She made history as the first African American mayor in North Las Vegas and Nevada.

North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown joins us this week for Nevada Week In Person .

♪♪♪ Support for Nevada Week In Person is provided by Senator William H. Hernstadt.

-Our guest today is no stranger to breaking barriers and making history.

North Las Vegas Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown was the first African American woman elected to the North Las Vegas City Council in 2011.

And in 2022, she made history once again when she was elected mayor of the city of North Las Vegas, becoming the first African American mayor in Nevada state history.

Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown, thank you so much for joining us.

(Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown) Good morning.

And thank you for having me.

-It is such an honor to have you here again.

You are, like I said, that glass ceiling shattered.

How does that feel knowing when you hear that and you've done so much not only as an educator here in Southern Nevada, but as a member of Northwest Vegas City Council and now the mayor.

And again, the first not only woman, but Black mayor.

-Absolutely.

It is such an overwhelming feeling of joy.

And just appreciating the support that the constituents had in me to be their next leader.

And some days at work, it's just still so surreal some days because it is a barrier-breaking moment.

And it's just a proud time for me.

And then I just look at it as I'm opening the doors for so many that come behind me, so many young African American boys and girls.

It's like if I can do it, so can you.

-And let's talk about that.

You mentioned opening up doors because you had someone open up that door wide open for you.

Let's talk about your parents.

-I come from a family, a long line of educators.

And my father was also a public servant.

He served as councilman and mayor pro tem during his tenure.

And so education was just something that we did in our household.

It was not an option at all.

And just as he served on the council, we would always hang out with him, or we would have to go to council meetings.

And we were like, But why?

And so you know, we were probably learning and we didn't know that we were learning.

And then if he went on convention or business trips that were related to the city, he would always take the family with him.

-And let's go back to when you had to attend those meetings.

I think off camera we were talking, you were about nine years old?

Did you ever-- Did your nine-year-old self ever imagine that you would be here?

-Oh, absolutely not, because we were playing on the grass at the time, and then he would make us come inside the chambers and just sit there and observe.

But I think we were setting, you know, a quiet stage for "this could be your future," not knowing that that's where it would actually lead.

-And let's talk about, I did read that somewhere you mentioned you had to attend those meetings that were a bit boring back then.

Not boring anymore, right, with you at the helm?

-They're not boring anymore, because when you see the council meetings, that's the final stage, but you don't see all the work that goes into making these agenda items happen.

And so it's exciting when you get to that moment where you actually get to vote on the progress that you've made with the many, many meetings.

And then also, we've put in recognitions and just some fun things at the beginning of our meetings.

And it's also a great time to interact with the public when they get to come and speak during public forum.

-And that is so important to you, your constituents.

-Absolutely.

Yes, that's the backbone of what we do: They elect us to be their voice.

And we hear them, but I really want to listen to what our constituents say and reflect on their concerns and their wants and take those into consideration when we're planning.

-And your dad, I need to ask.

When you told him you were running for office, what was his reaction and what advice did he give you that just touched your heart?

-He was thrilled.

And my mom, they both-- I mean, my mom still cries today.

But he was just overjoyed, and he told me, Be true to yourself, you know, keep your faith in God.

And when you push that button, make sure it's the right decision for you so that when you go home at night, you can rest.

-And when you were sworn in, a very special moment.

Tell us about that.

-My dad is in a wheelchair now--he's 93 years old--just because he walks so much slower now.

But I wanted him to be a part of that moment.

And so I held his hand, trying to hold the Bible and to hold his hand because I'm like, You're the reason.

And I kept saying, I hope I am making you so proud as I was proud of you during your time.

And so I just broke out crying like a big baby.

So, but it was just such a moving moment for me.

He was just so instrumental in my life, and everyone says I'm his twin.

-Oh, it's hard not to get emotional.

And again, you have such wonderful role models.

I do want to talk about how you ended up, your family ended up here in Southern Nevada.

Because when I talk about your parents, their love story, reading about their love story, education was a big part of their love story?

-Mm-hmm.

Well, they were both teaching.

My mom was in Arkansas.

My dad is from Texas.

And so she was in Hope, Arkansas, because she was a home economics teacher at the time, and he was there.

And he says, I'm going west.

And you want to come with me?

And so they moved to California, and my brother and sister were born there.

They were teaching and going to school at the same time.

And then an opportunity became available for them to work on a Navajo Indian Reservation in "Gouldens" Utah, which I have not seen on the map.

But I know it exists.

It's where the four corners meet in San Juan County.

And so I was born on that Navajo Indian Reservation.

And they were teaching Navajo children just, I don't want to say "American ways," but just, you know, whatever they were teaching them.

And so then the opportunity came available here in Las Vegas for them to come and join the Clark County School District.

And my mom was instrumental in helping with the kindergarten curriculum, and DISTAR was the reading program back then.

And my dad was appointed as an administrator.

I think the process was way different back then.

And so we've been here since '64.

That's our journey to get here.

-And then I love again that you also went into education.

-Yes, I did.

Just because I-- This is a funny story as well.

You know, school was not an option.

So I graduated from high school, and I told my mom, I finished, I'm good, I'm done.

I'm not going to college.

-That did not go over well.

-And my mother just in her calm, sweet voice says, You don't have to go to college, but you can't stay here.

I'm like, You're telling me I have to get out or go to school.

So I went to school.

My background is music.

I'm a classically trained pianist.

And I knew I wanted to become a professional pianist, but I didn't want to spend time practicing in a little room for 8 to 10 hours a day.

So I said, Music education, I could teach music.

And it was another great decision in my life.

-And also an assistant principal.

-I was an assistant principal for the last 15 years of my career.

And so I think that's just kind of the stepping stone into my leadership qualities, when you're running schools and you're in charge of hundreds of little people.

Now I'm in charge of thousands of adults and their families as well.

-I do need to ask because I want to ask about your husband.

You have a wonderful husband, two wonderful kids.

I do need to ask about your kids.

Any chance we might see a third generation Goynes family member in politics?

-You know, my oldest son, he's 32 now and he's like, You know, Mom, I would love to go into-- to be a politician.

I'm like, Are you sure?

And he's talked about it often.

So who knows?

He may just do that.

And my youngest son is, you know, he works at a production studio in California, and he's loving it.

And he's in a lot of leadership roles right now.

And so I'm hoping both of them just grow their professions and do what they love.

-And what do they think about Mom being mayor?

And also your husband, what does he think?

-First of all, my kids are just overjoyed.

They are thrilled.

And they both live in different states, but I get calls from a lot of their friends who still call me Mom.

And so they'll just say, Congratulations, Mom.

We text every morning, or we talk to each other often.

And so it's like, So what's your day like?

And how are you doing today?

What exciting is happening?

And I do the same to them.

But it's, it's just a nice family camaraderie here.

And my husband is my loudest, literally, and my biggest cheerleader.

And he kind of pushes me more than I push myself, and the support is just so great because he's like, Do what you need to do.

Do what you want to do.

I'm gonna support you in whatever you decide to do.

So it's been great.

-I love seeing some of your photos together, your family photos.

I saw one with the entire family going to Hawaii with your parents as well.

That was so sweet.

-We always travel in packs.

It's like if one goes, we all go.

So it's fun because that's how we get to connect and, you know, grow together as a family.

-Yeah.

Now, going back to being the wonderful mayor of North Las Vegas, I was reading that you will only be able to serve one term, at least for now.

Tell us about that.

-Just one term until 2026.

Just because of the term limits.

And so who knows?

I'm always optimistic.

Maybe one day that will change.

And hopefully if it does, it will change before 2026 because I have so much energy right now.

There's so much I need to get accomplished, and four years will go super fast.

-It does go fast.

So let's talk a little bit about what you plan to do.

It's been wonderful, having grown up here in Southern Nevada just like you, to see how North Las Vegas has evolved.

I've been seeing you since you, you know, took office in December.

You've been at groundbreaking ceremonies.

You've been at ribbon cuttings.

You've been busy.

A lot happening in North Las Vegas.

-A lot going on.

And just to kind of understand where we are today, if you know what happened in 2011 when I first came on the council, and it's just like, What's going on?

And what do you do when you have an economy that's failing and a city that's failing?

And so we just put our heads together and say, You know what?

Failure is not an option.

So came together with a great, robust, vigorous vision.

And you know, it takes a while, and then we got hit with COVID.

That's another setback.

And so you're seeing a lot of what this vision is currently going on now and what will happen in the future in North Las Vegas.

-And what are some exciting projects going on in North Las Vegas?

-Economic growth is just booming in all of our cities, but we have some major projects in our Apex Industrial Park.

It's 7,000 acres of industrial space that is booming.

We just got approved for the second water line out there.

So that will help with infrastructure already in place.

So we can attract more companies to come out there and develop and set up shop with high paying jobs.

And that will be careers versus jobs for our residents.

Our job creation zone is in-- around the VA area off of 215, Pecos area.

It's a 135-acre medical campus with green spaces and restaurants.

And then our Downtown Revitalization Project, which is a huge acreage of redevelopment as well.

-Mayor, another thing I love that you're doing being an educator, you are doing so much to help when it comes to education in North Las Vegas.

-Yes.

-Tell us some of the projects you have going on with that.

-Well, we created an education advocacy committee.

And the goal of that committee is to support schools in North Las Vegas, whether they are public, private, or charter schools.

We just awarded over $200,000 in microgrants to some of our schools.

And we want to see what their projects are going to do and just how we support them.

And this committee met with principals.

And you know, we just talked to our educators, and they wanted to focus on chronic absenteeism, family and student engagement, of course student achievement is always number one, and then teacher retention and bringing teachers to North Las Vegas not only to start, but to stay there.

And so we're working very hard with our schools in partnership with the City.

-Thank you for doing that.

That's pretty amazing.

Now, I do need to ask you: Did you ever imagine that Southern Nevada, that Nevada, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, we would all be a sports town?

-I did not.

-Growing up here, right?

Never.

-We were always known as the gaming capital of the world.

Now we're gaming and sports and tourism.

Yes.

-I need to ask you, because you had a very special honor recently.

-I did.

-Let's talk about that.

What happened there?

-Well, the president of the Raiders, Sandra Douglass Morgan, before she was actually the City Attorney in North Las Vegas-- So we have a long relationship that goes back even prior to that.

But Mark Davis called her and said, Do you know this mayor in North Las Vegas?

And she says like, Really?

[laughter] And so I got the call to come and light the torch at the Raider stadium.

And I was like, Oh, dear!

Talk about a phenomenal life moving moment.

-The smile on your face said it all.

-Yeah.

-Now, with the Super Bowl coming up next year, involvement?

North Las Vegas, how will you be involved?

-We will just support whatever the tourism industry is doing.

And if they're-- Last year, year before last, they actually did some tree planting at Craig Ranch Regional Park with the Raiders organization.

And so we'll just expand on those efforts.

And then we're also partnering with them with some of our education initiatives as well.

-Oh, that's wonderful.

Now, I have to say, I asked you about some fun facts before this.

And I love the fact how you pick your NFL team, because that-- You have to share this with the world.

How do you pick your NFL team?

-Oh, my goodness.

I look at the quarterback.

You know-- [laugter] If the quarterback is a looker, I'm like, I like that team.

But he has be good.

He has to be good, though.

-Well, that's very important, right?

He can't just be that.

-Absolutely.

-Now another interesting thing I love, you actually enjoy fishing.

-I love to fish.

It's calming.

It's relaxing.

And I do quite well actually.

I actually-- My husband and I went on a trip with former Mayor Lee.

We went fishing.

I'm the only one who caught fish.

-Oh, yes!

-Mayor Lee, if you're out there, I did it.

-And before we leave, your message for your constituents, for all the residents of North Las Vegas, what would you say to them?

-I want to thank you for your continued support over the years.

It's been phenomenal.

It's been a phenomenal move, a phenomenal fit.

I will not let you down.

I will be your proud mayor, and I want to continue to have that dialogue and just connect with my constituents.

-Mayor Goynes-Brown, thank you so much for joining us.

Such a pleasure having you on our show.

We thank you at home for watching Nevada Week In Person.

To see more of Nevada Week In Person, as well as this edition of Nevada Week, go to vegaspbs.org/nevadaweek.

Thanks again.

-Thank you.

That was fun.

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