Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Bob Broadbent, at 77

Bob Broadbent, who died Saturday at the age of 77 at Boulder City Hospital -- the hospital he helped keep open -- had been a political force in Nevada for 40 years.

He was best known for his 11-year tenure as Clark County's director of aviation, overseeing the multibillion-dollar expansion and renovation of McCarran International Airport.

But late arrivals in the valley may not recall that the World War II Air Force veteran seemed happy enough serving as Boulder City's small-town pharmacist, raising his family there in the 1950s, until the federal government decided to sell off a number of towns that had grown up around the great public works projects of the 1930s ... and put Boulder City on the list.

The government had decided to close down Boulder City Hospital, as a cost-saving move. Mr. Broadbent was a key member of a group of local townsfolk who raised enough money to take over the hospital and keep it open ... and a political career was born.

Mr. Broadbent became Boulder City's first mayor when the city was officially incorporated in 1960. He went on to serve a dozen years on the Clark County Commission.

Influence, financing and even management of Nevada's casinos by organized crime were widely recognized in those days, but rarely spoken of in public. Bob Broadbent felt no such compunctions. In 1974, Mr. Broadbent publicly came out against licensing Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal to run the Stardust and Fremont hotels, criticizing his colleagues on the county Liquor and Gaming Licensing Board for being "nothing but a rubber stamp" for such operators.

Bob Broadbent will be remembered for his role in the growth of McCarran Airport, of course, and for his final project, the development of the monorail along the west wide of the Las Vegas Strip -- which he envisioned eventually serving the airport, as well.

He died before he could take the first ride on that train, which is scheduled to begin operation next year. County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury has proposed naming the system for Mr. Broadbent. No honor could be more fitting.