Former Taxi Authority chief Vogel dies at 84

Saturday, March 18, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

Two-term Nevada Taxicab Authority Chairman Harry Vogel spearheaded passage of several safety regulations for drivers in the 1990s but opposed the use of cameras in cabs because he questioned whether the technology deterred robbery.

While that decision sparked a debate that continues to this day, Vogel always tried to do what he thought was best for the industry, his family said.

"My father took care of cabdrivers - they'd call him up all the time because they knew he would listen to their concerns," Marc Vogel of Henderson said. "But he'd always tell you what he was thinking, and he was not always politically correct about it. He was an honest and honorable guy."

Vogel, a civic and business leader, who with late Las Vegas junket king "Big Julie" Weintraub founded and long operated Casino Foods Corporation, died Thursday at Nathan Adelson Hospice following a lengthy illness. He was 84.

Services will be 10 a.m. Sunday at Palm Mortuary's King David Memorial Chapel, 7600 S. Eastern Ave., for the Henderson resident of the last seven years and a Las Vegas resident for 28 years before that.

In 1990, Vogel, a Republican, was appointed by Democratic Gov. Bob Miller to the state board that oversees more than 1,600 Clark County taxis. He served the maximum of two three-year terms.

In 1995, the Taxi Authority declined to include mandatory cameras in cabs as part of a package of regulations it approved to give drivers more responsibility to protect themselves. The camera proposal had come before the board following a number of high-profile violent crimes against local cabbies.

Vogel sided with those who argued that while expensive cameras helped solve crimes, they did little or nothing to stop assailants during an act.

"It wasn't the money," Vogel told a Sun reporter after a public hearing on the matter. "I don't care if it costs millions. I would spend it to protect drivers. It was a question of effectiveness."

Since then, the debate over cameras in cabs has continued, and several local cab companies have voluntarily bought and installed cameras in hundreds of their cabs.

Born Oct. 18, 1921, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Vogel was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his three younger brothers. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps and was stationed at Randolph Field in Texas as an athletic instructor.

In January 1944, Vogel was an end on the Randolph Field football squad that played the No. 14-ranked University of Texas to a 7-7 tie in the Cotton Bowl. It marked the first and only time a nonacademy military team has played in a bowl game.

After his military service, Vogel returned to New York where he operated Vogel's Dairy before relocating to Las Vegas in 1971 to open his food warehouse at 1710 Western Ave.

Vogel, who retired from the food business in 1996, was a member of the Las Vegas Country Club and the Variety Club, where he helped produce shows that raised an estimated $1 million for local charities.

In addition to his son, Vogel is survived by his wife of 63 years, Miriam Vogel of Henderson; a daughter, Dale Weed of Las Vegas; three brothers, Allen Vogel of Las Vegas, Gene Vogel of New York and Jan Vogel of Torrence, Calif.; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Vogel's family said donations can be made in Harry Vogel's memory to Nathan Adelson Hospice, 4131 Swenson St., Las Vegas, NV 89119.