Panel appoints parks director to Assembly vacancy

LAS VEGAS — Clark County commissioners unanimously selected a professional boxing judge and the county’s former longtime parks and recreation director to fill a vacancy in the Nevada Assembly left by a Republican lawmaker who resigned for another job.

Commissioners voted Tuesday to appoint Glenn Trowbridge, a self-described “pragmatic political moderate,” to represent Assembly District 37. He was chosen from a pool of 12 applicants and will join a lower house that leans Republican 25-17.

“I hope to be able to add a voice to finding a middle ground that will be of benefit to everybody,” he told The Associated Press.

Trowbridge, 71, has a Master of Business Administration degree and worked as the parks department’s CEO from 1984 until his retirement in 2001. He was responsible for more than 240 full-time employees and controlled an operating budget of $21 million, according to his resume.

He’s also served on the Las Vegas police policy review board, on the City of Las Vegas Planning Commission, and as an alternate on Clark County’s Board of Equalization. He’s an Air Force veteran and president of the Retired Public Employees of Nevada, an organization that represents people covered by the state’s Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS).

Unlike some of his legislative counterparts, Trowbridge said he hasn’t signed an anti-tax pledge.

“Nobody, including me, wants to pay more taxes, but anyone who thinks you can get things for free is naive,” he said. “There are things we need to address — education and infrastructure.”

Trowbridge has lived in Nevada for 36 years.

The Assembly vacancy came after Republican Wesley “Wes” Duncan announced he would resign his seat to become second in command to Attorney General-elect Adam Laxalt. Duncan served one term in the Assembly before being re-elected in November.

Applicants for his seat had to be Republicans. They included Charles Harvey, Brian Hardy, Donald Graham, Chris Meservey, Aretta “Betty” Rumford, Jearld “Jerry” Hafen, Brian Patchett, Bill Cimo, Stan Parry, Rob Lauer and Rene Cantu Jr.