By Rolando Larraz
Before I start with this week’s column I want to take the opportunity to express my respect to the American people on the loss of President George H.W. Bush who, as we all know, died last Friday night.
Watching all the coverage of his life, his political career, his love for this country, his straightforward attitude and the comments from all those who knew him, on both sides of the aisle, I have to conclude that he was an amazing person and an amazing leader.
I have to admit that I am not a fan of the Bush dynasty, but I also have to admit that maybe I was wrong about this one and I should have taken the opportunity of meeting him when I had the chance.
My prayers and my thoughts are with the Bush family and with the American people who have lost a good and wise man worth knowing. Mission accomplished, Mr. President!
And now, on with my column for this week…
It is refreshing to see Ward 3 Councilman, Bob Coffin, not using the same old recording (statement) that every professional politician uses when they are forced to quit after being exposed for whatever reason it may be they are quitting public service and “want to spend more time with my family,” “my kids need me and I need to give them more quality time,” pretending to be the husband or the father of the year that they are not.
It is refreshing that Bob Coffin, after being exposed as a corrupted elected public official, is not trying to blame anyone but himself, “no family to spend more time with” and he is already too old to “my kids need me” because his “kids,” if he has any kids, may be as old as he already is.
So what is the “honorable” thing to do? Well, in Coffin’s case, the “honorable” thing he could do is to blame an old automobile accident, which has never stopped him from running in any election — nor even running around the golf courses serving the wishes of a former casino boss and a gaming attorney.
It reminds me of when former Clark County District Attorney David Roger, a few months after being reelected, decided to step down because he wanted to spend more time with his newborn daughter, but then went to work for the Police Protective Association and became a partner in a local law office.
Not bad for a man who wanted to spend more time with his newborn daughter and then went and got two new jobs to “keep his newborn daughter busy” and himself busy enjoying her.
I should not question the motive Bob Coffin might have to call it quits because I am happy that he is no longer going to be at the city council pretending to be someone that he is not and hopefully the “car accident” excuse will last a long time so he doesn’t want to run for another public office again.
Saying goodbye to Bob Coffin will be the best thing that could happen to our city; I am not a hypocrite, I am not one to talk behind a person’s back. I do not like Bob Coffin; I don’t consider Bob Coffin a good public servant; I don’t even see him as a good human being, so learning that he is not going to continue his money-grabbing career is music to my ears.
Walking around like a Little Caesar with an arrogant attitude like his pooh-pooh does not stink is bad enough, but using derogatory names and referring to a constituent with racial names is very despicable
And yet he and his comrade in Ward 1, Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian, have the audacity to call me a racist? How dare they! They need to read my history in this city before they can talk kaka about me.
I am glad they both are going to be gone next year; Yeah! I know, maybe, only maybe, the ones that come after these two are going to be worse, but that is a chance that the people in these two Wards have to take.
My hope is for the better of these two communities, that at least while they are getting the hang of “behind the scenes” of the Board, they will try to be as good as possible.
That is one of the reasons that the constituents of Ward 1 should not elect another Tarkanian, the daughter-in-law, who is planning to not only to run for Mom Tarkanian’s seat but also to bring the elder Tarkanian along as her “assistant” or her “adviser,” creating a dynasty-like type of government.
Yes, I know that the daughter-in-law is not really a Tarkanian by blood, but she has been brainwashed and poisoned with the Tarkanian arrogant “I am better than you” attitude and the same lack of respect for anyone else who is not a Tark.
The constituents in Ward 1 and Ward 3 should wise up and elect someone new to the City Hall game and be very careful to pick an “adviser” who is going to have the best interests of those communities in mind and
their best interests at heart for the new Council in Ward 1 and Ward 3 to avoid “business as usual.”
My name is Rolando Larraz, and as always, I approved this column.
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Rolando Larraz is Editor in Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His column appears weekly in this newspaper. To contact Rolando Larraz, email him at: Rlarraz@lasvegastribune.com or at 702-272-4634.
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