She's commanded all aviation in Clark County for almost three decades.

Rosemary Vassiliadis is our guest this week on Nevada Week In Person.

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

-Welcome to Nevada Week In Person.

I'm Amber Renee Dixon.

A Chicago native, she's called Las Vegas home for more than 40 years.

After managing the finances of the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, she entered the aviation industry and went on to attain multiple milestones at Harry Reid International Airport.

Also a member of the Nevada Homeland Security Commission, Rosemary Vassiliadis, Director of Aviation for Clark County, thank you for joining Nevada Week In Person.

(Rosemary Vassiliadis) Thank you very much, Amber.

It's a real thrill.

-So Chicago native, how did you end up in Las Vegas?

-Well, it's the love story.

So my husband, also a Chicago native, went to UNLV on a soccer scholarship.

And when he graduated, it felt like the streets here in Las Vegas were lined in gold compared to what was going on in Chicago, so we-- -How so?

-Well, there was so much growth.

So he graduated in the '80s, early '80s, and there was so much going on here and so much opportunity for him.

So he came back and got me and, as I say, dragged me cross country, but never looked back.

-But you did think that there was a lot of opportunity here, so not dragged so much or... -Well, I was blindly in love when he dragged me over here.

But then opportunities did open up.

As you mentioned, I was able to start at the City of Las Vegas in the mid '80s.

And again, growth was going on, and I learned so much of what it takes to run a city.

And then being finance director at the County, you know, was a huge thrill and honor.

But, you know, the airport is like a little city in itself, so I had a lot of foundation to be able to transfer to there, yeah.

-Well, and I would think, okay, she's director of aviation in Clark County.

She must love aviation.

But is that the case?

-Well, I actually did love aviation.

I didn't know how much.

-Okay.

-But when I grew up in Chicago, we were actually under the flight path of O'Hare and, you know, it was very, very busy.

And Chicago has those old brick houses and front stairs outside to the street.

And at night we would sit on our front stairs and try to do a little game of either guess the airline or even the tail number, because that's how close we lived to O'Hare.

So I think it was in there.

I just didn't realize how much until I got to the airport.

-What was that transition like from finance to aviation, and what did you think of it?

-Well, finance is a great foundation for an airport because an airport is a business.

We're dealing with airlines, which is a business.

Concessionaires, it's a business.

So having a strong financial foundation, I think, was actually a big benefit to get into the rest.

But I did have to learn everything else, and more than anything else was the lingo and all the acronyms.

-Was it scary to make that move?

-It was very scary.

Being a female at that time was a first, and there were a lot of firsts, so I went over as deputy director, which was great because then I got to learn the industry and the federal agencies that deal with the airport, and then being the first female as director for Clark County Department of Aviation.

Yes, of course, it was scary; but you get a great team, and you do a lot of things together.

-What would you tell women who find themselves in similar situations?

-I would say stay strong.

Go find your passion.

If you find your passion, then the rest, it's not work.

I wanted to learn.

I wanted to deal with these agencies.

I knew that you need everybody to really be successful.

There is no one-person success story in a large organization, and those that think they are usually aren't.

[laughter] And so I partner with everyone.

And as you know, I was there at 911 and I was there when TSA was born.

And it was hard for a lot of airports to bring that in, because they had such command over a huge part of the operation.

But we know, here in Las Vegas, we wanted everyone to feel safe, you know, as a discretionary and a leisure destination.

So I embraced them, saying, okay, it's side by side.

What do you need?

You know, what are your rules?

And what are we going to do to make it feel for our passengers to come back because they know they're going to be safe.

-Whereas, other airports may have had kind of a power struggle with the introduction of the TSA?

-That's exactly right.

-What do you remember about the days after 911?

-It's hard to remember because there was no sleep, but it was, it was very difficult.

I really-- I actually didn't know everything that happened that day until the year anniversary, because we had to get through that day.

You know, airspace was never closed.

Commercial airports were never closed.

You know, I was the one that was there that was in charge.

And we kept on getting security rules from FAA, because that's who had the security regulations at the time, every few hours.

But what we did know here in Las Vegas is we had 90,000 hotel rooms that had a very healthy occupancy rate, and they wanted to get home.

So when we reopened, we knew what was going to happen.

And they did, they all came back.

We had to literally shut down our roadway system and had, you know, passenger snake queues to be able to get them processed to go back home.

And that was something that was our responsibility, and we had to do the best we could.

-Gosh, I didn't think about that aspect, all of the visitors that were staying here in Las Vegas at the time wanting to get home.

-It was heart wrenching, because the people from New York couldn't get through to their families by cell.

Remember at that time, everything was just so, you know, overpowered.

So it got to the point where I would plead with the airlines of, okay, whoever has New York flights, can we get them out?

They needed to get home.

This was three days later.

That's a long time not being able to contact your family.

-So you talked about the TSA, and you took it a step further by introducing what at Harry Reid International Airport?

-So knowing the type of passenger we have, which is discretionary, our business traveler for the most part are the convention delegates.

Today now we have an entirely new set, which are the professional sports and mega events attendees that mostly arrive by air.

But we had so many different type of behaviors that when TSA created their Innovation Airport program to be able to test different technologies, I invited them over to our airport.

I said, let's go look at our checkpoint.

And we made a presentation of, You will get everything at this airport, every type of passenger--the ones that travel many times a year, the ones that travel once a year.

We still have first-time travelers that come through.

So you will be able to test everyone on these type of technologies.

And they agreed, and so we have an Innovation Checkpoint that's operating in T3 on the lower level, and it's been a great success story.

There's so many things that have been tested at Harry Reid are rolled out to other airports now.

-Human trafficking and its prevention also is a huge part of your career.

When did that come onto your radar?

How were you approached about implementing?

Tell me about what happened.

-So when Senator Cortez was up north, it was one of her pieces of legislation statewide.

And being at the airport--and, unfortunately, an airport is being used as a tool for this horrific crime--invited me to it, and it really opened up my world.

I lived in a bubble.

I felt awful because I was one that made them feel invisible, because I wasn't really aware of how deep it went and what a horrific crime it was.

And I just thought, nope, not through my airport, not easily.

So we tagged on from there and got a lot of different training and tried to find the best program for our airport.

And it ended up being the national airport--the national program, excuse me--so they can see it from airport to airport.

And then I just went around through the airport and aviation conferences and groups that we have and made a plea for other airports to have the same one so as these poor victims traveled from city to city and, therefore, airport to airport, they get the same message where there is hope if you call this number and get the professionals on it.

And you know, I'm pleased to say that we've had a handful that have reached out at our airport, and we were able to save.

-Oh, I've always wondered when I'm in the bathroom looking at that sign, how many people actually end up calling this number?

-And we don't know.

You know, maybe they're calling from the next city.

Maybe they're calling, you know, from somewhere else.

But we've had people, you know, actually reach out at our airport.

I wish the numbers were more, but you know, any life you save is great.

-And the information you're getting out there may be used years down the road.

So you are retiring in September.

Why?

-Well, you get to the point in your life.

I have 40 years of public service from when I started at the City, through downtown County, through the airport, so that's a pretty long time.

-You deserve it, obviously, But you're so needed.

I mean how much expertise you provide.

-I think, though, that we're at a point at the airport where it's time to hand over the baton.

I love getting things in order, I love operating them, and I think we've had a lot of successes.

That's now in the foundation at this airport system, from TSA that, you know, they're so invested in that checkpoint that we know we'll be keeping that.

Our relationships with FAA and our tower has been just tremendous.

-You're happy with what you've accomplished?

-Yes.

-But I hear there's also a grandchild involved.

-Well, yes, and then there's the personal end.

So I think the last straw was earlier this year.

I got an invitation for my 50th anniversary, reunion, of high school.

And I said, okay, let's, let's start putting these all in order.

And then shortly after that, we got our new airport request to the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport-- -Yes.

- --notice of intent on the federal docket.

So that process has started, and I was very instrumental in that part of it.

And it's a two- to three-year process.

-And not supposed to open till 2037.

You're not going to stay for all that?

-No, no.

I don't want-- So, you know, at the point where I think I accomplished everything that I know that's in my wheelhouse, and now it's time to turn it over and get it done with construction and engineering and planning, and that layer is very securely set.

-And to spend more time with your grandchild and your husband, Billy Vassiliadis, who owns R&R Partners.

I'm wondering about the pen collection that I heard you have.

I'm adding to it with Vegas PBS pens.

-Oh, my gosh!

Thank you.

-Where are all those?

How many, and where are they going to end up?

-I can't admit because I get in trouble.

So my dark, dirty secret is I take pens.

I love pens.

And I love like the perfect pen, and you gave me a perfect pen.

See, it has all the elements.

-We'll never find out how many.

-No, I can't tell.

[laughter] -Thank you so much for joining Nevada Week In Person.

-Thank you.

I really appreciate it.

♪♪