Marv Teixeira said he will stay out of politics when he retires as Carson
City¹s longest-serving mayor, but he's not going away.
"I still have my First Amendment rights," he said.
The three-term mayor will hold the gavel at his last board of supervisors
meeting today before leaving office at the end of the year. The last item on
the last agenda he organized is about action on a city redevelopment program
audit. It is program he has often criticized.
Teixeira, 73, has continued to be outspoken since he announced his
retirement in April. He has lobbied for federal funds to help the city's
economy. He has sworn at developers who wouldn't clean up an abandoned
racetrack. He has encouraged supervisors to increase the sales tax rate to
build a planned city recreation center.
"Come on," he said. "That's who I am. I'm not afraid to go to point. I'm not
afraid to lose."
Teixeira served his first two terms from 1989 to 1996, retired and then beat
two-term Mayor Ray Masayko in 2004. He has named starting the Carson City
freeway, attracting business like the Sierra Gold hotel-casino and helping
found the anti-methamphetamine group Partnership Carson City as efforts he
is proud of.
In his last term, however, Teixeira has received some of his strongest
criticism from the public. He was arrested for drunken driving last year
and, this year, campaigned for a failed November ballot initiative to
increase the sales tax rate to help finish the V&T Railway tourist train.
Rheba Montrose of Carson City led an attempt to have Teixeira recalled after
his arrest in March 2007. She said the misdemeanor drunken driving
conviction overshadows everything he did.
"He knew how to run a meeting," she said, "but what does that have to do
with his record of driving drunk?"
She said the petition would have been more successful if she wasn't injured
that year when a ladder fell on her. It¹s good he is leaving, she said, but
she did enjoy the chance to meet him.
"I found him very personable," she said. "The man is charming. He could
charm a snake."
Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said Teixeira was passionate about his job and
looked out for the best interest of the city.
He said he was glad he got the chance to meet Teixeira, because "he's the
kind of guy you hear a lot of stories about."
The Sparks mayor understood why after sitting through a few meetings with
him.
"You never knew what was going to come out of his mouth," Martini said.
Teixeira, said Mayor-elect Bob Crowell, has always had the city "at heart."
"He¹ll be remembered as the most enthusiastic supporter of Carson City
you'll ever find," Crowell said. "All the way around."
Bob McFadden, former owner of the historic downtown St. Charles Hotel, ran
against Teixeira in 1992 under a promise to clean up the city, Rob McFadden
said of his late father.
The challenger ran an aggressive campaign, his son said, but he came to like
Teixeira.
"A lot of thing he wanted to do, Marv ending up doing," Rob McFadden said.
The Carson City Rotary Club will host a roast for Teixeira on Jan. 9 for a
fundraiser. Club member Larry Messina said it is something that will have
"broad appeal" in the city, whether the attendee loves or hates Teixeira.
Messina said it was not difficult to find people who wanted to roast the
mayor.
"There's definitely controversy that he's generated," Messina said.
Teixeira, a former IBM salesman who moved from California to Carson City 45
years ago, said he has "warm feelings" for the city, but spends too much
time thinking about what he wishes he could have accomplished.
But even with those thoughts and the times the public has seen him arrested,
listened to him announce a divorce and learned he had his car stolen from
his garage, Teixeira said, serving as mayor as Carson City has been an honor.
"Overall, I can look in the mirror in the morning," he said. "The guy I¹m
looking at may be ugly, but I can live with that."
