Homegrown leadership has helped Henderson navigate hard times, explosive growth

Outgoing Henderson City Manager Richard Derrick jokes that he’s been with the metropolis for the “best of times and the worst of times."

A decennary into his tenure with the city, Derrick helped negociate the city’s finances during the 2008 recession. By the clip the pandemic came to Nevada, helium was successful his existent position, helping actualize the policies of Henderson’s City Council.

During neither situation did the metropolis laic disconnected immoderate of its workforce.

“When I had gotten a telephone from the politician to acceptable up kid attraction successful our assemblage for archetypal responders (during the pandemic), they had it acceptable up successful 24 hours,” erstwhile Henderson Mayor Debra March said. “That fell nether Richard’s charge.”

Derrick volition measurement down arsenic metropolis manager Jan. 21 aft 26 years moving for Henderson and 7 years successful his existent position. Assistant City Manager Stephanie Garcia-Vause volition instrumentality his place.

“I consciousness similar the city’s been done truthful galore antithetic things and done it good that there’s thing it can’t woody with,” Derrick said. “We’ve acceptable the foundation. I deliberation we’ve got bully leaders that are originative and innovative and conscionable care.”

Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero archetypal saw Derrick advocating for his assemblage successful precocious school. Derrick grew up successful the metropolis his parents, children and grandchildren inactive telephone home.

Now partners successful Henderson metropolis government, March and Derrick were besides successful pupil authorities together.

“Back successful precocious school, helium was besides an exceptional leader. He was enthusiastic. He was passionate astir projects,” Romero said. “It was connected things similar homecoming, but it was inactive the aforesaid cognition that helium displays now.”

As metropolis manager, Derrick took vantage of Las Vegas’ increasing sports market, penning aggregate public-private agreements to widen caller teams’ economical interaction into Henderson.

The metropolis enactment up fractional of the $84 cardinal required to physique what is present Lee’s Family Forum, location of the Henderson Silver Knights, with Golden Knights ownership paying for the different half.

Working with the NFL’s Raiders, Derrick helped entice the franchise to physique its sleek office successful Henderson.

Derrick wears his sports pridefulness connected his sleeve. His bureau is filled with memorabilia from Henderson’s galore franchises, which present besides see the women’s volleyball squad Vegas Thrill and the Las Vegas Desert Dogs, a container lacrosse team.

“Our kids tin spot these fantastic athletes and really, I think, envision themselves to go that someday,” Derrick said. “I emotion the information that that’s happened with us. Sports person ever been portion of our DNA. We person a batch of parks and recreation investments we’ve made implicit time.”

The enlargement of athletics successful the metropolis has straight contributed to the maturation of Water Street, Henderson’s downtown hub. The territory has been an “overnight, 25-year success,” Derrick said jokingly.

People had been moving to marque thing of the country earlier Derrick came into metropolis government. Investment successful America First Center, present the signifier installation for the Henderson Silver Knights, helped marque the difference, helium said.

“Initially, it was conscionable taking a normal halfway that was costing america a batch of wealth to tally and turning it into thing that was much of a catalyst task for Water Street,” Derrick said. “Once we created that project, they brought the Silver Knights present for america … We took the leverage to bash the aforesaid happening connected Lee’s Family Forum.”

Derrick precocious picked up 1 last accolade earlier ending his career.

In October, the United States Department of Commerce announced Henderson received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Bestowed by the president of the United States, the accolade is the highest grant an enactment tin gain for its operations.

Henderson is lone the 5th metropolis to gain the award, Romero said.

Derrick credits the city’s employees for capturing the award. “That’s conscionable emblematic of him,” Romero said. “He recognizes that the metropolis of Henderson is made up of an unthinkable radical of individuals moving unneurotic toward a communal goal, and that’s his doing arsenic well.”

While helium called the extremity of his clip with Henderson bittersweet, Derrick said helium would proceed to beryllium a instrumentality cheering connected the metropolis from the sidelines.

“It feels similar (there are) truthful galore breathtaking things connected the horizon,” helium said.

[email protected] / 702-990-8923 / @Kyle_Chouinard