Editorial: Contrition, not bluster, is needed

Tuesday, April 6, 2004 | 11:49 a.m.

On Friday it was announced that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman will face eight charges that he violated state ethics laws. If the state Ethics Commission finds him guilty of the charges, he could be fined. In the worst case, he could be removed from office by a District Court judge. The mayor, insisting he has done nothing wrong, was defiant and angry at a Friday news conference after the allegations were made public.

The accusations against Goodman include his acceptance of a $100,000 endorsement deal with gin maker Bombay Sapphire, half of whose proceeds went to a private school where his wife is chairwoman of its board of directors. Goodman's use of a Cadillac donated to the city by a local car dealer also will be reviewed, along with his involvement in a Jane magazine promotion, where a city street will be named after a contest winner.

The most serious allegation is that Goodman used his office to benefit his son's business. His son, Ross, along with Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack, is a part-owner of iPolitix, which markets interactive products, such as CDs, for political campaigns and governments. Earlier this year Oscar Goodman, while in Washington for a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, hosted an after-hours cocktail party at a reception that was sponsored by iPolitix. Some of those who attended the reception have said that it actually was a sales pitch for iPolitix. Goodman acknowledged at a news conference in January that he attended to help promote his son's business. All parents want to see their children succeed, but state ethics laws are clear that officials can't use their office to confer an unwarranted privilege to a family member. What the mayor did was wrong.

Goodman, ever since his election, has portrayed himself as a political maverick. Being a maverick has its good points, but being a maverick on ethical matters isn't one of them. If the mayor's ethical blindness continues, over time it certainly will erode even his enormous popularity. Instead of using bluster or trying to bully the Ethics Commission with claims that the case against him is politically motivated, the mayor would be better served if he owned up to his ethical lapses, especially in the case of iPolitix. Only after such an honest assessment will he, and the city, be able to move on.