Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Jeff German: It’s tough to take Goodman seriously

THERE HE WAS, with a grin on his face and a glaze in his eyes, holding a 32-ounce martini glass while dancing onstage next to Charo and a scantily clad showgirl.

Hundreds of Las Vegans were partying with Mayor Oscar Goodman under the brightly lit canopy of the Fremont Street Experience -- all in honor of the mayor's $100,000 contract with Bombay Sapphire Gin.

That was the clip the nation saw on CNN's Crossfire last week to promote Goodman's appearance for a discussion on the "politics of sin."

If you didn't know better, you would have thought the tape was a costly network ad purchased by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

It wasn't, of course. It was meant to give viewers a taste of who leads one of the country's fastest-growing cities.

Co-host James Carville got the mayor off on the right track by calling him his "favorite politician in America."

Goodman took it from there as he boasted about the Bombay Sapphire bash on Fremont Street.

"It was a great party. Everyone had a blast," he said. "We were dancing on the streets. We were drinking. We were having a good time. That's what Las Vegas is all about and that's why I'm the quintessential Las Vegan."

Goodman then acknowledged that he sometimes drinks to "excess" and gambles with "both fists."

This is how the mayor represented himself -- and by extension Las Vegas -- to the nation.

When Carville asked Goodman to talk about his biggest challenge in Las Vegas, the mayor didn't discuss traffic gridlock, downtown redevelopment or even crime. He said his biggest challenge was getting people to take him seriously.

Wonder why he has that problem?

Goodman concluded with remarks that sounded as if they were written by advertising executive Billy Vassiliadis, who markets Las Vegas around the world.

"The main thing is to keep Las Vegas at the cutting edge, at the front of everybody's mind," he said. "When you're looking for freedom ... when you want to do something that you're scared to do at home because people might be critical of you, when you want to go to the cusp of, perhaps, legality, this is the place for you."

His words drew laughs from both the liberal Carville and conservative Tucker Carlson, who ended the segment by telling Goodman, "We take you seriously, Mr. Mayor." But he said it in jest.

That was the Las Vegas the nation saw through the eyes of its No. 1 partygoer. And that is the Las Vegas the nation likely will see the next time Goodman appears on network television.

After more than three years in office, the best Goodman can say about his performance as mayor is that he loves being the city's lead cheerleader.

Well, he's a good cheerleader, probably the best ever. And he's loved in return.

But if you were mayor, wouldn't you want to be known as someone who has had success fixing the city's problems? Wouldn't you rather be known for revitalizing downtown than putting on martini parties or turning out different versions of bobblehead dolls of yourself?

Wouldn't you want to be known as a leader who has accomplished something?

The problem for Goodman is that his job description makes it difficult to have success tackling the serious community issues.

Because Las Vegas has a city manager form of government, he's just one of seven votes on the City Council, with no authority and no administration to direct.

So he does the only thing he can do with a certain degree of success -- party and pitch Las Vegas.

Unless our system of government changes to one that gives people with this much energy an opportunity to channel it in a meaningful way, mayors like Goodman will have no trouble being flamboyant, but they will accomplish very little.

They will have no trouble attracting tourists to Las Vegas, but they will never be taken seriously.

And the problems associated with being one of the fastest-growing cities in America will remain with us.

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