When a new Las Vegas City Council member came on board last summer, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian said, half-jokingly, "maybe now we'll see some five-twos."
Tarkanian, whose name was made famous by her basketball coach husband, was not talking about height, but rather about how the 6-1 council votes on which she often finds herself on the short end might change once Steve Ross joined the seven-member council in July.
While nearly all council votes are unanimous, when there has been dissension during the last year, Tarkanian was almost always in the minority.
Perhaps, she mused when Ross took office, he would join her on the losing side of some votes. But while Tarkanian's infrequent dissents have found company from time to time, she remains, for the most part, the closest thing this council has to an odd man out.
Tarkanian, 71, does not necessarily see it that way. Instead of musing about voting blocs or peer influence, Tarkanian says she just sees things differently.
Perhaps the different perspective comes from being the only woman on the council -- and just the fourth woman to sit on the council in the city's history. Or maybe it's because she's still relatively new to the city government.
During her first year as a Las Vegas councilwoman, Tarkanian has sometimes butted heads with the rest of the council, though never acrimoniously.
Of the typically more than 150 matters going before the council every other week, Tarkanian usually votes against the majority two or three times during each meeting. Generally, her "no" votes come on zoning issues where the requested change would allow higher density development, or granting people with criminal pasts work cards -- which Ross and sometimes other council members have joined her in opposing.
Her more memorable no votes include:
* An unsuccessful effort to keep a restaurant/bar out of the Meadows mall, an issue on which she was ultimately joined by Ross and Councilman Lawrence Weekly.
* Her questioning of the city's latest proposed deal with golf course owner Bill Walters, where she was the lone vote against the plan that has since been put on hold.
* Joining Councilmen Gary Reese and Weekly in the failed effort to stop the city from taking over management of Floyd Lamb Park from the state.
* Voting with Councilman Steve Wolfson against allowing the Treasures topless club to reopen.
"I learned a lot from that issue," Tarkanian said about the council's dealings surrounding the Meadows mall restaurant/bar Tomfoolery. "I learned that it is not as simple as you think it might be. Now I operate more carefully."
Tarkanian would not elaborate on the issue, which drew the ire of some of her colleagues who thought she tried to politicize the votes. Now her fellow councilmen say it was simply a case of them seeing the other side of the issue.
"I think she's a freethinker," Reese said. "I've always felt that I'm a freethinker, too." He voted against Tarkanian on the issue, unwilling to side with her simply because the mall is in her ward.
Weekly said perhaps he and Tarkanian are "just a tad" more concerned about having a bar in a mall frequented by children. But Weekly also said that the vote, like everything the council does, "is politics."
Besides the action behind the council dais, Tarkanian feels she has been able to restore some faith in government among her Ward 1 constituents, who range from lower-income downtown residents to her more immediate neighbors in the tony neighborhoods off Alta Drive. To achieve this, she has helped foster new neighborhood associations -- so far nine have formed or are being organized -- and is working to make some parks better for play.
The neighborhood associations help bring government closer to the residents, she said. Although the groups are not part of city government, Tarkanian said they give people another place to voice their concerns and have them relayed to her.
"I'm attempting to connect every part of the ward with some type of neighborhood association," Tarkanian said. "I think that's critical to have people believe they have a voice."
Helene Walker, chairwoman of the Rancho Bel Air Neighborhood Association, has been impressed with Tarkanian's hands-on approach to her community.
"We had a meeting at my house and Lois Tarkanian showed up and brought her staff," Walker said. "It was an unbelievable response."
With Tarkanian's guidance, Walker got city workers to trim giant bushes were a traffic hazard because they blocked the view of oncoming traffic. Small roadside signs hawking puppies or offering to buy homes also were removed from the area.
"She really takes you by the hand and it gets done," Walker said.
Parks are a major issue for the council, whether it's working to build new ones or improving the old.
In October the city spent $45,000 improving the lighting and irrigation system for Cragin Park's fields, and this summer it plans to spend $40,000 on new lighting for those fields.
Tarkanian said she also is working with businesses to secure donations for resodding soccer fields behind some schools in her ward.
"We didn't have enough soccer fields, and those things are important to a community," Tarkanian said.
Tarkanian joined the council in February, replacing Councilwoman Janet Moncrief after winning a recall election that ousted the incumbent.
Tarkanian said she came into office during a "difficult time" when her experience in government -- she spent 12 years on the Clark County School Board -- helped her be more effective on the council.
"I never take things personally, and I think sometimes she (Moncrief) took things personally," Tarkanian said.
Former Councilman Michael McDonald, who lost his seat to Moncrief, said he has heard only good things about Tarkanian.
"I see her out there in the ward, talking to the neighbors," he said.
Summing up her first year in office, Tarkanian says: "I think I've made a significant difference with how people feel in the community."
Perhaps her most outspoken constituent, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, also spoke highly of the councilwoman, crediting her with something that may or may not be linked to city policies.
"I live in Ward 1," Goodman said, "and since she's been elected I haven't seen one rat."
Dan Kulin can be reached at 259-8826 or at [email protected].
By Dan Kulin Las Vegas Sun
In his first six months on the Las Vegas City Council, Steve Ross has worked to keep the major projects in his ward on track while trying to bring new fire and police stations to the northwest.
"I knew it was a lot of hard work so I've had no surprises, no disappointments," Ross said.
Ross, a 43-year-old electrician turned politician, said he feels he joined the council "at just the right time because there were some things already set in motion."
The largest of those projects "in motion" was the $35 million Centennial Hills Community Center, a four-pool complex with gymnasiums and teen and senior centers scheduled to break ground this summer.
Ross also cited the plans for the city to take over the Floyd Lamb State Park.
The Centennial Hills complex has space nearby for a Metro substation and a library, which Ross said he is working to help bring along.
In addition, Ross hopes to cement plans for at least one, and perhaps two new fire stations for the northwest, where his Ward 6 is located, during the next budget cycle.
Ross' predecessor, Michael Mack, who decided not to seek re-election and supported Ross' opponent in the election, complimented the new councilman on his work so far.
"I've heard he's doing a good job and working hard," Mack said.
Dan Kulin can be reached at 259-8826 or at [email protected].
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