Lois Tarkanian plans Ward 1 run

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

Former Clark County School Board member Lois Tarkanian said this morning she plans to be a candidate in the possible recall election of Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief.

Tarkanian, 70, was on the School Board from 1989 to 2000. She ran unsuccessfully for the Clark County Commission as a Democrat in 2000, when she lost to Chip Maxfield.

She said she was planning to run for the Ward 1 seat on the City Council in 2007, but said, "If the recall is successful, it pushes the time line up."

Tarkanian said she thinks Moncrief is "out of touch" with the residents of Ward 1.

If elected to the council, Tarkanian said she would work to increase and improve communication between residents and City Hall, as well as try to have the city and the Clark County School District work closer on issues including traffic signals and street repairs.

Last week a citizens group turned in what appears to be more than enough signatures to force a recall election. Those signatures are now going through the process of being counted and checked to make sure the petition was signed by enough registered voters from Ward 1 to force a recall election.

If there is a recall, Tarkanian and any other potential candidates would have to turn in their own nominating petitions signed by at least 2,106 Ward 1 registered voters -- the same number needed to force a recall election -- to get on the ballot.

So far, Vicki Quinn, an activist who has fought for increased access to public buildings for the handicapped, has announced she intends plans to run against Moncrief.

In addition to her own recognizable name from her years on the School Board, Tarkanian is married to former UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Also, she is the mother of Republican Danny Tarkanian who unsuccessfully ran against incumbent state Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, this year.

Dan Hart, a political consultant who managed Maxfield's campaign against Lois Tarkanian, said Tarkanian would have a "distinct advantage over everybody" if she is a candidate in a recall election.

"She probably has more name recognition than the incumbent," Hart said.