Jews Wandering in the Desert: A History of the Jewish Community of Las Vegas by Joel Fleekop, May 1, 2000

Jews ,Wandering In the Desert: A History of the Jewish Community of Las Vegas Joel Fleek op Senior Honors Thesis Brandeis University May 1, 2000 Fleekop 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ..................................... ....................... ................................ :?. ........................ 5 A General History of Las Vegas ...................................................................................... 8 Gambling on the Desert: Las Vegas's Jewish Community, 1945-1965 ........................ 38 Combining Las Vegas and Judaism: The Maturing of a Community, 1965-1986 ........ 59 Responding to Growth: Continuation and Change, 1980-2000 .................................... 81 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 97 Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 100 Fleekop 2 Acknowledgements Fleekop 3 Creating the cover page for this paper felt somewhat awkward because it gives credit to only one person, me. While it is true I did all the research and writing, the paper that follows would not been possible if it were not for the help and support of many. I would like to thank Professor Sarna for all of his help. Professor Sarna assisted me by setting deadlines, assisting me with finding resources and editing, as well as talking through concepts. Equally important as the preceding items, Professor Sarna's willingness to meet with me so quickly following his illness gave me a sense that what I was doing was an important and worthwhile academic and intellectual endeavor. Just as this paper bares the markings of Professor Sarna, so too was it affected by everyone in Las Vegas with whom I discussed the paper. The individuals with whom I had a formal interview are named in the footnotes and works cited page. I would also like to acknowledge those who informally spoke with me about their experiences in Las Vegas. Though not mentioned on the works cited page, many are cited in my heart. Large portions of this paper would not have been possible if it were not for the exhaustive work of the Brandeis University Library interlibrary loan department. Though at times the interlibrary loan department and I were not the best of friends, I do appreciate their exhaustive work in procuring the microfilm of the Las Vegas Israelite. Similarly, I want to thank the American Jewish Periodical Center in Cincinnati for their willingness to lend me the aforementioned microfilm. Finally, I would like to thank the two groups closest to me: my family and friends. The interest of my entire family in this project kept me going at times when the work seemed inexhaustible. Additionally, my sister, Sandra Fleekop helped edit several chapters and my mother, Jacqueline Fleekop, was a very valuable contributor of Fleekop 4 information. My parents also provided me with the financial resources I needed to properly research and produce this paper. My friends provided me with much valuable support. The discussions I had with my friends doing senior projects were priceless in that they assured me that I was not alone in my struggles. The support of Andrea Kamenetsky was especially valuable. Not only did Andrea help edit the paper, she also monitored my stress level and made sure I took the breaks that I needed. Though the "rules of academia" require that only my name appear on this paper, I want to let all of those mentioned above know that the paper on the Jewish community of Las Vegas that exists in my mind was authored by all of them. Fleekop 5 Introduction Fleekop 6 People come to Las Vegas for a variety ofreasons. The majority of visitors are drawn to the area because of the excitement associated with the casino resorts. Others may come to marvel at the engineering wonder of Hoover Dam or to enjoy the warm weather. Still other visitors are attracted to the Las Vegas Valley by the fabulous outdoor recreation opportunities found at Red Rock and Valley of Fire National Recreation Areas. Regardless of what their primary reason for coming to the area, the vast majority will not visit a house of worship during their stay in Southern Nevada, unless of course they choose on the spur of the moment to get married in one of them. My relation to Las Vegas, even prior to my moving to the city in 1992, was very different from that of most visitors. Since my family resided in the "cultural wasteland" of Northern Nevada, my family filled our visits to Las Vegas with stops at synagogues, kosher style restaurants, and judaica shops. As a matter of fact, my Bar Mitzvah tallit was purchased during a visit to Las Vegas. My family's connection of Judaism with Las Vegas was so strong that when we decided to move to the city in 1992 the reasons we gave to our friends were improved weather and the large Jewish community. Upon arriving at Brandeis University in 1996 my friends and hall-mates found it quizzical that one could be a part of a Jewish community while living amongst the "casinos and strip joints" of Las Vegas. Their questions, though at times insulting, sparked my interest. I suddenly found myself barraged with a series of internal questions. How is the Jewish community of Las Vegas influenced by its unique surrounding? How does a community that is so new manage to function? Why is the Hebrew school my mother runs named after a former mobster? Fleekop 7 In the following chapters these questions, as well as others, will be answered within the context of a brief communal history. The answers to these questions will reveal that the Jewish community of Southern Nevada, during the period from 1945- 2000, developed unique traditions and characteristics in response to its experience of growing side by side with the resort industry in Las Vegas. Fleekop 8 A General History of Las Vegas Fleekop 9 The development of the Las Vegas Valley has been influenced by several factors as the town has transformed itself from a railway stop into one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world in the short ninety-five years since its founding. All of this history is tied together by the theme of chance taking. The first European settlers in the valley were travelers journeying from the Salt Lake Basin to Los Angeles. The travelers stopped to procure water from the twenty-foot wide and two-foot deep spring found in the valley. In 1848, following the Mexican I American War, the area became a part of the United States and was assigned to the 2 territory of New Mexico . Though becoming an official U.S. mail stop in 1854, 3 settlement in the valley remained very transient . On April 6, 1855 Bringham Young, the leader of the Mormon settlement of Deseret (now Utah), decided to send thirty men, led by William Bringhurst, to settle what 4 is now the Las Vegas Valley . The Mormons named their settlement Bringhurst after the expedition's leader (the settlement of Las Vegas, NM was already in existence{ The settlers hoped to proselytize the local Native Americans 6 as well as teach them how to 7 raise crops, something they already knew . According to the letters Bringhurst sent to I Barbara Land and Myrick Land, A Short History of Las Vegas (Las Vegas: University ofNevada Press, 1999) 17-18. 2 Land & Land 20. 3 Land & Land 19. 4 Land & Land 21 . 5 Land & Land 2. 6 Land & Land 1. 7 Eugene P. Moehring, Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930-1970 (Las Vegas: University of Nevada Press, 1989) 2 I. Fleekop 10 8 Salt Lake City, the settlement had early success in converting the local Paiute tribe . Though the Native Americans quickly joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the settlement was in jeopardy as the Mormons experienced difficulty in growing enough food to sustain themselves9. The settlement experienced a reprieve when lead was discovered twenty miles outside of town; the lead turned out to be difficult to smelt IO and the reprieve was only temporary . The mine was abandoned in 1857 and when the crops were stolen by the Paiutes in 1858, the Mormons abandoned the valley and returned to the Salt Lake basin 11 . Though the Mormon's le ft the valley m. the late 1850s, they were to return in large numbers and make a major influence in the development of the Las Vegas and its character of simultaneously being a place of vice and the city with the highest number of houses of worship per capita in the United States. The Mormon settlement was soon taken over by Octavius Decatur Gass who 12 turned the fort into a ranch with the help of his friend William Knapp . Gass' s ranch made use of irrigation techniques and soon was growing wheat, oats, barley, and eventually fruits. The valley became a part of the Arizona Territory in 1863 (the year Nevada became a state) and Gass became an influential politician in the new territory, serving several terms as a state legislator. In 1872, however, a portion of Arizona, including the Las Vegas Valley, was given to the state ofNevada by federal mapmakers. When the state of Nevada decided to collect back taxes from the newly acquired areas 8 Land & Land 23. 9 Moehring 2. 10 Land & Land 24 . II Land & Land 24-25. 12 Land & Land 27. Fleekop 11 Gass found himself in debt and in 1881 was forced to sell the ranch to Archibald 13 Stewart . 14 Steward owned the ranch only briefly before he was murdered in 1883 . His wife, Helen Stewart, continued to manage the ranch for several years until she sold it to Senator William Clark of Montana, owner of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad (35). The surveyor used in the purchase, James T. Mc Williams also decided to invest in the Las Vegas Valley, purchasing eighty acres adjoining to the former Stewart property (37). Speculating on the rumor that the railroad to be built between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles would run through the Las Vegas Valley, Mc Williams laid out a town named "Las Vegas" (Spanish for "the flats") and began selling lots in 1904 for as little as $100. Others shared Mc Williams feelings about the railroad' s future and a tent city sprung up. The new residents, ranging from miners, to cowboys, to thieves dramatically increased the city's population, which numbered only 19 in 190015 ? This population explosion was only the first of many which the valley was to experience during the next one hundred years. The gamble taken by Mc Williams and his investors was soon jeopardized as Senator William Clark of Montana announced plans for a town site, also named Las Vegas, on his property. Clark, who made his money in copper mining, had originally gained his seat by bribing the state assembly. A man who seems to have taken pride in 13 Land & Land 29-30. 14 Land & Land 3 I . 15 Land & Land 37. Fleekop 12 his questionable morals, Clark remarked in his own defense that "I never bought a man 16 who wasn't for sale" . Clark took this sort of cavalier attitude in insuring the success of his own town site at the expense ofMcWilliams's town. Being the owner of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake railroad, Clark was able to guarantee perspective buyers that the railroad would run through the valley. This enabled Clark to make a large profit at his . 17 . land auct10n on 15 May,1905 . Hopmg to make between $100 and $300 per lot, some of 18 the prime locations went for as high as $1,750 . This influx of capital to Clark's town site convinced many of McWilliams's residents to move over to Clark's town. The fate of McWilliams's Las Vegas was further jeopardized when Clark had the rail line built so high above ground level it served as a true division between the two towns. The competition between the two Las Vegas' s lasted less than a year as a suspicious fire in late 1905 wiped out McWilliams's Las Vega/9 . Clark's town faced early difficulty as aside from a school, which opened in 20 1905 , there were no public improvements. Twenty-six of the original site owners 21 quickly left town, some at great losses . Despite this, in 1909 Clark County was 22 established with Las Vegas as the county seat . As time passed, infrastructure was established and by 1911 the future of Las Vegas seemed to be a bright one. The 16 Land & Land 38. 17 Moehring 4. 18 Land and Land 41. 19 Land and Land 44. 20 Moehring 7. 2 1 Land & Land 44. 22 Moehring 8. Fleekop 13 optimistic predictions were directly related to the fact that two railroads serviced the 23 small town, providing a total of 450 jobs in a town of only 1,500 . The dependency on railroads, serving California primarily, began the pattern of prosperity in Las Vegas being closely tied to events in the Golden State. For the first quarter of the twentieth century, Las Vegas was little more than an isolated railroad town. The only similarity (beyond its name) that early Las Vegas had with the current city is that it was a relatively lawless place, as illustrated by the 24 railroad ' s inability to restrict liquor sales to Block 16 and the quick development of a red light district. Following the Las Vegas & Tonopah railroad's bankruptcy in 1917 and Clark's selling of his railroad in 1921 to the Union Pacific, the growth of the city stagnated and the city went into a depression. When newspaperman John Cahlan, later to be editor of the Las Vegas Review Journal, first came to town in 1929 he figured he would only be there for a year before the town would fold. A government announcement made that same year would drastically change the conditions under which Cahlan' s d . . 25 pre 1ction was made . In 1929 the federal government announced plans to build the Boulder Dam on the Colorado River in an effort to prevent future flooding in the Imperial Valley of California. The announcement of construction plans was viewed as a miracle by the 23 Land & Land 45. 24 Land & Land 42. 25 Moehring 11 . Fleekop 14 population of the struggling railroad town of Las Vegas, as illustrated by the free flowing 26 of bootleg liquor that accompanied the announcement . The Boulder Dam received its name because it was originally to be built in Boulder Canyon. Studies led by Arthur Powell Davis, head of the U.S. Reclamation Service and nephew of John Wesley Powell, the first man to survey the Colorado River, however, found Black Canyon to be a superior location. Despite the location change, the . 27 dam contmued to be called the Boulder Dam . With the location of the Dam set approximately an hour outside of town, Las Vegas immediately declared itself the "gateway to the dam"28 . The city's assumption that it would be the site for the government headquarters, however, proved to be a false one. Despite the fact that the "city's fathers ordered all saloons, gambling clubs, and houses of prostitution in Las Vegas to close their doors" during visits by government officials, the federal government decided Las Vegas was too much of a distraction for its 29 . workers . Instead the government elected to create its own town close to the dam, thus d . 30 Boul er City was created . Boulder City was designed to be a wholesome town. Being place within federal jurisdiction, Sims Ely the "austere, unsmiling, absolute ruler of the whole reservation" prohibited liquor, gambling, and other vices from the town31 . Boulder City was a wonderful place for married men but the single men found its regulations oppressive. 26 Land & Land 49. 27 Land & Land 51 . 28 Land & Land 55. 29 Land & Land 58. 30 Moehring 14-15 . 3 1 Land & Land 63-64 Fleekop 15 Thus, the thousands of single workers flocked to Las Vegas on the weekends. The influx of the workers, as well as the reputation for wildness acquired by Sims Ely's condemnation of the town, led to Fremont Street being busy every weekend during the 32 construction of the dam . The construction of the dam, though taking place approximately an hour away from town, helped place Las Vegas on the map. This process began prior to the start of construction in 1930 when Six Companies of California (the group who won the bid for construction) placed its employment center in Las Vegas33 . The city was immediately swamped by five to ten thousand new residents as "Nevada was the only place you could 34 get a job" during the depression . Having legalized gambling in February 1931 (gaming had been abolished in 1911 but the ban had hardly been enforced since 1915), the construction of, as well as the completed dam itself, became a tourist attraction35 . Tourism had long been viewed as a way of diversifying the primarily railroad town's economy, as seen by the construction of a dude ranch in 1924 for vacationers and prospective divorcees (Nevada had the nation's most liberal divorce laws/6 . These efforts met limited success prior to the dam. It wasn't until 1932 that the first luxury hotel in Southern Nevada, the Apache opened. 32 Land & Land 66. 33 Land & Land 58-59. 34 Land & Land 60-61. 35 Moehring 18-20. 36 Moehring 11. Fleekop 16 Likewise, in 1935 the first major convention, the Shriners of Southern California, came to 37 Las Vegas . The power of the dam as a tourist attraction was illustrated on September 30, 1935, the day Boulder Dam (officially Hoover Dam but no one, including President Roosevelt referred to it by its proper name) was opened. The highway from Las Vegas to Boulder City was nearly bumper to bumper on opening day and continued to have steady . 38 . traffic well mto the future . The steady flow of tounsts who came to see the dam were treated to increased comfort during their stay in Las Vegas by the new prevalence of air conditioners which accompanied the cheap electricity produced by the dam 3 9 . Following the completion of the dam, the federal government continued to play an instrumental role in the growth of the Las Vegas Valley. For example, the War Memorial Building, which served as the city's first convention center following its 40 opening in 1936 was funded by Roosevelt's New Deal . Likewise, the first airport, 41 which opened in 1939, was heavily subsidized by the federal government . Perhaps most important was the building of a magnesium plant near town in 1941 as part of the war effort. The plant not only became the basis for the future city of Henderson (originally called Basic) but also the bringing of water from the dam to the valley 42 . World War II also meant the creation ofNellis Air Force Base. The twenty-five million dollar air base was important during the war because it provided a source of income for 37 Moehring 22. 38 Land & Land 66-67. 39 Moehring 22. 40 Moehring 26. 4 1 Moehring 27. 42 Moehring 33-34. Fleekop 17 the casinos, which were experiencing a dramatic decline in visitors during the war 43 ? Even after the war, the base would play a key role in the city as it shaped its growth towards the southeast and attracted defense contractors to the valley, particularly after it 44 became the nation's main tactical weapon's training facility . Furthermore, many of those stationed at Nellis who were exposed to the Las Vegas Valley later chose to retire . 45 m Southern Nevada . Though bringing the defense industry to Las Vegas was a very large affect of World War II, perhaps the war's biggest affect on the community is that by denying the city tourists for four years it illustrated to the city just how important tourism was to its 46 economy and future . Those willing to invest on the future of tourism in the valley were unwilling to wait until the end of the war. Thomas Hull, hoping to avoid the city taxes, which would have accompanied building a casino in downtown Las Vegas, chose to build outside the ( city limits. His hotel, the El Rancho was built south of town on highway 91. Prior to Hull's hotel the area was only littered by a few small casinos, most notably the Pair-O- 47 Dice Casino which led to the area being named Paradise . The relative isolation of Hull's casino did not bother him much as he realized that the booming defense industry 43 Moehring 32. 44 Land&Land 113-115. 45 Land & Land 110. 46 Moehring 40. 47 Moehring 43. Fleekop 18 in Southern California, as well as Los Angeles' s decision to crack down on illegal garnblm. g woul d send thousands to the Las Vegas Valley 48 . The El Rancho, which opened in 1941 49 , was significant in the history of Las Vegas on several accounts. Even though it had only limited success for more than a decade, it inspired other investors from the Golden State to invest in Las Vega/0 ? Furthermore, it was both the first swank hotel in Las Vegas as well as the first to be a part of a regional or national chain51 ? The El Rancho had a large neon sign to attract drivers as well as a swimming pool, horse back riding, and entertainment ranging from scantly clad dancers to the likes of Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, and Sammy Davis Jr.52 ? As mentioned above, Hull's hotel experienced only limited success and he had to sell to 53 Beldon Katleman in 1947 . The problem with the El Rancho is that it was designed to cater to hotel guests, not casino guests. As a matter of fact, guests often had to ask where . 54 the casmo was located . Hull was quickly followed to the Las Vegas Valley by movie mogul R. E. Griffith. Griffith had decided to start a hotel chain in Deming, NM but later decided it was too small. This realization brought him to Las Vegas where he bought land a few miles closer to town from Hull. Griffith paid approximately $1 ,000 an acre in 1941 for 48 Moehring 42. 49 Land & Land 83 . 50 Moehring 45. 5 I Moehring 44. 52 Land & Land 84. 53 Land & Land 91. 54 Land & Land 88. Fleekop 19 55 land, which would cost more than $1 ,000 for a few inches in 1980 . By the time Griffith decided to begin construction the War Production Board had been instituted. This hampered Griffith's efforts greatly as he was unable to show that his "building would contribute to the war effort". Many of Griffith's supplies were confiscated by the army 56 and taken to the army airbase at Nellis . Finally Griffith had to secretly purchase deserted mines so he could clandestinely strip them of supplies for his hotel. Griffith's construction was further slowed by the need to frequently hire "winos" as many of the qualified laborers were off fighting in World War II57 . When Griffith's hotel was finally complete in 1942, the Last Frontier was "as near 58 western as we could make it" . The problems he had with construction were difficult to overcome and he eventually had to sell in 1951. Prior to selling the property, however, Griffith began something that would become a standard practice in Las Vegas, the 59 organization of junkets to bring in gamblers from California . The next hotel owner who came to Las Vegas is perhaps its most famous and definitely it's most infamous: Bugsy Siegel ofNew York. "By the time he was eighteen, Benjamin Siegel was already guilty of assault, bootlegging, extortion, 'h ijacking, murder, mayhem, narcotics, numbers, rape, white slavery" and many more crimes. Had he stayed in New York he would have likely become one of Meyer Lansky' s best hit men 6?. This was not to be his fate as he was sent to Los Angeles in the early 1940s to take over the 55 Land & Land 85. 56 Land & Land 87. 57 Land & Land 88. 58 Land & Land 86. 59 Land & Land 89. 60 Land & Land 93. Fleekop 20 racmg wue. Bugsy Siegel quickly became friends with a collection of movie starts, including George Raft, an actor who frequently played mobsters in the movies and ? ? 6 1 comedian Alan Kmg . Though his friends in Hollywood doubted his chances at success, Bugsy Siegel announced plans in 1945 to open a casino in Las Vegas. Those in California who had grown to respect the man despite his sordid past viewed this as Siegel's attempt at ending 62 his life of crime and becoming involved in legitimate business . Siegel's view of what a Las Vegas casino should be varied greatly from those already in existence. Even the relatively plush Last Frontier and El Rancho were little 63 more than cowboy joints with sawdust on the floor . Siegel's view was much more elegant and extravagant. To bring his vision into fruition he hired Phoenix builder Del Webb to build his hotel and casino, the Flamingo. The Flamingo' s design was heavily influenced by Miami Beach hotels. When complete the Flamingo, "low and spacious, 64 had only 105 rooms but reeked of luxury" . The construction of the Flamingo and its financing were not as smooth as Siegel would have liked. In order to acquire capital to begin construction, Bugsy Siegel turned 65 to his old friends in organized crime, specifically Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky . The two mob men provided Siegel with one million dollars for his casino. This amount needed to be increased as a result of both Siegel' s own extravagance and crooked 6 1 Land & Land 93-94. 62 Land & Land 94. 63 Land & Land 95. 64 Land & Lad 98. 65 Land & Land 95. Fleekop 21 business dealings. Some of Siegel's own contractors would steal at night the supplies they had earlier sold to him only so they could resell to him the same materials in the future 66 . Finally, it was rumored that Siegel and his call girl girlfriend were stealing money from the project and placing it in a Swiss bank account. This combination of thievery and extravagance brought the total cost to 6.5 million dollars. This greatly upset his mob financiers and on Christmas Day, 1946 they voted to let the success of the Flamingo determine whether or not to kill Siegel. The opening of the Flamingo, which occurred before the hotel was complete, was a great failure and the property was forced to close two weeks after opening. Subsequently Siegel was killed in his Beverly Hills home. Only minutes after the hit, three men including Gus Greenbaum took control of the Flamingo. Once the hotel was open the property became very profitable, particularly 1./::o r i. ts fiu st seven years o f operati. on 67 . Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo signaled the beginning of a mob funded construction boom. Relatively quickly the Flamingo, El Rancho, and Last Frontier were joined on the strip by the Desert Inn, Stardust, Sands, Riviera, Sahara, and Tropicana, all of which had some indirect if not direct tie to organized crime. Investigators later found that Las Vegas had been declared an "open city" by the twenty-four major organized crime families shortly after gaming became legal in 1931 . The success of the Flamingo under 68 Greenbaum served as the catalyst for mob investment . Mob investment in Las Vegas 66 Land & Land 96-97. 67 Land & Land 97-99. 68 Land & Land 100. Fleekop 22 was further eased by the cooperation of both the culinary and construction unions, which 69 agreed not to interfere with the construction or running of mob run properties . The mobsters did not usually own the casinos on paper, rather they served as secret financiers and engaged in skimming the casino's profits in order to avoid paying taxe/0 . Furthermore, the skim gave the mob the necessary cash it needed to pay off in cash its investors who did not want to be found out. The organized crime families were able to continue their scheme through the use of front men. For example, the Desert Inn was known as "Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn" when it first opened despite the fact that it 71 was clearly financed and run by Moe Dalitz and the Cleveland Mob . Dalitz, surprisingly was able to gain a gaming licenses from Robbins Cahill and the gaming 72 control board and thus could play a more public role than others . This was certainly not the case with the investors in the Sahara and Tropicana. When the Sahara hotel opened on the Strip in 1954 people wondered who were the true owners. Officially the casino was run by three small time gamblers from Oregon, but everyone knew they could not have financed the major enterpn. se 73 . Though th e true financers of the Sahara were never found out, the involvement of the New York mob in the Tropicana became painfully obvious in 1957 when Frank Costello was shot in New York. While in surgery, policemen searched his pockets and found a note reading "gross casino wins as of 4/27/57, $651,284; Casino wins less markers, $434,695; Slot wins 69 Moehring 86. 70 Land & Land 102. 71 Land & Land 103 . 72 Land & Land 100. 73 Land & Land 103-104. Fleekop 23 $62,844; Markers, $153,745." These numbers matched exactly those of the Tropicana Hotel for its first 24 days of operation. Mob involvement in the Stardust also became evident. When the "Gaming Control Board raided the hotel, they uncovered a secret vault, packed with bags of coins, which had been systematically diverted from the slots, 74 night after night" as part of a mob run skim . Mob involvement in the Las Vegas casino industry did not go without challenge. Surpassing military as the state' s primary industry as early as 1950, gaming and tourism came under increased scrutiny 75 ? The state began regulating gaming industry in the mid 1940s in order to "discourage hidden ownership, tax skimming, and other activities 76 linking Nevada with organized crime" . The federal government also got involved with the Kefauver hearings on organized crime. Led by Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver, the hearings exposed that Wilbur Clark had sold 74% of the Desert Inn to Moe Dalitz in exchange for financing. These hearings led to the Kefauver bill regulating casino gambling in 1951 which was only defeated because of the strength of Nevada Senator Pat McCarran. Regardless of the bill's defeat, the mob had clearly been linked to the city. With the link established, some locals, including Hank Greenspun of the Las Vegas Sun, newspaper wanted increased enforcement of gaming regulations, going as far as to set up 77 stings on those officials who were unwilling to enforce the law . These actions led to the gradual enforcing of the states regulations. For example, the Hacienda was unable to gain a gaming license until they removed Jake Kozloff from the post of casino manager 74 Land & Land I 04. 75 Moehring 73. 76 Moehring 52. 77 Moehring 91. Fleekop 24 since he had ties to organized crime (80). Likewise, after the skimming scandal at the Stardust, the casino was unable to reopen until the hotel was purchased by Sam Boyd, a Texas gambler without any ties to the mob (84). While Greenspun and his associates were opposed to organized crime's investment in the city, others felt that the mob presence was good for the town. Entertainer Debbie Reynolds points out that "no one got killed that wasn't supposed to and we were never frightened of anything of that sort"78 . Locals also credited the mob with keeping the town relatively crime free, calling them a sort of second police force which made sure trouble makers were always taken care of outside of town, usually on the other side of the California border 7 9 . Flamboyant gambler and former owner of the Stratosphere Tower, Bob Stupak even credits the mob mystique with attracting tourists to the Nevada desert80 . Regardless of what one thinks of the mob involvement, it is undisputed that with each new hotel came the promise of jobs and thus an increase in the valley's population. As a matter of fact, the state of Nevada has experienced consistent growth throughout the gaming era (1930-current)81 . The growth, which following the same pattern of other sunbelt cities, was not concentrated in the city itself. To the contrary, the abundance of open space accelerated a suburban trend82 . The Las Vegas Valley quickly filled with "low density automobile suburbs" such as Winchester and Paradise. These areas, which were unincorporated towns proved very difficult for the city to annex as the city of Las Vegas would need 78 Land & Land 101. 79 Land & Land 100. 80 Land & Land 101. 8 1 Ron DePolo and Mark Pingle, "A Statistical History of the Nevada Population 1960-1993" Nevada: Historical Society Quarterly ed. William D. Rowley (Reno: University Press, 1994) 287. 82 Moehring 109. Fleekop 25 two-thirds of the areas residents to approve of the annexation. As a matter of fact, only the predominately minority areas immediately to