Mayoral race smear-free

Thursday, April 8, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.

Compared to the brutal political advertisements that soiled numerous local campaigns last year, the race for Las Vegas mayor has been relatively free of debris.

None of the television ads and campaign brochures coming from front-runners Arnie Adamsen, Oscar Goodman and Mark Fine slam fellow candidates by name. There are plenty of subtle jabs, however.

The closest any of them have come so far to a direct attack have been in television and radio ads from Fine that criticize City Councilman Adamsen without naming him. The ads accuse the "career city councilman" of failing to plan for growth.

For Adamsen, a member of the City Council since 1987, the key word in his own material is "experience." The word is flashed across the screen in the beginning of his TV ads and underlined in his literature. Obviously, he is running on his record.

In his first two 30-second TV spots, Adamsen subtly attempts to distinguish himself from Goodman and Fine. One ad declares that only Adamsen has the experience to fight crime and that he has been endorsed by the city's police and firefighters.

Adamsen knows that Goodman could be vulnerable on the issue of crime because Goodman is an attorney who has represented numerous reputed mobsters.

"No one has fought harder to put more police on the streets than I have," Adamsen tells a group of adults. "This year alone we're adding 113 new police officers to make sure that residents can feel safe and secure in their homes."

To counter those who may think Goodman is soft on crime, the attorney uses large bold-faced type to proclaim in literature that he favors "a strong, well-financed police department." Equally obvious is Goodman's defense of his profession since the print inside his brochure overlaps a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

"My father, who was a career prosecutor, taught me that the cornerstone of America was that we guarantee each person a fair hearing," Goodman wrote. "The Constitution guarantees us that hearing, but it takes people willing to stand up to a challenge to make the Constitution work.

"My father's wise words are the reasons I have always stood up for the underdog. Today, the citizens of Las Vegas are the underdog. Because we live in the city, we pay higher taxes than our neighbors in the county. I am committed to seeing our taxes reduced to the same rate as those paid by residents of the county."

Adamsen's other TV spot sells the councilman as the only candidate qualified to control growth. As the ad pans across a Las Vegas suburb and a residential construction site, an announcer notes that Adamsen has fought for clean air and for reusing treated wastewater.

Adamsen knows, too, that Fine could be vulnerable on growth issues because the latter is a developer who was largely responsible for construction of the Green Valley and Summerlin communities.

"Adamsen led the fight for cleaner air by passing the dust reduction law that requires developers to clean up the dirt and dust from construction activity," the announcer says.

Fine, who refers to himself as a businessman, planner and community builder rather than a "developer," believes he is best equipped to tackle growth issues. His TV ad that criticizes the "career city councilman" begins by showing traffic, along with the caption, "Career Politicians: Failed Planning For Growth."

"Las Vegans still pay hundreds more in property taxes than county residents, yet career politicians are proud of their experience," a narrator states.

The camera then shows Fine in a boardroom where he states: "For me, planning communities like Summerlin has been about building better neighborhoods for our families. Now we need business common sense to manage growth and finally bring about tax equity."

Like Fine, Goodman has a TV ad that criticizes what he considers the tax inequity between the city and Clark County, terming the residents of Las Vegas as underdogs. But Goodman uses a different approach on growth than his competitors by taking jabs at both local government and developers in a 30-second TV ad. It is Goodman's subtle way of separating himself from Adamsen and Fine.

"Local government has to do a better job of managing growth if we are going to enjoy a decent quality of life," Goodman tells viewers. "We should be able to guarantee homeowners what their neighborhoods will look like by stopping the hodgepodge of development that's been allowed in the past.

"Don't get me wrong. Some homebuilders care about this valley. But let me be crystal clear. I will not allow the citizens of Las Vegas to be pushed around by those developers who are out to make a fast buck."

Local polls and pundits have Adamsen, Goodman and Fine leading the nine-candidate field for mayor heading into the May 4 primary. The winner will replace Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who is completing her second term and chose not to seek re-election.