Editorial: Winners and losers in 2000

Saturday, Dec. 30, 2000 | 2:13 a.m.

Our millennium year, 2000, produced a bumper crop of both winners and losers in Las Vegas and in Nevada. Pruning the possible selections to those that fit in this space wasn't easy, with so many deserving candidates on both ends of the scale. It also was hard because some were impossible to place in a single, tidy category. For instance, Steve Wynn lost his treasured Mirage Resorts' empire. But how could Wynn be considered a loser since he pocketed $500 million from the MGM Grand in the acquisition deal? That's a nice sum that allowed him to purchase the Desert Inn and start over without having to answer to pesky shareholders. But we shouldered the difficulties aside and made our list, which we herewith share with you.

Winners: Nevada Republicans. John Ensign ended a 12-year dry spell for the GOP as the party once again captured a U.S. Senate seat. In addition, Rep. Jim Gibbons and Gov. Kenny Guinn lent their political muscle to help George W. Bush capture the state's four electoral votes in the razor-thin-close presidential election.

Losers: Nevadans who live in the shadow of Yucca Mountain. While Guinn & Co. basked in the glow of Bush's victory, there already has been an ominous stirring that Bush's election will hasten the selection of Yucca Mountain as a burial site for this nation's high-level nuclear waste. Guinn, Gibbons and other top Republicans may come to rue the day they embraced Bush.

Winners: Assembly Democrats. Richard Perkins of Henderson will be the next speaker of the lower house and Barbara Buckley of Las Vegas will be its majority leader. The Democrats in the Assembly also maintain their iron grip, holding 27 seats out of 42. Their policy acumen and political deftness have the potential to tie both Guinn and the Republican-controlled Senate in knots.

Loser: Gov. Kenny Guinn. The governor personally has campaigned against many Assembly Democrats, even some that he had worked closely with during the 1999 Legislature. His bid came up empty, though, and certainly earned Democratic enmity. The governor's prescription drug plan for seniors also was ridiculed by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and top national Democrats. Guinn was angered by the criticism and made it his mission to defeat Berkley, but she coasted to re-election, handing Guinn another public relations loss. Guinn entered the year strong, but these tactical errors will weaken him as the 2001 Legislature approaches.

Winner: Oscar Goodman. The Las Vegas mayor continues to defy conventional wisdom. He says whatever is on his mind, and no matter how off the wall it may be, his popularity ratings still soar. Maybe Goodman's rise will lead more eccentric, yet gifted, men and women to seek office. It certainly would be more interesting than the poll-tested, vanilla-style variety we've grown accustomed to.

Losers: Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald was once dubbed the "shadow mayor," but his ethical lapses have left him simply a shadow. Once feared by fellow council members and City Hall staffers, he now commands little respect, fatal for a politician. Lance Malone, who also had ethical lapses as well as an unfortunate way of putting things, lost his County Commission seat. Now he is said to be seeking a job in local television. If he lands one, who knows, maybe it could lead to his political resurrection.

Winner: Blue Man Group. The offbeat trio that plays at the Luxor added to the growing, and eclectic, mix of entertainment offered for both local residents and tourists.

Loser: Las Vegas' 2000 New Year's celebration. The "Entertainment Capital of the World" ushered in 2000 with a whimper, not a bang. Despite the amazing pyrotechnics around the world, Las Vegas didn't have any fireworks displays. The New Year's dud was amplified by the greed of casinos, whose high room rates helped keep tourists away. Now, one year late, Las Vegas plans on putting on a $500,000 fireworks display tonight.

Winners: John Robinson. The legendary coach turned around UNLV's moribund football program, which just two years ago was 0-11. This year it was 8-5 and beat Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl. Move over, men's basketball, football is king in this city.

Loser: UNLV men's basketball. At the beginning of the 1990s, they talked about UNLV as a budding basketball dynasty. But NCAA violations, coaching turnovers and poor recruiting in subsequent years ended that hope. This year the program was slapped again with NCAA sanctions. It's likely to get worse before it gets better.

Winner: Sumner Dodge of the Salvation Army. Dodge, who is in charge of the group's Las Vegas food drives and is its community relations director, will take a well-deserved retirement in February after 22 years of helping the needy. The city will miss his tireless giving.

Losers: Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish. Let's just say the duo's smirks and smiles, which they once flashed during breaks in their televised murder trial, won't be doing them much good now that they've been convicted and sent to prison.