Larry Brown’s victory unseats incumbent Callister in an upset

Wednesday, June 4, 1997 | 10:33 a.m.

In January, when Larry Brown was considering what seemed like an impossible task of taking Las Vegas City Council Ward 4 seat from Matthew Callister, he met with Mayor Jan Laverty Jones over lunch to discuss his plans.

"The mayor told me flat out she was supporting Matt," Brown said Tuesday after one of the closest races in local municipal history. "I walked away from that meeting with tremendous respect for her because I knew from the start where I stood.

"Now, I have to earn her respect and the respect of the other councilmen."

Brown beat Callister by 63 votes in Tuesday's general election after losing to him in a close primary a month ago.

Brown, a 14-year resident and former Las Vegas Stars pitcher, said that as director of public services for Las Vegas Valley Water District he has worked well with Jones in the past.

He served with Councilman Gary Reese on the Las Vegas Planning Commission and said he can also work well with Councilmen Mike McDonald and Arnie Adamsen.

"You build trust by working with others," the 39-year-old Brown said amid a noisy victory party at his northwest Las Vegas home. "I am confident I can earn their respect. But I will do what I feel strongly about for the northwest."

Among the issues Brown feels strongly about are more parks and controlled growth.

And he vows to serve as a "full-time councilman" in a job that pays $35,000 a year. He reiterated Tuesday that he will quit his water district post as he said he would do throughout the campaign.

"My wife is worried because she'll probably have to go back to work," the father of three said jokingly in earshot of Celeste, his wife of 14 years, as she passed among the throng of well-wishers.

Brown will take the oath of office at the June 23 council meeting.

Callister, a former state assemblyman and senator who was appointed to the City Council in 1995 and later that year won an election by garnering 71 percent of the vote, said he was not disappointed by the loss, but rather by the dismal 20 percent turnout.

"I'm free at last -- this is a good thing," said Callister, surrounded by friends, his wife, Jackie, and two daughters. "I'm glad to be out of this nonsense."

Callister, a 41-year-old native Las Vegan and an attorney, had left state office for the city post to spend more time with his family.

"I am still concerned with the northwest and have strong feelings for the control of growth, but now those problems will be left to someone else," he said. "I urge Larry to make the choices for sensible development."

Callister said he had no immediate plans to ask for a recount but noted: "When you lose by less than 70 votes, you really wish more people had turned out."

Throughout the campaign, Callister expressed concerns that Brown was courting home builders, the billboard industry and tavern operators -- entities that had worked hard to unseat Callister because of votes he made against their interests.

"Unfortunately in today's races you have to raise and spend embarrassingly large amounts of money, especially when you are trying to unseat an incumbent," Brown said.

"We both took money. But when they (the business interests) come to me as Larry Brown the councilman, what should they expect? I have a strong sense of integrity. I will vote on the issues before me with fairness and consistency."

And while Brown took many an opportunity to slam Callister during the campaign, he noted Tuesday that he bested a man "who did a lot of good things" for the people of Ward 4.

"He cares deeply for the northwest, but it was time for a change. I will look to Matt for advice."

Callister said his immediate plans are to devote more time to his law firm.

Callister had garnered 46.4 percent of the vote in last month's three-person primary, and afterward won the endorsement of No. 3 finisher Dave Hough, who had received 11 percent of the vote in the May election.

Callister vowed to make the last month of the campaign a "referendum on growth," and to make those who directly benefit from growth pay more for it.

His plan, which angered the home builders, included having them pay $500 extra per home as an impact fee to benefit schools. The home builders backed Brown, who, late in the campaign, said he would support a $1,000-per-home impact fee.

Callister opposed bar owners who are attempting to circumvent the 15-slot limit rule and install 200 or more of the gaming devices. Nine of the 30 bars seeking such neighborhood casino status are in Ward 4.

Callister said Brown was the beneficiary of a fund-raising event hosted by those very tavern industry officials.

Brown, who said the event was hosted by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, which had endorsed him, went on record as saying he was "absolutely against neighborhood casinos."

Still, with just two of every 10 Ward 4 residents casting ballots, the race may not have been so much over those supposedly hot issues, but rather simply over who the voters liked more.

While Brown came across as kind and folksy, Callister at times was brash, a personality trait that earned him a tough reputation but one that also may have cost him some votes.