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Clark County Commission District B - Marilyn Kirkpatrick - Democratic

Name: Marilyn Kirkpatrick

Office- Clark County Commission, District B

Party Affiliation: Democratic

Sponsor Message

Website: marilynkirkpatrick.com

Biography provided by candidate:

Personal

I’m a wife, mother, businesswoman, civic activist and leader. As a life-long resident of Clark County, I have been involved in community events and grassroots campaigning for most of my life. My volunteer work spans the range from the PTA and Girl Scouts of America to the North Las Vegas Planning Commission and numerous political campaigns. I’ve worked at the local, regional and state level as both an active participant and as an elected leader. It is this commitment to our community that motivated me to first seek election to the Nevada State Assembly representing district 1 and has led to me continuing my service as your Clark County Commissioner representing district B.

Family 

Sponsor Message

My husband Michael and I have been married for nearly 20 years. Michael is a skilled plumber and a member of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 525. He recently retired. Together we have a blended family of Jessica, Tamara, Destiny, Dalton, Sarah and Tara. We have six grandchildren Brianna, Brett, Sierra, Lexis, Ryan, and Emma.  We also have one great grandchild.

Education

I was born in Clark County and I grew up right here in this area. I had great fun attending local schools, and I enjoy taking additional courses to keep up in my work and just for the pleasure of learning new things. I have attended school and college at…

  • Vegas Verdes Elementary
  • Cashman Middle School
  • Brinley Middle School
  • Western High School
  • Krolack Business School
  • Community College of Southern Nevada

Employment

I’ve held a job ever since I was a teenager. I worked my way from a waitress to a trainer for the Carrows Corporation. I worked at Circus Circus and the Fremont Hotel. I even worked for seven months in Alaska before returning to Clark County and getting married. Here, I’ve held a variety of jobs while maintaining our home and volunteering in community and church activities. My work experience includes . . .

Sponsor Message
  • 1994-1997 Waitress
  • 1997-2001 First Aid Safety Assistant, Clark County School District
  • 2001- 2015 Sales Executive for local food distribution companies working directly with executive chefs and purchasing agents in major hotels

Community Service

So many people give their time to help make our community better. I’m one of them. I believe I should make a contribution. I’ve enjoyed doing so many things, working with others, and especially working with scout groups and Parent Teacher Association parents. We’ve won awards for our programs, but the real fun is in helping young people learn, explore and grow. On the North Las Vegas Planning Commission we were able to start setting higher standards for developments, work on new ordinances such as those controlling the location of cell towers, and establish a greater distance between taverns and schools.

Among my activities…

  • Planning Commissioner, City Of North Las Vegas, 2001-2004
  • Vice Chairman, North Las Vegas Planning Commission, 2003-2004
  • Girl Scout Troop Leader
  • Parent Teacher Association President and activist on the local and state level
  • Community Partners Clean Up Our Neighborhood Volunteer coordinator
  • Little League Volunteer
  • Team Mom for T-ball
  • Kids Voting USA Program Volunteer
  • Member of North Las Vegas Design Committee for Library Development
  • Sponsor: Back to School Fair benefiting under privileged students
  • Grassroots coordinator for numerous political campaigns 1995-2004
  • Volunteer, North Las Vegas’ annual Taste and Toons
  • Volunteer, annual International Food Festival
  • Founder, Southern Nevada Forum

Community Service Awards

  • Parent Hall Of Fame Award Recipient
  • Various awards for Girl Scout and PTA activities

Grassroots Activities

As a teenager I helped Richard Bryan’s first campaign for governor by going to bowling alleys and handing out material as he shook hands with voters. I’ve always been interested in the political process and have been involved with good citizenship projects such as Kids Voting USA.

Through my work in youth activities, in schools and in our community I’ve seen how political decisions can affect our quality of life. I believe that works best when we are all involved at the grassroots level, and I’ve spent much of my time working at the person-to-person level.

Among my volunteer projects…

  • Volunteer for Kids Vote USA Program
  • Volunteer, unpaid, lobbyist for PTA and community projects in the Nevada Legislature
  • Coordinated grassroots campaigns for . . .
    • North Las Vegas judge, constable and city council races
    • City of Las Vegas city council races
    • District Court Judge races
    • Family Court Judge races
    • Clark County Commission races
    • United States Senate race

Elected Office

I was first elected to represent District 1 in the Nevada State Assembly in 2004. It was a tough campaign and I would never have been successful without the support of community neighbors and friends. We knocked on doors, wrote postcards, put up signs, campaigned hard and were successful.

Since then, I’ve served in 5 regular and 7 special sessions in the Nevada State Legislature. In 2013, I was elected as Speaker of the Nevada Assembly by my colleagues where we worked together to Build a Better Nevada. During the 2011  I was the only Assembly Member to chair two major committees: the Government Affairs Committee and the Committee on Taxation. I also served as a member of the Commerce and Labor Committee and the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee.

In 2015, I was appointed by the Governor to the Clark County Commission.  As your representative, I’ve worked hard to keep in touch, answer questions and connect constituents with the services our county and state provide. If I can ever be of service to you and your family, I hope you will contact me on my personal cell phone (702) 767-1315 or personal email marilyn.kirkpatrick@cox.net 

Question: In a 140 characters, introduce yourself as if you are introducing yourself to a neighbor.

Hello, I’m Marilyn Kirkpatrick, your County Commissioner. I want you to know my door is always open and I will work hard to earn your trust and confidence.

Question: The Regional Transportation Committee released a vision plan for transportation in Las Vegas that included many ways to address the growing city with 40 million annual visitors, one of those included an ambitious plan for light rail. If you could sign the paper that started immediate work on a new transportation project right now, what would that project be and why? 

In District B, the most important project is the continued extension and widening of the beltway to make it a below-grade highway all the way to I-15. In addition, the continued development of overpasses at US 95 and the beltway are extremely important to my constituents. 

Question: Do you support an increased Sales tax to hire more officers? The MoreCops sales tax is distributed to law enforcement agencies throughout Clark County?

I voted for and supported the More Cops sales tax, so yes, I do support this measure and feel it is crucial that we get more officers on our streets and in our neighborhoods.

Question: As the city sees its first professional sports franchise with an NHL team, and possibly others in the future – should Metro get the funds to beef up its force now in preparation for those events? If so, where should that money come from?

The question of increased funding for Metro is one that the County has asked the Legislature to study. I am hopeful the Legislature will approve such a study, and we can see where there are funding shortfalls and how those shortfalls should be corrected. The County is the biggest contributor to the Metro budget, and we need to make sure our residents are getting the services they are paying for.

 

 

Natalie is an Emmy-award winning journalist who has worked in the Las Vegas market since August 1996, starting as a newscast producer for KLAS-TV Channel 8, and later as an online editor for 8newsnow.com.