Tiffany Brown

Richard Land — a former administrator of the state Taxicab Authority and chairman of the five-member board that oversees the agency — died May 13 following a bout with liver cancer. He was 76.

By Jeff German

Tue, May 20, 2008 (2 a.m.)

To those who worked with him, Richard Land will be remembered as a man who regulated Southern Nevada’s taxicab industry with a passion matched by few of his predecessors.

Land — a former administrator of the state Taxicab Authority and chairman of the five-member board that oversees the agency — died May 13 following a bout with liver cancer. He was 76.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas, 1515 W. Charleston Blvd., the church where he and his wife, Norma, were married in 1966.

“He was probably one of the nicest, most genuine people I’ve ever worked with,” said Joe Dahlia, the Taxicab Authority’s chief investigator, a 19-year veteran of the agency. “He was compassionate and caring and had a great rapport, not only with the staff, but with drivers, the owners and the unions.”

Bill Shranko, chief operating officer of taxicab conglomerate Yellow Checker Star, likewise described Land as a “relationship builder” who brought people together.

Shranko said Land will be remembered for his persistence in getting cameras in every cab in the Las Vegas Valley to protect the drivers and the public.

Despite a heated and prolonged industrywide debate, Land “never gave up, no matter what happened,” Shranko said. “His efforts saved the lives of drivers.”

Born in Mount Zion, Ill., Land moved to Las Vegas in 1958 after serving as an intelligence officer in the Air Force. He went to work at the Nevada Test Site for Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Co., making his way up the ranks from a clerk to a top executive upon his retirement in 1994.

Bryan Land said one of his father’s biggest passions was working with local charities, including the Salvation Army, where he was a past chairman and lifetime member of its advisory board.

“I’ve been astounded by the number of people who have called or written letters talking about the things he did for them,” the younger Land said. “He didn’t do anything for his own resume. He just did it because he believed in serving others.”

Land was appointed chairman of the Taxicab Authority in 2001 by then-Gov. Kenny Guinn and served until October 2005, when he resigned and accepted the job as administrator of the agency.

Ron Cuzze, president of the Nevada State Law Enforcement Officers’ Association, credited Land with improving the professionalism of the agency during Land’s brief tenure at the helm, which ended in May 2007 when he was replaced by the new administration of Gov. Jim Gibbons.

“He was a person who could communicate up and down the chain of command,” Cuzze said. “He knew what his superiors wanted, and he knew what his troops actually needed.”

In addition to his wife and son, Land is survived by his sister, Joyce McNeill of Las Vegas, and his brothers, William Land of Shelbyville, Ill., and Robert Land of Phoenix.

The family has asked that donations be made to the Salvation Army or the First Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas.