Jan Jones Blackhurst (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Laverty; March 16, 1949) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as the 20th mayor of

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

from 1991 until 1999. She was first woman to serve as mayor of Las Vegas. Jones Blackhurst is a member of the Democratic Party.

Biography

Early life

Janis Lyle Laverty was born in Los Angeles, California, raised in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, and graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1971 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in English. She became a recognized figure in Las Vegas in the 1980s, appearing as a spokeswoman in television commercials for her family's supermarket chain, Thriftimart, and later a car dealership owned by her then-husband, Fletcher Jones Jr.

Mayor of Las Vegas

In 1990, Jones Blackhurst, known then as Jan Jones, ran for mayor of the city of Las Vegas. She was elected in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and later re-elected in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, serving two four-year terms. During her time in office, Las Vegas' population grew significantly and Jones Blackhurst was credited for making the city "more livable" and directing attention towards social issues such as

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

. She oversaw the redevelopment of the

Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in Downtown Las Vegas, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second-most famous street in both the Las Vegas Valley and in the state of Nevada, after the Las Vegas Strip. It is named in honor of explorer and politicia ...

area, which opened as the current

Fremont Street Experience The Fremont Street Experience (FSE) is a pedestrian mall and attraction in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The FSE occupies the westernmost five blocks of Fremont Street, including the area known for years as "Glitter Gulch", and portions of som ...

in 1995. While mayor, Jones Blackhurst ran for Nevada governor twice, losing significantly in the 1994 Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

to then-incumbent Bob Miller. After gaining the Democratic nomination in 1998, she was defeated in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Kenny Guinn Kenneth Carroll Guinn (August 24, 1936 – July 22, 2010), was an American businessman, academic administrator, and politician who served as the 27th Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007. He previously served as interim president of the Universi ...

, the Republican nominee. In 1999, she chose not to run for a third term as mayor.

Post-mayoral career

After her mayorship, Jones Blackhurst joined

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada, that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

, later serving as executive vice president. In 2007, she was quoted by the British newspaper, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

,'' as saying

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

's husband and manager, Rene Angelil, gambled up to $1 million per week. She later retracted her comments and apologized. Jones Blackhurst sits on the board of directors of several organizations including Caesars, the

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a quasi government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the La ...

, and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which owns

Allegiant Stadium Allegiant Stadium is a domed multi-purpose stadium located in Paradise, Nevada, southwest of adjacent Las Vegas. Opened in 2020, it is the home field of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) and the University of Nevada ...

. She is currently the executive director of the Black Fire Leadership Initiative at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

Personal life

Jones Blackhurst is married to Dana Blackhurst, her second husband. They married in 2003 and she added Blackhurst to her surname. Jones Blackhurst has six children. Dana Blackhurst is an education advocate for learning disabilities who has headed several schools over the years, including at The Chandler School (which he founded) and Camperdown Academy in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

and Pine Ridge School in

Williston, Vermont Williston is a New England town, town in Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Originally rural and laid out with many farms, in recent decades it has developed into a thriving suburb of Burlington, Vermont, Burlin ...

. They live near in the master-planned community of

Summerlin Summerlin is a master-planned mixed-use development mostly within the city limits of Las Vegas, Nevada. The development covers of the western edge of incorporated Las Vegas sitting at the center-west end of the Las Vegas Valley. Downtown Summ ...

in the city of Las Vegas.

Honors

In 2017, the newly-built Jones Blackhurst Elementary school was named after her by the

Clark County School District The Clark County School District (CCSD) is the public school district serving Clark County in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is the largest school district in Nevada and the fifth-largest school district in the United States with 304,565 enro ...

near the Mountain's Edge neighborhood of unincorporated

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

External links

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jan Laverty 1949 births 20th-century mayors of places in Nevada Activists from California Harrah's Entertainment Living people Nevada Democrats Politicians from Las Vegas Stanford University alumni United States Chamber of Commerce people Women in Nevada politics Women mayors of places in Nevada 21st-century American women Mayors of Las Vegas