to increase every one's pay as a result... meaning a 33% increase in the office budget in ONE YEAR.

I've got to wonder what kind of deal was made with Hatfield, since this thing can't be built in his district.

That said, the only way I would support a NASCAR track or any other private entity like that is if they leave the taxpayer alone. So this excerpt of the article is extremely troubling, indeed:

Senate Bill 5856 prescribes creation of a public speedway authority in a county with a population of at least 400,000 people.

This authority would be led by a board of directors with broad powers to guide construction and operation of the raceway, including the ability to levy sales tax and ticket taxes to cover financing.

I will oppose, in any way I can, yet another effort to shaft the people of this district and Clark County with any additional tax for anything generally, and any private concern, particularly.

Like any other private entity... the Sonics, for example... if what they wanted was all that... they would damned well pay for it themselves. Here locally, we got hosed into paying for the Amphitheater at the Fairgrounds... and we've paid a fortune for it ever since.

Let that be a lesson to us.

And that my allegedly conservative senator would have anything to do with the kind of scam NASCAR runs?

Troubling, indeed.
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