Mayor says he repeated what Gibbons told him

Sito Negron

Thursday, Jan. 29, 2004 | 11:15 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Wednesday that his assertion on national television last week that homeland security money had been unspent by the state and sent back to the federal government was based on a conversation with U.S. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

He told CNN talk show host Wolf Blitzer last week that cities should be the first stop for homeland security money, since cities generally are the first responders to large-scale disasters. Instead, the money is funneled through states in a complex process.

Goodman told Blitzer that the state of Nevada had to return to the federal government $600,000 that was unspent. State officials promptly said that both facts -- the disposition of the money, and the amount -- were incorrect.

"The record should reflect that I repeated what I was told," Goodman said Wednesday, adding that "I cast no fault on (Gibbons)."

He said Gibbons may have received bad information, which was then repeated to Goodman in the context of a meeting that covered multiple topics.

Gibbons did not return telephone calls placed through his staff Wednesday. His staff said last week that Goodman was incorrectly given a figure of $600,000 when referring the amount of homeland security money sent to the state this year, but could not specifically say whether the mayor was told the money had to be returned to the federal government.

Goodman was not available for comment last week after his CNN comments. His spokeswoman, Elaine Sanchez, said then that Goodman's comments "were consistent" with what he was told at the meeting with Gibbons.

Goodman said Wednesday that his background -- as a lawyer for reputed mobsters -- led him to keep his counsel.

"I never liked rats," Goodman said.

However, the media scrutiny of his comments resulted in the need to set the record straight, he said.