Goodman speech looks like mixed bag

Erin Neff

Monday, Jan. 8, 2001 | 11:25 a.m.

Speech

When Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman takes to the stage tomorrow evening to present the State of the City address, he won't just be crowing about the past year's successes.

In fact, if Goodman graded the past year based on promises made in the 2000 State of the City speech, Las Vegas would probably get a C-plus.

"There were a lot of failures, but as a general overall beneficial interest to the city, it was probably the best year the city ever had," Goodman said.

Downtown redevelopment received huge news in 2000 with the city's purchase of 61 acres of land from Union Pacific, groundbreakings for two new housing projects and a proposed high-tech business incubator.

But a year later Las Vegas is no closer to getting a major league sports team or a cultural arts center in the downtown core than it was when Goodman hyped both in his "Vision for a Better Las Vegas."

Some of his key goals, including the addition of a high-tech adviser in the mayor's office and creating a high-tech hub and research center in Kyle Canyon, haven't happened yet.

Yet while the specifics never came to fruition, Goodman has taken steps toward all of the visions he outlined last year.

His staff liaison, Stephanie Boixo, has focused much of her time on high-tech issues and helped forge the incubator deal. Union Pacific Railroad has agreed to donate 8 to 10 acres for a cultural center, and Goodman has had serious meetings with Major League Soccer executive LaMar Hunt about building a soccer stadium in Las Vegas.

But soccer isn't professional basketball, and land alone doesn't bring the ballet and opera downtown.

"We're a little further behind on the sports arena," Goodman said.

At the end of his address last year, Goodman asked the gaming community to work with him to overcome obstacles National Basketball Association Chairman David Stern said were in the city's way.

"There was an awful silence," Goodman said, referring to what he considers to be a lack of gaming help in downtown redevelopment efforts.

When Goodman presents the 2001 State of the City address Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers, he will likely focus on some of downtown's success stories.

"I think you can see for yourself," Goodman said. "When I got here a year and a half ago there was nothing going on."

But Goodman also plans to set aside part of his speech for an attack on plans to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Goodman would not divulge specific details of his speech prior to Tuesday's event, but his past vocal opposition to the Department of Energy's proposal will likely emerge as a stern wake-up call to residents of the Las Vegas Valley.