Outgoing Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates tears up on Tuesday as she receives a proclamation from Commission Chairman Rory Reid during her final board meeting. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Known for her combative political style, Yvonne Atkinson Gates showed a softer side Tuesday after colleagues lauded her public service at her final meeting as a Clark County commissioner.

A crying Atkinson Gates spoke in a hushed voice as she thanked fellow commissioners and county staffers for working with her over her 14 years on the board.

"It's time for me to go," a barely audible Atkinson Gates said. "There's something else I want to do that I have a passion for. That's my business, but most of all my family. I have a 13-year-old daughter who's getting older by the day, and I need to spend time with her."

The commissioner announced her resignation in January to spend more time with her family, pursue her career as a custom-home builder and complete her doctorate.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has appointed Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly as her successor representing District D, which is centered around the West Las Vegas neighborhood.

Atkinson Gates said Tuesday that she has tired of splitting her time between two homes: a small guesthouse she rents in the Scotch 80s neighborhood to maintain residency in the district she represents, and a 7,100-square-foot custom home in Summerlin.

Responding to past accusations that she does not reside in her district, Atkinson Gates has said she spends weeknights in the Scotch 80s house and weekends with her husband and daughter in the Summerlin home.

"It's been really difficult living in two homes for the past two years," she said during her tearful speech Tuesday. "I built this beautiful home and have never really had the opportunity to enjoy it."

Fellow commissioners lauded her service and credited her with the construction of several community centers. Several mentioned that she had offered them astute advice, adding with chuckles that it oftentimes came without solicitation.

"She has been available to provide me advice even when I don't ask for it," Commission Chairman Rory Reid said.

Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, the board's longest-serving member with 25 years of service, said he has served alongside 26 different commissioners.

"With Yvonne, it's been the longest, 14-plus years," he said. "(Her absence) is going to take some getting used to. I'm definitely going to miss you, Yvonne. I wish you nothing but the best."

She later received a standing ovation from about 100 people gathered in the commission chambers for Tuesday's meeting.

Atkinson Gates has endured tumultuous times while on what is seen as Nevada's most powerful political board.

In 1998, the Nevada Ethics Commission found Atkinson Gates in violation of ethics laws for adding former city of Las Vegas employee Michael Chambliss to a "preferred" list for consideration of airport concession contracts shortly after he had been her paid political consultant. Atkinson Gates sued the commission in 2000 and had the opinion overturned in state court.

Chambliss currently awaits trial on a murder charge.

Atkinson Gates also was criticized for lobbying executives at the MGM Grand, a property she regulated as a commissioner, to allow her and her business associates to open a daiquiri stand in the hotel-casino. She claimed her business partners did the negotiating and she was a silent investor.

Atkinson Gates said in her speech Tuesday that it has been difficult having her decisions scrutinized in newspapers.

"People don't understand that as an elected official, your life is a fishbowl," she said. "Sometimes you get a bad rap, but all I can tell you is, in your heart, if you're interested in serving the people ... then you have to put all the other negative things aside and do what you think is right."