Lamb, longtime Nevada politician, rancher, dies

By Ed Koch (contact), Mary Manning (contact), Cy Ryan (contact)

Monday, June 3, 2002 | 11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Floyd Lamb, a rough-and-tumble rancher who rose to become a bank president and one of the most influential politicians in Nevada before his downfall, is dead at the age of 84.

Lamb died Sunday morning at his ranch in Alamo, his wife, Loretta, said. A funeral has tentatively been set for Thursday at Palm Mortuary on Main Street, and burial will be in Alamo, she said.

Lamb had been in the hospital in Las Vegas for several months before being released to his home.

Former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan called Lamb a "real cowboy who became a master of the legislative process. He was a diamond in the rough who always had time for people who needed a helping hand."

"He was colorful," former Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, said. "But he had the best interests of the state of Nevada at heart. I thought he was a great leader during his era.

"He worked hard for the state until his downfall."

That downfall came with his conviction in 1983 for attempted extortion in the FBI sting Operation Yobo.

Lamb was one of five public officials caught in the sting. He was accused of accepting $20,000 from an FBI undercover agent in exchange for a promise to help arrange a loan from the state Public Employees Retirement System to help in the purchase of a Reno casino.

He was sentenced to three years in prison but was released in 8 1/2 months, partly due to ill health.

In 1989 the state Board of Pardons restored his civil rights, allowing him to vote and to run for public office.

He ran for and was elected Lincoln County commissioner, a post he had held early in his career, but was voted out in a recall election.

"He should be remembered for all the good he did," Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said of Lamb. That included supporting both public and higher education and helping to create the Taxicab Authority.

"Nevada schoolchildren had a real friend in Floyd Lamb when he chaired the Senate Finance Committee," said Gov. Kenny Guinn, who was Clark County School superintendent during Lamb's days in the Legislature.

Former Sen. Richard Bryan noted Lamb's support for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Lamb was among the most influential men in state government. He was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which played the major role in deciding how the state spent its money.

"Floyd Lamb together with the late Jim Gibson and Mahlon Brown were legislative powerhouses," Bryan said. Gibson and Brown, both senators, sat on the finance committee with Lamb.

The committee was nicknamed the "Gas House Gang" because it dealt death blows to many a government social proposal.

At the beginning of every Legislature, Lamb would warn his colleagues that the state's financial future was gloomy and urge them to hold down spending. During those years Nevada enjoyed some of its largest increases in revenue because of the expanding economy. The tight-fisted ways of the legislative money committees helped the state build up large surpluses.

Lamb with Gov. Paul Laxalt and others were the architects of the Taxicab Authority in Clark County, which brought peace to the troubled industry.

His temper was legendary. He once socked and knocked down Reno hotel owner Charles Mapes in the bar at the Mapes. Another time he kicked then-Assemblyman Norman Hilbrecht of Las Vegas in the seat of the pants in the hallway of the Legislature after an argument.

He tackled the late Sen. Emerson Titlow in the lobby of a Reno hotel and they grappled on the floor. He slapped and kicked an Associated Press reporter when he became angry about a story in 1977.

Because of his iron-handed rule, he was able to bury bills he disliked in his desk drawer in the Senate.

But sometimes that didn't work. He had blocked legislation to assure fair housing for minorities, which was sought by O'Callaghan. Four of the seven-committee members forced a reluctant Lamb to take a vote on the measure that was eventually approved by the Legislature.

Lamb's influence waned in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the Assembly Ways and Means Committee started to play a larger role in deciding budget matters.

One measure Lamb pushed through the Legislature dogged him after his conviction.

The senator convinced the Legislature to take over the Tule Springs Park from Las Vegas when the city ran into financial trouble. He also pushed for more state money to upgrade the park.

The city, grateful to save the resource, named the park after him before signing the deed to the state. After his extortion conviction, several attempts were made to to strip his name from the park. All of them were unsuccessful.

Lamb told the Sun in 1989 that he never asked for the honor but would have been upset if it were taken away: "It hurts me, it makes me feel bad that I have -- I don't know -- enemies. I would be a liar if I said I didn't hope they leave it alone."

At one time the Lamb family was regarded as the most powerful in Clark County. His brother Ralph served as sheriff for almost 18 years and his brother Darwin was a county commissioner. A brother-in-law Wes Howery was a member of the Las Vegas City Council.

Lamb was often mentioned as a possible candidate for governor and he toyed with the idea, especially in 1970. He told O'Callaghan he was a "good boy" and he would make a fine lieutenant governor, with Lamb heading the ticket. O'Callaghan instead ran for governor and won, while Lamb sat on the sidelines.

Lamb entered politics in 1947, serving 10 years on the Lincoln County Commission before moving to the state Senate in 1956, when there was one senator from each county.

When reapportionment of the Legislature came in 1965, Lincoln County was forced to share its senator with other counties, and Lamb moved to Las Vegas, which had gained Senate seats.

He won election without a lapse of service.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury on income tax evasion charges in 1976 but was acquitted. In 1980 he suffered a heart attack and missed most of the 1981 Legislature. His 1983 conviction ended his legislative career.

His last stab at politics, returning to the Lincoln County Commission in 1992, was short-lived. He was ousted in a 1994 recall election amid allegations of ignoring the open meeting law and being rude to constituents.

Lamb told the Sun after his defeat in 1994 that he was through with politics, but noted: "I don't feel bad. I had a good life. I hope what happened is for the best."

Lamb has spent much of the past 10 years at the family ranch in Alamo, 95 miles north of Las Vegas.

Born Sept. 3, 1914, in Alamo, Floyd was the eldest son and one of 11 children of cowboy William "Billy" Grainger Lamb and the former Marion Paris. He attended Pahranagat Valley High School and Lincoln County High School. He then started ranching.

Lamb long served as president of Buckhorn Lamb and Cattle Company and held extensive ranching interests in the state. At one time Lamb operated the Cowboy Supply Western Store in the Twin Lakes Plaza.

In 1965 Lamb was named to the board of directors of Nevada National Bank and, in February 1969, was elected president of the board. He retired as a bank executive in January 1982.

Ultimately, said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Lamb's legacy was his commitment to family as much as his public service. Lamb helped raise his brothers and sisters after his father was killed in a 1939 rodeo accident trying to rescue a 7-year-old boy from a runaway horse.

"They turned out pretty well," Reid said. "He really set a great example for everybody: stay close to your family."

In addition to his wife, Loretta, and brothers Ralph and Darwin, Lamb is survived by two sisters, Wanda Peccole and Erma McIntosh, both of Las Vegas; and another brother, Larry Lamb, of Las Vegas.

He was preceded in death by three brothers, William, Phillip and Sheldon Lamb, and two sisters, Faye Mason and Myrtle Howery.