Officials remember Todd Farlow — their harshest critic

The familiar figure of Todd Farlow offering his opinion at government meetings is no more, leaving behind officials who mourn his loss, despite his sometimes chastising their decisions as “crap,” then adding “shame on you.”

He died Feb. 17 from an accident in his home. He was 68.

“He wasn’t a nut,” Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Coffin said. “He was a consummate citizen.”

Learning of his death, former Planning Commissioner Steve Evans wrote on Facebook: “Todd Farlow, 240 N. 19th Street. … That’s probably the most frequently stated sentence in all Las Vegas public meeting records. Todd studied the issues, and commented on thousands of items before most governmental agencies. He often said what no one else could or would, but often thought.”

Evans continued: “I hope he will not be remembered as a ‘gadfly,’ because he was not. Todd was a visionary who lived like he believed. He retrofitted his simple home on 19th with passive solar and alternative energy. He cared passionately about his community, and spent countless hours accessing records and utilizing the public libraries. He attended more conferences and seminars than anyone I know, and walked the streets observing the city he loved and wanted to be made better.”

Coffin and Evans shared Farlow’s back story, how he had a severe brain injury in 1996 when he was working as a security guard at the Silver Saddle Saloon. He was beaten after he threw four men out of the bar and followed them out.

His doctors recommended he speak at televised public meetings so they could observe his progress. So about 1999, he started showing up at Las Vegas Planning Commission and City Council meetings. He also attended Colorado River Commission and Southern Nevada Water Authority meetings.

“There were multiple times he’d bring out things staff had missed,” Evans said.

At his last Planning Commission meeting on Feb. 11, Farlow spoke on nine agenda items. As always, he had studied the agenda and was familiar with the requested variances and special-use permits. Wearing a light blue jacket, a tie and slacks, with graying hair and glasses, he looked professorial as he chimed in and objected to the density of a project, questioned the removal of a mature tree and declared a variance to enclose a patio “a waste of time.”

When the subject of zoning for medical marijuana was discussed, Farlow scoffed at a proposal that no neon signs be allowed for medical dispensaries.

“I got a problem with taking neon signs off this,” he said. “Las Vegas is supposed to be the neon city.”

Later he showed his disgust at planning commissioners who abstained on zoning votes regarding the dispensaries, demanding, “Who is sovereign here? Are the bureaucrats sovereign?” He said the people had spoken when they voted in 2000 to legalize medical marijuana.

Attorneys Richard Bonar and Todd Moody didn’t vote because they had been advised they might lose their law licenses, but Chairman Gus Flangas, also an attorney, voted.

“You’re afraid you’ll lose your licenses,” Farlow said scornfully. “You would sacrifice your freedom for that?”

Oddly, the man who was so particular about standards and passionate about parks and trees lived in a home where the front yard was a mess.

Yet he was a kind man who was not mean-spirited or a crank, said Evans and Coffin. They appreciated that he also spoke out when he liked something.

Planning Commissioner Ric Truesdell recalled seeing Farlow stay at meetings until 3 a.m.

“Many times I would disagree with him; many times he would bring clarity to an item when others did not,” Truesdell said.

In December 2010, then-Councilman Gary Reese named Farlow Citizen of the Month, praising him for always trying to suggest solutions, especially on planning matters. Reese praised Farlow for taking buses to check out the sites on the planning agenda because he was a citizen advocate.

Former Mayor Oscar Goodman described Farlow as a watchdog, in a good way.

“We know that Todd is watching every move we make,” Goodman said.

Contact reporter Jane Ann Morrison at jmorrison@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0275.