Incumbent Williams defends herself, family against 'vicious' attacks

It's two weeks before Election Day and Myrna Williams is drained.

It's not that the incumbent Clark County commissioner isn't accustomed to the arduous campaign season. Williams, 68, is a veteran politician. She is used to being the target of name-calling, dirt-digging and negative campaigning.

But this year is different, and it's taking its toll.

This year, she no longer allows her husband, David, to accompany her during public appearances. This year, she spends more time consoling her daughter and grandson, who can't stomach the brutal commercials that blast her.

On top of the traditional demands that campaigning brings, Williams is contending with an unprecedented ad blitz that questions her ethics and accuses her of conducting back-room deals.

Williams may be most affected by the commercials sponsored by Las Vegas Sands Inc. Chairman Sheldon Adelson. If viewers bite, Williams fears, the 30-second ads could wipe out four decades' worth of her accomplishments as a Nevada politician.

"I have never seen anything so vicious in my life," said Williams, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is more than an election. My entire adult life and my commitment to this community is being besmirched."

Williams says her life was shaped by three primary values: family, politics and music.

She was born in Chicago, where her father, William Torme, was a retail merchant, her mother, Sarah Torme, was a sheet-music demonstrator and her 4-year-old brother, Melvin Howard Torme, was, well, a star.

Mel Torme? Not many people know that the jazz musician is Williams' brother because she rarely mentions him. The two have always been close and, until his recent stroke, Torme conducted all of Williams' fund-raisers.

"I'm embarrassed because he's so talented and I can't carry a tune," Williams said. "He is a wonderful brother."

When Torme was 14 years old, he signed a contract with MGM and Williams' family moved to Los Angeles. In 1949, when Williams was 20, she moved to New York, where she worked for Decca Records.

It was in New York that Williams met her husband, David, then a jazz drummer who played with all the big bands, including Tommy Dorsey's. The couple moved to Las Vegas with their daughter, Indy, in 1960.

"I wanted to get closer to Los Angeles," Williams said. "I missed my family a lot."

Williams earned a bachelor's degree in social work from UNLV. She worked in the university's social work department for 11 years while helping with various campaigns.

She has been appointed to committees by three different governors. Williams acted on the Welfare Board for Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, the Task Force on Child Support Enforcement for Gov. Richard Bryan and the sentencing commission and aging division for Gov. Bob Miller.

In 1984, Williams ran for the state Assembly because she had deep concerns about Family Court, senior citizens, child protection and nuclear waste. Ten years later, she found that 90 percent of her constituents' complaints dealt with Clark County issues.

She was elected to the County Commission in 1994.

"I felt all those things I felt so passionate about, we had accomplished," Williams said of leaving the Assembly. "Ten years was long enough. I thought it was time other people came in with their ideas."

Williams is proud of her tenure as commissioner. She said her district, which is one of the oldest in the valley, has better roads, more parks and a new community center.

She has addressed crime by providing Metro Police bike patrols and working with private companies to light up dark alleys and streets.

Williams said she plans to continue working to revitalize the district and provide positive programs for senior citizens and children.

Her parents taught her the importance of politics. By providing senior citizens rides to the voting polls, her grandparents taught her the importance of getting involved.

Williams said that despite what the negative commercials say, she has never benefited from being a county commissioner. She lives in the same house that she and her husband bought 35 years ago.

She said she will prevail over this year's campaign tactics, but she worries about what it might do to future politicians who are qualified, quality candidates.

"They don't care about the truth or what distortion and lies are doing to people and families," Williams said of Adelson's group. "The best people, who care about what is happening, those are the people we are going to lose. They will be replaced with people who are looking for careers and who are using their positions as stepping stones."

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