Larry Brown going grass-roots with mayoral campaign

By Delen Goldberg

Wednesday, March 9, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner and Las Vegas mayoral candidate Larry Brown stood at a lectern last week and checked off the reasons that new bus lanes, sidewalks and landscaping will improve the busy Sahara Avenue corridor.

The project will create 500 jobs and make the valley’s rapid transit system more convenient and connected, he said.

His speech at the groundbreaking was focused and dry. Brown, chairman of the Regional Transportation Commission, made no reference to the Rat Pack singers assembled in a nearby convertible or the Marilyn Monroe slinking about in a hot pink dress or the mock bus shelter she destroyed with fake dynamite to make way for a modern shelter.

Even typically dull Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who was in town for the celebration, seemed charismatic next to Brown.

Only after the event, in one-on-one conversations, did Brown come alive.

“She blew up that building, and all I could think was ‘Goodbye, Norma Jean,’ ” he said, singing the Elton John tune.

Brown’s speech symbolized his style of governing: thoughtful, reserved, to the point. “Mine is a quiet leadership,” he said. “I speak when I have something to say.”

Brown, a conservative Democrat in a nonpartisan race, prides himself on being a budget hawk, a talent he hopes will set him apart from other candidates vying to headline Las Vegas. He asks to be judged on results, not rhetoric.

But that insistence could undermine his campaign. Although on his website Brown boasts that he is “unafraid to sharpen his pencil and delve into even the smallest of budget items to find savings for the taxpayers,” some in the community blame him and other county commissioners for failing to identify the sick-leave abuses by firefighters. If he is so good with a budget, critics wonder, how could he have missed it?

It’s true Brown is a budget whiz. As a Las Vegas councilman, he successfully fought to extend the budget deadline to give leaders more time to examine it. Planning sessions snowballed from a two-hour meeting to a two-day workshop to a two-month process.

And Brown was among the first when Las Vegas was booming to warn against unfettered growth. Ten years before it became popular, Brown fought unsustainable government spending and inflated public workers’ salaries.

As for the firefighters, Brown said county commissioners did what they could.

“We stood up to them. But when it went to arbitration, management lost every time,” he said.

Since the sick-leave abuses have come to light, Brown has called for the firing and prosecution of the firefighters involved “to set the standard and set the precedent that that behavior will not be tolerated.”

As mayor, Brown says he hopes to change the culture at City Hall and bring common sense back into labor negotiations. His first point of business: Do away with longevity pay and re-examine automatic merit and cost-of-living increases for public employees.

It’s a position likely to upset the city’s unions, but Brown isn’t counting on their support. In fact, with the entrance of Las Vegas first lady Carolyn Goodman and Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani in the race, Brown — who was the first to announce his candidacy and was for almost a year considered the man to beat — is fighting for any support he can muster. He’s certainly qualified for the job, but the crowded field of 18 and caliber of opponents make a victory more difficult than it seemed last year.

So Brown is going grass-roots with his campaign, focusing on families and seniors in communities he has served. He has represented a large portion of the northwest as a councilman and county commissioner, and those are the neighborhoods he is hitting hard.

“A $25 donation is just as meaningful to me as a $2,500 donation,” Brown said. Fundraising is going well, but not at the pace Brown had hoped. The Goodmans are sucking up much of the support he and other candidates had counted on.

But in neighborhoods, particularly his old stamping grounds, Brown is still the man to beat. On a recent Thursday, he went door to door asking for people’s support. Most were happy to oblige.

“There are a couple of people I would vote for if you weren’t in,” Lacy Lane resident Bill Fanning told Brown. “But you’ve got my vote.”

Fanning said he likes Giunchigliani and Las Vegas Councilman Steve Ross because they are pro-union, but will support Brown because “he comes from the right direction and wants to help people.”

Another neighbor proved Fanning’s case.

Judy Brailsford’s face lit up when she opened her door and saw Brown. Brailsford’s son was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease while Brown was on the City Council. The 30-year-old was given 18 months to live — time Brailsford wanted him to spend at home.

But her house was not handicapped accessible, and red tape was stalling construction.

“Larry carried my permits through and in a month I moved my baby boy home,” Brailsford said.

Of all the candidates, Brown (officially Lawrence Leonard Brown IV), 53, has perhaps the most interesting background if not outward countenance. He is a Harvard-educated former professional baseball player who came to Nevada to play for the Las Vegas Stars. Much of his life centers on sports.

He met his wife, Celeste, now a stay-at-home mom, during his baseball career when she visited her brother, Brown’s roommate. Brown proposed to her at Cashman Field.

Sports posters and memorabilia — all Boston — decorate his county commission office. On the campaign trail, he can’t help but pick up a stray basketball and palm it. Before heading out to meet voters, he leads volunteers in a victory chant.

After a stint at the Las Vegas Valley Water District, Brown became marketing manager for Southern Nevada’s triple-A baseball franchise.

These days, he doesn’t have much time to play. He’s busy campaigning and with his commission duties and family obligations. He jokes that the only thing that can keep him away from a mayoral forum is his daughter’s championship basketball game, which did indeed cause him to miss a recent meeting.

The Browns have three children: Larry, 22, a junior psychology major at UNLV; Johnna, 19, a sophomore in communications at Dixie State College of Utah in St. George and a two-sport athlete; and Shannon, 16, a junior at Centennial High School and a three-sport athlete.

“It trained me for politics and life,” Brown said of sports. “It teaches you discipline, work ethic, team building.”

It also sparked Brown’s love of the outdoors and his dedication to maintaining green spaces. Brown says 20 percent of Las Vegas’ parks inventory are the result of initiatives he led.

But even at his daughter’s basketball games, even when the championship is on the line, Brown doesn’t cheer. It’s not because he doesn’t care. It’s just his style.

“I do come across with a very serious tone,” Brown said. “But when it’s time to have a little fun, I’m certainly game.”

For a city accustomed to a mayor with a giant gin glass and sparkling showgirls, Brown could be a tough sell. He sees his understated demeanor as a benefit.

“Right now, it’s a different time and a different priority for the mayor,” Brown said. “There’s a role I’ve got to play as ambassador and the face of Las Vegas, and I’m comfortable with that.”