Bruce L. Woodbury (b. 1944) has the distinction of being the longest-serving member of the Clark County Commission in its history. He was appointed to an open seat in 1981 and remained on the Commission until late 2008. An attorney and resident of Boulder City, the Las Vegas native took his law degree from Stanford University after graduating from the University of Utah with highest honors. Twice, he was Commission chairman (1989-90 and 1999-2000) and has chaired other civic bodies, such as the Regional Transportation Commission. Woodbury sat on various local boards, including that of Springs Preserve, and participated in myriad governmental bodies, such as the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, the Colorado River Commission, the Lions Club, the Elks Lodge, the Rotary Club, Special Olympics, the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce -- you name it, if it's public-spirited, Woodbury has been part of it. He probably would have remained on the Commission another four years had the Nevada Supreme Court not ruled in 2008 that he was retroactively subject to 1996 term-limit laws.
When Woodbury left office, Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith praised him under the guise of mockery:
"I mean he's one of the worst commissioners I've ever watched in action. For one thing, Woodbury was never indicted for political corruption by a federal grand jury. Not once. This is simply unacceptable in Clark County … He fathered flood control -- and not even out of wedlock. That's almost as boring as being the guy who proposed and then pushed through funding for the highway that lassoes the valley and provides a key piece of Southern Nevada's complex transportation puzzle. It figures they would call it the Bruce Woodbury Beltway."
Smith's then-opposite number over at the Las Vegas Sun, Jon Ralston, added further accolades, calling Woodbury, "The most thoughtful, policy-driven, above-the-fray county commissioner in history." Shortly after leaving office, Woodbury was named to the board of directors of the Las Vegas Monorail, a financially troubled and politically incestuous group that badly needed the credibility he brought.
Despite being a politician, Woodbury has a puckish sense of humor. At the time of Las Vegas' official centennial (2005), he opined that, "in 100 years, Las Vegas will have just been awarded its first NBA franchise, but the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project will still be tied up in court. The Regional Justice Center will almost be ready to occupy. Since the growth rate never declined, the population of the Las Vegas Valley will be 2.7 billion, but there will only be 16,000 in nearby ('clean, green') Boulder City."
Of his Christmas Eve retirement from the Commission, which coincided with a rare snowstorm, he quipped, "There're many people who spoke the truth in saying that it would be a very cold day in hell before you get rid of Woodbury." On a more-serious note, he said "I hope people will think that I served with integrity, that they'll never have a doubt about my honesty and that I always put their interests first. That's what I tried to do and that's how I hope to be remembered."
Did Bruce Woodbury deserve to have that Beltway named in his honor? We think so.
