Bill to rename Lamb Park dies

Tuesday, June 3, 1997 | 11:32 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The bill to change the name of Floyd Lamb State Park in Clark County to Tule Springs was killed in an Assembly committee, and the 82-year-old Lamb said he's glad the controversy is over.

"I don't mind if they change it," said the former 26-year state senator. "But it's been a hassle. Somebody's taking me over the coals ... some biddy that never did 5 cents worth of good for the state."

Assemblywoman Kathy Von Tobel, R-Las Vegas, in an effort to save her bill, suggested an 11th-hour amendment that the name would be changed after Lamb's death. Lamb called that a "terrible thing" to do.

Assemblywoman Marcia de Braga, chairwoman of the Assembly Natural Resources, Agriculture and Mining Committee, said, "I have never heard of anything quite so insensitive," referring to the Von Tobel amendment.

De Braga, D-Fallon, said she had been neutral on the bill until the Von Tobel amendment.

After de Braga's verbal attack on Von Tobel, who was not present, the committee voted unanimously to deep-six Assembly Bill 302.

Lamb was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee when the state took over the park from the cash-strapped city of Las Vegas. He pushed for millions of dollars of improvements for the park.

In 1983, Lamb was convicted of accepting $23,000 in bribes in an FBI sting and spent nine months in a federal prison before being paroled. He has regained his civil rights and was elected to the Lincoln County Commission, only to be recalled.

Von Tobel said she didn't think she had the votes to pass the bill and had been asked by a number of legislators, "Why don't you just wait until he passes?" to pass this type of legislation.

She decided to make that part of the bill, that the park would be renamed after he died. "I certainly meant no disrespect by that. I think it was unfortunate it was perceived that way.

"I have never spoken badly about the senator and in fact the bill does not even mention his name," Von Tobel said. "If it was perceived any differently, I apologize for that."

Several committee members said they had intended to vote to change the name back to Tule Springs but changed with the offer of the amendment. Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, D-Las Vegas, said, "I was going to vote to pass it. But with the events that transpired, I've changed my mind."

Assemblywoman Deanna Braunlin, R-Las Vegas, said she had intended to support the bill. But now she suggests the issue be resolved in Clark County. Braunlin also defended Von Tobel, saying "She did not mean any disrespect to the senator."

The park had traditionally been called Tule Springs but was changed after the state acquired it. Efforts in the past to change the name have also failed.