Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005 | 11:06 a.m.
On paper Lois Tarkanian looks like a perfect fit to represent the residents of troubled Ward 1.
For 32 years she has lived in the same house in this ward -- which stretches from the upscale Canyon Gate at The Lakes to the high-crime "Naked City" near downtown.
As the wife of former basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, probably the most celebrated sports figure in UNLV history, she is accustomed to being in the limelight.
And having spent 12 years on the Clark County School Board, Tarkanian is an experienced politician who knows how to get things done.
But most of all, at the age of 70, she wants this job more than anything in her life right now. You can hear the excitement in her voice.
"I feel in my heart that I have one more thing I can do, and this is what I want to do," Tarkanian says, as she prepares for her swearing-in Wednesday.
So far, she's saying the right things.
"I feel a strong responsibility to the people of this ward because they've been through a lot of dissension these past few years," Tarkanian says. "They want to be respected. They want their way of life to be respected."
It's why Tarkanian hopes to bring as many of her constituents as possible into the governmental process. She wants to create a half-dozen citizen committees to advise her.
"Maybe I'm too idealistic, but I think we can do this with citizens working together," she says.
If Tarkanian can accomplish that feat, considering Ward 1's divided history, she will have earned every one of her 2,869 votes last week.
Unlike her predecessor -- the recalled Janet Moncrief, a political novice who, after two years at City Hall, still had no clue why she was there -- Tarkanian comes into office with some well-defined goals.
She's smart enough to recognize the vision that Mayor Oscar Goodman, a longtime friend, has brought to downtown redevelopment, which touches part of her ward.
But she swears she won't let progress harm the quality of life for her constituents, even if it means putting herself at odds on occasion with Goodman, the most dominant voice on the City Council.
Tarkanian doesn't share Goodman's "all development is good" approach to revitalizing the city. She believes the city should step back and look at the ramifications of putting up high-rise condominiums on every street corner.
"We have to maintain the integrity of neighborhoods," Tarkanian says. "Right now there are residents who have lived here for decades who are scared. They don't know what the city's doing."
These are fighting words from someone who has been through a fight or two in her lifetime.
Sure, like any new face at City Hall, there's some naivety in Tarkanian's words.
She'll learn quickly, for example, that crossing Goodman won't be the best way to achieve her goals. She'll also have to deal with egotistical malcontents like Steve Miller, who will try to make her fail.
But fortunately for the residents of Ward 1, Tarkanian isn't an ordinary newcomer.
Longtime attorney Steve Wolfson, who was elected to the City Council in July, says Tarkanian, because of her decades of community involvement, will bring "maturity" to the City Council.
Wolfson says Tarkanian ran for public office for the same reasons he did.
"She didn't need this job," he says. "She took it because she loves Las Vegas and wants to make a difference."
Once in a while it's nice to elect someone who gets into politics for the right reasons.
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