Commission campaign heats up early

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Oct. 13, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

As with any candidate running for a Clark County Commission seat, candidate George Togliatti faces plenty of deadlines and has a lengthy to-do list.

High on that list might be calling the movers.

Togliatti does not live in District C where he is expected to be incumbent Lance Malone's most threatening opponent in next year's commission race.

Togliatti's primary residence is in the high-income neighborhood of Spanish Trail, but he also owns a home at Mount Charleston, which sits in Malone's district.

When asked about his residency, Togliatti quickly brushed it off as the first attack launched by Malone's camp. He said he never has tried to hide the fact he lives in Spanish Trail and plans to move either into his Mount Charleston home or another house in District C by the March filing deadline.

"I'm not fudging any addresses; I'm hiding absolutely nothing," said Togliatti, a casino executive with Caesars Palace.

Togliatti said he purchased his Spanish Trail home about three years ago as an investment and because it was closer to work.

"I bought it low, and I hope to make a few dollars on it," he said. "I need all the money I can get to make this work; this won't be a cheap campaign."

Togliatti, the father of Justice of the Peace Jennifer Togliatti, who presided over the high-profile preliminary hearing for the defendants in the Ted Binion murder case, officially announced his intention to run for Malone's seat last month. He said he has noticed problems with streets and neighborhoods as he has driven to Mount Charleston.

Togliatti also emphasized that he has lived in various parts of the county for the last two decades and knows it well. But perhaps his deepest concern is with proposed developments at Mount Charleston.

"We have to be concerned with what's up on that mountain," Togliatti said, adding that Mount Charleston and Lake Mead are the county's two most cherished getaways. "We need to make sure that if it is developed, it is developed the right way."

Malone questioned Togliatti's knowledge of neighborhoods in his district when he doesn't live there.

"When he decides to move into my district, I'll take him seriously," Malone said. "If he wanted to run in this seat, he could have moved into this district years ago."

Malone also criticized Togliatti's repeated concerns about Mount Charleston. The incumbent credited himself with quashing a developer Allen Nel's plans to build a shopping center and convincing Nel to instead converting the land into a park.

"There are 2,700-plus square miles and about 226,000 residents in this district," Malone said. "It's more than just Mount Charleston."

Togliatti said he put his house up for sale in August not only because he planned to move into the district but because he realized he couldn't lead the same lifestyle as a commissioner that he did as a casino executive.

"The burden of running a County Commission race is financial," he said. "You have to make a dramatic lifestyle change. I am going to leave my job and downgrade my lifestyle. It demonstrates my commitment."