Columnist Jeff German: Striking a balance in Vegas

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

It's official: Sex and sin have turned Las Vegas into America's No. 1 tourist destination.

We have made the cover of Time as a one-dimensional party town, and our martini-guzzling mayor and our morality-challenged marketers are singing the magazine's praises.

Nothing can stop the "sexification" of Las Vegas in our all-encompassing search for the mighty tourism dollar -- except for the realization that Las Vegas isn't a one-dimensional party town. Beyond the glitz of the Strip we have parks, schools, hospitals, places of worship and children to raise -- just like any other city in America.

As far as I can tell, the state Gaming Control Board is the only public agency that has sought to understand the impact on this community of marketing Las Vegas as, in Time's words, "Sodom and Gomorrah without the guilt."

Two months ago the Control Board thought it had an agreement with the Hard Rock Hotel, the juvenile delinquent of the casino industry, to tone down its edgy billboard advertising, which had drawn heavy criticism from family-minded groups.

The Hard Rock, the home of the rabble-rousing 20-something crowd, acknowledged after contentious talks that it had gone too far with some of its ads, which light-heartedly suggested its patrons have the temptation to use "prescription stimulants" and cheat at its gambling tables.

But the Nevada Gaming Commission, which oversees the Control Board, killed the deal over concerns about how the agreement could affect the ability to monitor future advertising at the Hard Rock and other resorts.

That left both sides with the option of trying to hammer out a new agreement or take the dispute to a full-blown hearing before the commission.

Such a hearing, regardless of its outcome, would air the tourism industry's dirty linen in public and give the growing number of critics of the industry's racy marketing strategy a much-deserved public forum.

So it is no surprise that, as the Gaming Commission is set to decide Thursday when to hold that hearing, the Control Board and the Hard Rock have been desperately seeking a new agreement behind closed doors.

But no deal has been reached, and Control Board members Bobby Siller and Scott Scherer say they don't expect one prior to Thursday's Gaming Commission meeting, though miracles can happen.

Several groups of citizens trying to persuade gaming regulators to consider the longterm effects of the industry's wide-open adult marketing campaign plan to be on hand to voice their concerns.

Members of these groups aren't stuffy conservatives just looking to hear themselves speak. They are mothers and fathers who are tired of having to shield their children from billboards adorned with scantily clad women every time they go out to dinner or a movie.

"This kind of advertising does not reflect what life is like in Las Vegas," says attorney Michael Wixom, a leading member of one group, the Main Street Billboard Committee. "It forces choices on people that shouldn't be forced on them."

Worse, Wixom says, it has potential to harm the city's ability to attract new businesses, which is crucial to diversifying its economy and ensuring its longterm growth.

The challenge here is to go back to doing what we used to be good at doing -- striking a balance between the Las Vegas we want the world to see and the Las Vegas we see beyond the Strip.

If we're not up to this challenge, we risk losing both worlds.