In 1976, when Bob Campbell accepted the city manager position in Henderson, Nevada, he and his family had just endured nearly a month of sub-zero temperatures in their native Missouri. Southern Nevada's mild winter coupled with the promise of developing the 8,600 acres that would become Green Valley convinced Bob and his wife, Pat, to make the move. Bob came to Henderson with a degree in public administration and city manager experience in two Missouri towns, but Green Valley offered something akin to "an artist having a blank canvas on which to plan and create." In this interview, Bob talks about the ways his career in public administration blossomed in Southern Nevada. After about five years with the City of Henderson, Campbell joined Mark Fine and American Nevada Corporation to develop Green Valley; five years after that, he moved to Southwest Gas Corporation to work with Bill Laub and later, Kenny Guinn. From about 1989 to 1997, he helped develop Lake Las Vegas. In 1994, Bob and Pat together formed The Campbell Company, a private consulting firm whose clients included Transcontinental Properties' Lake Las Vegas project as well as Henry Chen's Ascaya. v Much of the interview focuses on the Lake Las Vegas project: its original visionary, false starts, and its tumultuous development as an arm of the Bass brothers of Fort Worth, Texas; their developer, Ronald Boeddeker of Transcontinental Properties in Santa Barbara, California, and Boeddeker's appointee, Alton Jones. Along the way Campbell shares the strategies employed by the Wednesday morning group of Henderson boosters who met at Saint Peter's Catholic Church and who succeeded in gaining the necessary local, state, and federal approvals to move the project forward. He reveals the intimidation, physical threats, and sexual harassment suffered by those who questioned the way Jones did business. Overall, though, he explains why he continues to respect the Bass brothers and is still proud of Lake Las Vegas, "proud that we got it on, and proud that it's turned out to be what it is."
Text
Community Relations Committee meeting minutes for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, Nevada, January 19, 1988.
Mark Fine was born February 10, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised with a strong Jewish identity. When Fine was in fourth grade, his parents moved the family to Shaker Heights, and again moved to Arizona during his senior of high school. Upon graduation, Fine enrolled at the University of Arizona and became a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He graduated in 1964 with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in real estate.
Person
Susan (Greenspun) Fine is a Las Vegas, Nevada philanthropist and former member of the Women's Philanthropy Council of the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas. She was born September 16, 1945, in Springfield, Massachusetts and her family moved to Las Vegas in 1946. Her father, Hank Greenspun, was the editor and owner of the Las Vegas Sun newspaper. She was married to real estate developer Mark Fine and is currently married to Max Spilka.
Person
Jonathan Fine is a Las Vegas, Nevada native and entrepreneur. In 2003 he founded Sting Alarm Inc., a security company that focused on aiding the hospitality industry in the transition from analog to digital surveillance. With his partners in Fine Entertainment, Fine manages several bars and restaurants on and off the Strip, including Rockhouse Bar at Grand Canal Shoppes, PBR Rockbar and Grill at Miracle Mile Shops, Chayo Mexican Kitchen + Tequila Bar at The Linq, and PKWY Tavern.
Person