Bounded by Buffalo to the west, Western to the east, Sahara (and parts of Palmyra and Desert Inn) to the south and Cheyenne at its northernmost tip, the ward is oddly configured. On a map it looks like a puzzle piece, appendages jutting out from nearly all sides. It's the smallest of the city of Las Vegas' seven wards.
As a longtime resident, Tarkanian has seen the ward grow in population. As a short-time city councilwoman—taking over in February 2005, after voters ousted ethically challenged Janet Moncrief in a recall election—she could very well see it constrict: There's a move afoot to downsize the ward.
What hasn't much changed in her 34 years in Las Vegas is the crime and poverty plaguing the troubled (read: poorer) areas of Ward 1, like the Pennwood and Arville intersection near Clark High School. It's a known haunt for criminals.
"It's gotten worse, especially the gang problems," says Tarkanian, her finger ping-ponging to places on the map known for riff-raff. She identifies half a dozen. At a nearby apartment complex, the Silver Dollar, she says an 8-year-old showed her a metal box where drug dealers stash their product. Tarkanian, 72, says she immediately got busy.
"We mobilized community resources. We got two Hispanic cops to work in the neighborhood. We got a place for families to meet and talk—a safe place. We pressured apartment owners to crack down on criminals. And in the first two days, we found three stolen cars in one neighborhood," Tarkanian says. "When I got into office, residents complained about a lack of responsiveness. I feel good about our responsiveness now. The residents told us that it's no use trying to fight crime. I told them we can't afford not to fight."
***
Odd-year elections generally don't generate the political fervor or coverage of contests when the Oval Office is up for grabs, or midterm elections, when Democrats and Republicans jockey for control of the House and Senate.
This year wouldn't have been much different if not for the Ward 1 election. The contest is important for precisely the wrong reason. No other ward has experienced its dramatic turnover in representation—four officeholders in 16 years (by contrast, Ward 4 councilman Larry Brown has been in his seat for 10 years)—meaning no other residents have been less represented. What's more, no other municipal seat in the Valley has this ward's recent spotty history of ethically challenged political leadership. When its representatives weren't fixing potholes, they were often trying to enrich themselves or friends.
The late Al Levy, councilman from 1978 to 1987, was ensnared in a dubious land deal; voters ousted him. They also dumped ethically challenged Frank Hawkins in 1995, after the former Oakland Raiders' running back held a for-profit golf tournament in which he solicited participation from people and companies that came before the council. In his place came Michael McDonald, a former cop who nonetheless racked up ethics charges from the city and state (he was absolved of some) on the way to getting the heave-ho at the ballot box in 2003. His replacement, Moncrief, was accused of criminal campaign-finance violations and lost the seat in a rare recall election to Tarkanian.
So far, two years into her tenure as Ward 1's representative, Tarkanian has avoided ethics charges and, until campaign season got under way, enjoyed a scandal-free reputation.
***
Lois Tarkanian is, if anything, a fighter.
She doggedly defended husband Jerry, who coached the UNLV Runnin' Rebels men's basketball to national prominence, through a quarter-century of very public rules-violation battles with the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports. She stood by him in the late '80s and early '90s during his very public spat with then-UNLV president Robert Maxson. While the NCAA awarded the family $2.5 million in 1998, releasing him of "any admission of liability," the Maxson hurt still remains.
"The ugly things he said about Jerry weren't true," Tarkanian says.
Tarkanian has a history of going rounds with the powerful:
1996: Rather than follow the lead of other Clark County School Board trustees and settle a school-administrators' union lawsuit alleging the board violated open-meeting laws, promoted personal agendas and engaged in cronyism, Tarkanian and colleague Susan Brager went to trial. The case was eventually settled out of court.
1997: She and former school superintendent Brian Cram briefly sparred over the hiring of a technology coordinator, who was paid more than $140,000 for services not authorized by the School Board. Cram argued that the board said he could do whatever it took to modernize technology within the district.
February 2005: Less than month into the job, she joined councilman Steve Wolfson on the losing side of a 3-2 vote to relicense Treasures, a strip club on Sahara and Industrial where a dancer had been arrested on solicitation of prostitution charges.
August 2005: Tarkanian, councilman Steve Ross and then-councilman (now county commissioner) Lawrence Weekly constituted the three votes against in a 4-3 ruling to increase in slot machines, from five to 15, inside Tomfoolery, a 24-hour bar at the Meadows Mall. "It seems to me that the emphasis here has been on business," Tarkanian said at the council meeting. "Not on the people. Not on the residents."
Later that year, Tarkanian cast the lone vote—and an irascible one at that—against lifting the deed restriction on Billy Walters' Royal Links Golf Club, the final hurdle to in the controversial developer's plan to turn land next to a wastewater treatment plant into a 1,200-home golf-course community. Tarkanian asked for an environmental report and appraisal of the effect of lifting a deed restriction. Walters offered to pay the city $7.2 million, likely a paltry sum considering what he'd earn from home sales. A state attorney general's report said the deal violates Nevada law mandating the use of public property and tax monies for public benefit.
June 2006: By now firmly entrenched on the council as an independent voice—labeled everything from maverick to loose cannon—Tarkanian raised a stink about a redistricting push that would shrink Ward 1 by 20 percent. Lost in the boundary rejiggering would be the Arts District, the historic Fifth Street School and her ward's only large park, the All American Park. The move was viewed in some political circles as get-back.
Tarkanian groused to the media, telling the Review-Journal: "This is the only area in the city which won't have new development or redevelopment. Everything attractive or of value, this is going to take it away from the ward. My ward is the smallest ward right now, but instead, it has the most taken from it. It's evened out, but it's evened out in the strangest way. They took out anything of consequence as far as Ward 1 is concerned."
Asked if there are undercover forces who want her out of the seat, she tells the Weekly, "I've been told by several people that that's the case. I'm not going to think about that and run a positive race and focus on my goals. We've made significant progress in the establishment of neighborhood associations. We have more new associations in my ward than any other ward. These are active people who are working together for their wards."
***
Tarkanian readily admits she hasn't licked the crime problem, which her opponents in the race for Ward 1 say is the chief complaint they hear from constituents. It's the issue Metro cop and council candidate Laurie Bisch harps on. There's too much of it. Not enough responsiveness to it. She says Tarkanian, whose public-service background is in education, isn't equipped to address it. (Businessman Shawn Spanier is the third candidate. The election is April 3.)
Back to the map in Tarkanian's office. Trouble spots identified, Tarkanian now fingers the older areas, which cause their own set of problems.
She says she has the highest percentage of residents who have lived in their neighborhoods for 15 years or more, which means she has a larger number of established homes and properties with code issues. The significant influx of Hispanic residents (she says 40 percent of the ward) has complicated the delivery of government services. Graffiti is an issue, as is poor lighting at schools and parks and overall blight. Ever tried attracting enterprise to areas known for crime?
Management at a good share of the apartments near the Pennwood and Arville area participates in Metro's Crime-Free Multi Housing safety program. In the 30-day period from February 18 to March 18, that intersection and the surrounding blocks witnessed: four cases of assault and battery, six burglaries, three accidents, four stolen vehicles, three family disturbances, two juvenile disturbances and five undisclosed crimes. Crime isn't exclusive to poor areas and apartments. Where Tarkanian lives, a high-end neighborhood at Mesquite and Rancho, people are doing and dealing drugs.
"We've had robberies in the Scotch 80s [neighborhood, where Mayor Goodman lives]," she says. "My daughter lives in Rancho Circle and had a watch stolen."
So why hasn't she gotten Metro to step up enforcement? The council provides half of Metro's funding and several council members serve in oversight capacity.
"I have, and they have stepped up," Tarkanian says. "It's not easy to root out crime. It's not easy to get rid of drug dealers. We have people renting out homes for parties in these neighborhoods, and those parties are advertised as far away as LA."
Chester Dougherty has lived here since 1965, the last few years in Ward 1. All the problems Tarkanian mentioned, he's seen firsthand—particularly graffiti and stolen vehicles. The worst areas for those crimes? Pick one, he says: Torrey Pines between Charleston and Alta, along the expanse of Charleston, portions of Alta and Rainbow.
In his neighborhood, a next-door neighbor turned the home into a drug den. It creates a domino effect. Boom! In came criminals everywhere, and out went long-timers.
Dougherty was fed up with stolen cars left in front of his house, tired of the loud music and curious people coming into the neighborhood at all times, but couldn't get city officials to do anything. "We had three groups of troublemakers: gang members, meth heads and some Hispanic thugs. I'm not being racist, but that's who caused the problems," he says. "We didn't know about the resources, and the councilwoman [Janet Moncrief] didn't tell us. We felt nobody was listening."
Tarkanian, he says, changed all that. She got the cops to patrol and code enforcers to cite scofflaws, and helped form a neighborhood association to act as a watchdog. Where 20 people used to attend monthly meetings with city staff, that number doubled. Eventually the bad seeds in Dougherty's neighborhood were run off.
"My friend ended up buying that house," he says, smile as wide as the Mississippi.
***
So Lois Tarkanian will fight for her husband, her reputation and the safety of her constituents. But what about for her political future?
About this time seven years ago, she was on her way to becoming a Clark County Commissioner. Armed with name recognition, campaign cash and political moxie gleaned from 12 years on the Clark County School Board, she was a prohibitive favorite over upstart Chip Maxfield, an engineer with a sprightly voice, unmussed hair and Boy Scout's demeanor. The election was to be Tarkanian's promotion to the political big leagues, a chance to dance on the state's most powerful municipal stage.
Then came the mud-slinging.
She was dubbed a government insider "blinded to her constituents' needs by a bureaucracy she became a part of" and blamed for the school district's high dropout rates and low test scores.
Then it really got nasty.
"He [Maxfield] hit me seven days before voting began," Tarkanian says. "There was an ad that said I voted on a contract for my daughter without disclosing it. It wasn't true. I'd voted on a union contract, but my daughter wasn't a member of the union. And my daughter was working in the school district before I was elected to the school board. I related that information in an open meeting."
She refused to go negative and never recovered.
"It was clever campaigning on their part. I lost the race but not by much." Five-hundred forty-six votes, to be exact.
Jump to early 2007.
A cakewalk to retain the Ward 1 seat has now become a contested race. Playing the role of the primary upstart challenger is Bisch, a failed sheriff's candidate who's repackaged herself as the answer to the ward's ills. On Bisch's team is Dan Hart, the same political consultant who orchestrated Maxfield's victory. Spanier's campaign is run by the equally effective Gary Gray.
Three weeks before election day, the mud came a-slingin'. Bisch sent two particularly vicious mailers. Most stinging is one showing a slot machine with Tarkanian's head in the reels. Verbiage on the backside says the councilwoman voted for a controversial condo project, a large billboard and a check-cashing facility. "In just the last two years, Lois Tarkanian has raked in $20,000 in special interest money from a high powered lobbyist and his special interest friends."
Déjà vu all over again.
Tarkanian has yet to counterattack. Asked if she thinks Walters is financing Bisch's run, Tarkanian responds with a simple, "That's what I've heard."
Bisch says neither Walters nor any allegedly anti-Tarkanian forces are funding her candidacy.
***
And now, some opinions on Tarkanian.
Dan Hart: "My only experience in a political setting with her was when she was running for county commission. She's a tenacious campaigner. She's a fighter, a strong-willed person with strong beliefs and is not afraid to back them up with her actions. That's all I have to say."
Political pundit Jon Ralston in one daily e-mail blasts: "THE MAVERICK IS ANOINTED? With a proven vote-getter in Laurie Bisch and a well-connected businessman in Shawn Spanier, Las Vegas Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian has her hands full in her re-election bid. But on February 15 at the World Market Center, Tarkanian will be telling her opponents that she is, in Hillaryspeak, in to win. Tarkanian, who already has a quarter mil in the bank, will be having a fund-raiser with an amazingly impressive host committee and with the promise of some ‘NBA All-Star guests.' This has all the looks of an anointment despite Tarkanian's well-earned reputation for bucking powerful folks and occasionally being the lone voice of reason against Oscar and his Dwarves. Mayor Goodman, as a matter of fact, actually has the chutzpah to be on the host committee—as do her council colleagues—but my guess is he would just as soon see her erased from his council ..."
Steve Miller, former councilman, current gadfly and big Tarkanian supporter: "She's giving it 100 percent. Unfortunately, she is not able to garner the support of Oscar Goodman on most of her ideas, and that's a shame. She's highly regarded in Ward 1, which was the ward I represented. I see her as a lone wolf. That doesn't mean you can't be effective, but it also means you don't have to be a team player. The City Council has become a dictatorship. People have no idea how much power Oscar Goodman has over the council members."
Laurie Bisch: "I've lived in Ward 1 since 1998. I feel a lot things need to be taken care of: quality of life; code-enforcement violations; cars parked in front yards; abandoned vehicles; crime rate has skyrocketed; community policing has gone down 65 percent; homes in my neighborhood are being rented as party houses. A lot of people in the ward say the current officeholder isn't responsive. My letters have gone unanswered. Over on Palomino, kids walk to school in the street. There are no sidewalks at Wasden Elementary. I come to the City Council with a set of tools different than Lois Tarkanian—14 years on Metro's police force. I take nothing away from Lois Tarkanian, but her expertise is in education, not fighting crime."
Jim Rogers, university system chancellor: "Our relationship goes back to the mid-'70s. We meet every six weeks for breakfast and talk about education. When I agreed to be superintendent after Brian Cram retired, she and Shirley Barber supported me. We got a lot closer. Lois certainly doesn't have to do anything that she's doing. I'm sure that she and Jerry are very well-off. She's been a damn good citizen. She may be a pain in the ass, but nobody should accuse her of being corrupt. Lois is controversial, but she never has a second agenda like to put some money in a relative's pocket or her own pocket. She can be abrasive at times, but I'm the king of abrasiveness. I think she's brave, which is kind of a rarity these days. If she lost every vote, it would still be good for the system."
***
Okay, Lois Tarkanian isn't spoiling for a political fight. She wants to win, but losing won't mean downsizing her home or having to take a second job. She's secure. Politics is divisive enough, she says. Seven years after Maxfield went negative during their contest for the County Commission, Tarkanian says theirs is a positive relationship—they serve on the board of the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
So, was it fair [for Maxfield] to criticize you for the district's struggles on achievement?
It's fair to criticize programs where money isn't being used effectively, but to blame the trustees was unfair. We didn't have enough resources to do what we need. I don't think the general criticism of the school district is fair to teachers or to board members.
What about the notion that because you're not responding to the mailers, you don't want to win?
I have never ever used negative campaigning, and I don't intend to use negative campaigning. The information that is being presented in those flyers is not true. Some people are falling for the lies, but the majority are not. My constituents are still supporting me. There are people around me that want to hit back, but I won't.
And the notion that you're not doing all it takes to win?
If people say you don't want it as much because you're not hitting back, that's not true. I believe we're working every bit as hard as they are. I think we want to win the race more than they do.
Are you a lone wolf on the City Council?
Sometimes, yes. I see myself as seeing things in a way that others don't see it. But, you know, I carefully research the issues, and I represent the values of the constituents.
Why did you and Rogers form RAT PAC, the Rogers and Tarkanian Political Action Committee? Was it to battle Goodman's entity, OPAC?
Absolutely not. It hasn't done anything with it. We formed it because we want the political field to be as even a field as possible, to support worthy candidates who may not have a lot of money. We haven't done much of anything with it.
Oscar Goodman was listed on your fundraiser on February 15. Does he support you?
I guess. I really don't know.
***
Going against the grain, Tarkanian says, can be uncomfortable, can mean voting against the interests of friends, as she says she did against her friend of 34 years, developer Irwin Molasky, in his successful push to open a Social Security building on Buffalo just south of Charleston. Neighbors feared a property devaluation and undesirables roaming the area. (There wasn't much she could've done, as it was approved under her predecessor's watch.)
"You have to recognize that you're not going to bend to political pressure, money pressure and media pressure," she says, and "I can stand those pressures."
Whether she can handle the pressure of reelection of big-time municipal race—she won three consecutive school board terms—remains to be seen.