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Chris Morris
Published Monday, June 6, 2011 | 5:25 p.m.
Updated Monday, June 6, 2011 | 5:25 p.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman speaks to the Republican Men's Club at Cili Restaurant and Bar Monday, June 6, 2011.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman prepares to pick up his car from valet after speaking to the Republican Men's Club at Cili Restaurant and Bar Monday, June 6, 2011.
Las Vegas mayoral candidate Chris Giunchigliani, right, talks with supporters Mary Brush, from left, Deray Brush and Mary Joy Alderman during a campaign stop at a downtown barbecue Wednesday, June 1, 2011.
Las Vegas mayor candidate Carolyn Goodman schmoozes with a potential voter during a campaign event this month at El Cortez.
Las Vegas mayoral candidate Chris Giunchigliani says hello to 18-month-old Michael DeBerg during a campaign stop at a downtown barbecue Wednesday, June 1, 2011.
Las Vegas mayoral candidates Carolyn Goodman and Chris Giunchigliani debate on "Face to Face with Jon Ralston" inside the Channel 3 studio in Las Vegas Wednesday, May 18, 2011.
Soon-to-be-former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is a voracious reader who finishes a book a week.
Even so, there is one tome he won’t touch. It was prepared and presented to him months ago by Audrie Dodge, liaison for City Councilman Steve Wolfson.
The tutorial is thick with hundreds of pages encased in a hard binder. Its working title: “How to Use a Computer.”
He’ll be saving that for later.
“I am the only person in City Hall who does not have a computer,” Goodman said, somewhat boastfully, after speaking at Monday’s Nevada Republican Men’s Club luncheon at Cili Restaurant at Bali Hai Golf Course. “Carolyn is computer literate. She believes in social media. Me, I am a dinosaur in everything I do.”
The Carolyn in this instance is Carolyn Goodman, who, according to polling, is leading Chris Giunchigliani in the race to supplant Oscar Goodman as the mayor of Las Vegas. Whichever candidate wins Tuesday’s election, it is clear that she will possess a far more advanced appreciation for such social media platforms as Twitter and Facebook than does the current mayor.
That’s because the current mayor is allergic, or phobic, or disdainful, of Twitter and Facebook. The famed “mob attorney” and popular mayor of Las Vegas doesn’t use e-mail, or even a computer. He does carry a cell phone, but there have been three different PCs set atop his desk at City Hall.
Today, there is no computer whatsoever, in Goodman’s strewn-with-memorabilia office.
The outgoing mayor also never types.
“I write out all of my notes longhand,” he said. “I never dictate. That’s just the nature of the beast.”
City Hall officials stress that Goodman’s reluctance to embrace the tools of social media is not an office-wide condition. There are official City of Las Vegas Twitter and Facebook pages (@CityofLasVegas is the Twitter page name, with a modest 1,195 followers).
The city communications staff also manages the Twitter accounts of the City of Las Vegas emergency alerts (@CLVAlerts), F Street reopening project (@FStreetlasvegas), Historic Westside School (@hwschoollv) and City Councilman Steve Wolfson (@CmWolfson). On Facebook, Wolfson is joined by Stavros Anthony as members of the City Council who are active on that platform.
But you won’t find Oscar Goodman anywhere in social media, though three impostor accounts have been attempted using his name (city officials have snuffed out each one). The next mayor’s accounts will likely be added to both the city’s Twitter and Facebook responsibilities.
“Whoever the next mayor is will have to be open and accessible and follow Mayor Goodman’s example,” said Jace Radke, spokesman for the city of Las Vegas and one of those staffers chiefly responsible for communicating on behalf of the mayor to the public and media. “Mayor Goodman has not been really big on (social media). He’s more a face-to-face person, and it’s going to be hard for the new mayor to keep up with the amount of personal appearances he’s made during his terms in office.”
Giunchigliani is without question accessible. Two days after she announced her run, her official Twitter (@Giunchigliani, with 1,164 followers) and Facebook pages were in full operation.
“Chris was the first one to put her personal phone number and cell phone number and address on her campaign material,” said Gary Gray, Giunchigliani’s campaign manager. “This is simply an extension of that … This is the direction of the future. If you want to get information from elected officials, you are going to have to be on social media.”
Neither Giunchigliani nor Carolyn Goodman manage their own official Twitter or Facebook pages full time. Their hands are full, usually literally, while campaigning. But some of the correspondences can read as if it is a direct conversation between the candidate and Twitter follower.
For instance, after a tweet on Goodman’s page happily announcing the Goodmans’ 49th wedding anniversary (celebrated today at El Cortez), one Holly Madison sent a tweet reading, “Congratulations on your anniversary!”
“Thanks, Holly,” was the response posted on the page of the woman favored to be the city’s next mayor.
If nothing else, Carolyn Goodman shares her husband’s appreciation for celebrity affiliation.
Goodman’s official Twitter page (@GoodmanforMayor) is followed by 2,049 people since the account was opened just after Goodman announced her candidacy.
“From the campaign, how we are running the Twitter account is how she would want to run it as mayor,” said Goodman’s campaign manager, Bradley Mayer. “We are really engaged, we follow people who are active on Twitter, we retweet often and act as a hub for what’s going on around town. This is all going to be quite important, no matter who the next mayor is, to disseminate information.”
Mayer jokes about Oscar Goodman asking about Twitter and questioning, “What’s going on with all this Tweetering?” When Carolyn Goodman started her campaign in February, her primary hand-held communications device was an old flip phone.
“Now she’s jamming away on an iPhone,” Mayer said. “I warned her that it would change her life, and it has.”
But the current mayor is still iffy on his involvement in new technologies as he prepares to leave office.
“I have Audrie’s book, which I will be able to study, when I’m no longer mayor, and I can always practice on Carolyn’s computer,” Oscar Goodman said. “We’ll talk about it, we’ll talk about it.”
Then he paused and said, “But I, myself, have to do my own thing. I go to Costco instead.”
That’s where dinosaurs tread, still, to engage in social media.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.
Carolyn's social media has been hopeless from the start. Most of her "followers" are fake and her Twitter handlers tweet things that have nothing to do with her or her campaign. She hasn't a clue about social media anymore than her hubby. Puhleeze.
Well, having no computer makes him a relic, that's for sure, but I guess it also means that Las Vegans don't have to worry that he tweeted sexy pics or had facebook affairs on the taxpayer's dime. I guess that's a positive....
In 1998 the company I worked for at the time occupied 8 floors. In the building there were about 3 people that did not use a computer. They were all on the 8th floor and were executives. If you sent them an email, their assistants would read and respond to them. At the time we thought they were relics, last of the bread. That was 1998. Oscar truly is living in the past. Wow.
Good riddance!
On March 1st during an interview on NBC Mrs. Goodman stated she did not know how to use Twitter.
When asked about it on Twitter the response from her was "I've got some help, thankfully."
I don't have a problem with people not using some of the new Tech but lets keep the facts straight.
As far as fake followers, hers are no more fake than most others these days. A lot of people took interest.
Today is the day to tell the truth. Get off the computers and Vote. Make it count.
The Goodman social media strategy is useless. In an age where you have to use social media to involve citizens ignoring this medium completely shows how out of touch the Goodmans really are!
Chris G's campaign used social media from the very beginning and you can expect that from her administration. Our city is behind in terms of what we could be doing to automate working with the city online.
Las Vegans will rightfully expect tweets from their next mayor, updates on facebook, and a smartphone app too. Only Chris G has the background to get that done. Goodman's team posted FAKE news stories posted insensitive "let them eat cake" comments and produced a campaign website of ZERO substance. Chris G had a volunteer donated smart phone app, a YouTube channel (with more than just her commercials) and several volunteer supporter created blogs.
The 21st Century is electronically social in a way the Goodmans cannot comprehend.
Brace yourselves citizens! You're about to witness, again, the results of "Voters apathy". (Those who don't vote).
too bad for you Christine. Sounds like all that tech isn't doing ya much good.
It's not over until the last vote is counted.
Tech has helped get the word out and in the post-mortem of this campaign that is what you will see.
The Goodman's have already prepared themselves not to win by taking to twitter via @DelenGoldberg complaining the voting machines don't work correctly. Just another tactic from the Sharron Angle playbook - use their same polling company (which was wrong in the senate race) and when all else fails blame the voting machines (as Angle claims to this day.)
Oscar and Carolyn. Face facts. Doesn't it feel like we have two mayors helping to bring in business to Las Vegas. I invested in the confidence of having two great leaders help promote business in Las Vegas.
Oscar didn't leave. He stepped down the way a Chairman becomes President or a corporate President becomes CEO.
Thomas Chi
Author of the books,
Las Vegas Money
Las Vegas Mafia
Las Vegas Oscar Goodman