Moncrief replaces planning official

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2003 | 9:38 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief has replaced a veteran planning commissioner who had supported her opponent in the recent municipal election, but in the process she may have given herself a new opponent in four years.

Leo Davenport, owner of a mortgage company and one of Moncrief's campaign supporters, was her long-awaited appointee Monday to the Las Vegas Planning Commission. Her choice was approved unanimously by the council.

By appointing the Las Vegas resident of 38 years as the Ward 1 representative to the seven-member board, Moncrief passed on reappointing Planning Commission Vice Chairman Stephen Quinn, a developer whose term had expired in June. He had stayed on until Moncrief made her decision.

Quinn had been on the commission for seven years and was the appointee of Councilman Michael McDonald, who was defeated by Moncrief in June. Quinn had requested a second full four-year term on the commission and was the most senior member of the board.

Quinn, president of Precision Construction Inc., and a developer for more than 34 years, purportedly has widespread support of area developers and has been rumored as a potential opponent to Moncrief in four years.

"I'm seriously, seriously considering it," Quinn said Wednesday after a City Hall runner delivered his backup information for the next commission meeting, oblivious to the fact that Quinn had been ousted. "I've been approached by a half-dozen people in the last couple weeks to run for the City Council."

Quinn said he was disappointed not only at not getting chosen, but also at not even getting the customary "thank you" for his work.

"It would have been nice to have received a letter or something for my seven years and three months of service," Quinn said, noting he got the news about the new appointee like everyone else -- watching it on live television. Moncrief said she selected Davenport to replace Quinn because of his "extensive real estate" background. She noted that he is one of only two certified residential mortgage specialists in Nevada and just one of 412 people in the United States to hold that certification.

GFD Investments, the company that Davenport founded in 1988 and today serves as its president, gave Moncrief $500 for her primary campaign on March 10. He later gave her two other $500 donations -- before and after the general election -- to bring his total contributions to $1,500.

"She came campaigning door-to-door to our house during the primary and, after she left, I chased her down the street and gave her a check for $500," Davenport said. "I'm an up-front guy and she struck me as a down-to-earth person."

"I think I was chosen (for the Planning Commission) because I told her I'm the type of person who says exactly what he thinks, but that if someone can give me a valid reason to change my mind, I would be flexible."

The Planning Commission holds public hearings twice a month and makes planning and zoning recommendations on commercial and residential projects to the City Council. The job only pays $80 a meeting, but it is a powerful position because the commission's decisions affect millions of dollars in projects.

Davenport said he sought the job after jumping through a lot of hurdles to build his home. He said there has to be a quicker way for homes to get approved and built. His experiences included several occasions where the plans his architect submitted were disputed by city engineers, causing delays.

"I'm a logical person who believes common sense should apply to situations," Davenport said.

Davenport, who was named Western Regional Mortgage Banker of the Year in 2001 and 2002 by the National Association of Mortgage Bankers, runs a lending company that deals with residential mortgages, investor trust deeds and loan servicing, according to his resume. He said construction loans make up 90 percent of his business.

Davenport was mortgage advisor to the Nevada Legislature from 2001 to the present.