Albert Mack, a Republican running for the Clark County Commission in District F, has deep and successful roots in the Las Vegas Valley.

His great grandfather started the family's run in Southern Nevada during the Great Depression. He borrowed $500 to buy a tow truck.The Hoover Dam was being built at the time. Construction called for heavy equipment that constantly needed moving. So the tow-truck business boomed. Later, it diversified.

"That's how my family got started, with one tow truck," Albert Mack said recently on Nevada Newsmakers.

Mack's grandfather, Jerry Mack, along with E. Parry Thomas, co-founded the Bank of Las Vegas, which grew into Valley Bank of Nevada. It was the only bank in the late 1960s willing to lend money for hotel-casino projects. That bank got Steve Wynn started, jump-starting the modern era of Las Vegas.

Today, the cathedral of UNLV basketball since 1983 -- the Thomas & Mack Center -- is named for E. Parry Thomas and Albert Mack's grandfather. Both are remembered as huge benefactors for UNLV and for the Las Vegas community overall.

"My grandfather was really my North Star in everything," Albert Mack told host Sam Shad.

Albert Mack, CEO of a private equity firm, said he learned about honesty from his grandfather.

"I don't lie. I don't exaggerate a story," he said. "Those two things are very important. They came from my grandfather. And, you know, in his time, your word was everything."

Jerry Mack taught Albert another lesson that has led to his budding political career: The responsibility to give back to the community.

"The final thing was: When you are successful enough for your family to be
taken care of, then you need to pick something to give back to the community that's provided that opportunity for you," said Mack, facing his first run for political office.

"For me, what I take from that is (running for) the county commission," Mack continued. "You know, this is my give (back) to the community, which is to say I'm stepping away from my business. I'm going to, frankly, lose money by not being in my companies.

"But it's that important to be able to sit on the commission and hopefully make some positive changes that can give opportunity back, that my family has been so lucky to have for generations, that other families have had for generations, and that we hope to continue here in the valley."

Mack's top issue entering the campaign "is about transparency and accountability," he said.

"I do believe that those things (transparency and accountability) will then lead into development of homes that working-class people can afford," Mack said. "That also dovetails into small businesses and being able to cut red tape and being able to get them open so that they can actually have a successful opportunity to grow their own business."

Albert said he has already talked with Commission Chairman Michael Naft about a possible committee assignment.

"I give him all the credit in the world for sitting down with me just on a cold call," Mack said about Naft.

"One of the things that we got into is that I would hope that when I win, that the first committee that I can be put on is the audit committee," Mack said. "And while it's the least sexy -- everybody wants to be on the LVCVA (committee) and all of the really fun committees -- the audit committee is tremendous because it shows you where the money is. It shows you what the budgets are.

"Once you start looking at that, you can find efficiencies, you can find ways to actually improve, so that we don't need to look at adding taxes or adding fees," Mack said. "But we can actually look at being more efficient with what we already have and then, being able to grow from that."

Mack said he would be guided by his Republican ideals as a commissioner.

"As a Republican, I'm running on certain values, on certain ethics, on certain ways that I believe, fiscal conservatism and economic efficiencies."

Mack acknowledged his initial campaign finance reports show he's raised $1 million. Half of that, about $500,000, came from Mack.

Assemblyperson Heidi Kasama, R-Las Vegas, is also running in the Republican primary and has the endorsement of Gov. Joe Lombardo. She has donated $510,000 to her own campaign.

Becky Harris, the former chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, is running as a nonpartisan.

Incumbent Justin Jones, a Democrat, is not seeking re-election.

District F is in the south, southwest part of the valley, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Mack has served on the Use of Force Board of the Las Vegas Metro Police, he said.