Former Mayor Jones: Goodman’s video use inappropriate

Heather Rawlyk

Wednesday, March 17, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones said Tuesday that Mayor Oscar Goodman used "poor judgment" when he gave a city-owned copy of his State of the City speech to representatives of iPolitix, a company in which his son and Councilman Michael Mack have partial ownership.

"If they wanted to indicate how iPolitix could be of value, go use someone else's speech," Jones said. "They're not thinking through that it is city property. They are using it to promote their own business, and even if it's not entirely unethical, it has an appearance of impropriety."

Jones's comments came Tuesday on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," on Las Vegas ONE, Cox cable channels 1 and 19.

The video is part of an ethics complaint filed against Goodman by resident Robert Rose, who also has filed a complaint that alleges that Goodman broke ethics laws when he handed out invitations to a January promotional party during the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., for the company.

Goodman could not immediately be reached for comment on Jones' remarks, but he has defended his actions in the past.

He has said he gave the tapes, which he considers public record and available to anyone, to iPolitix with the understanding that the company would create a media kit that his office could use.

Jones, now a spokeswoman for Harrah's Entertainment, said spending money on videotapes of Goodman's television appearances, such as his televised Super Bowl bet with Carson Daly, was "probably not good use of taxpayers' dollars."

The city spent $5,080 buying videotapes of Goodman's TV appearances last year, including one about his pick in the Super Bowl.

Jones said that while it is necessary for certain television appearances to be videotaped, the tapes should not be used for personal gain.

"Anytime there is any council member on TV, they'll make and keep the tape," she said. "I think it's not a question if the city keeps tapes; the question is, whose property is it and then can you use them for your own gain?"

Jones said that she never used her videotapes for commercial purposes, and that it is "inappropriate" for Goodman to use his name to promote family members and businesses.

The invitations to the Washington, D.C., party carried Goodman's mayoral title, and Goodman said he greeted attendees, told them to check out the iPolitix product -- a media analysis tool -- and then stood back.

"That is inappropriate," Jones said. "It's very clear that the city says you cannot use your position to promote yourself, and if you are, that's unethical.

"I'm surprised that the councilmen would have let themselves get this far involved in what's obviously a commercial venture and then try to justify it as something in the interest of the city."

Another controversial issue stems from this month's publication of JANE magazine, which features an ad in which Goodman invites readers to shop at a website and to come to Las Vegas and get a chance to win a street named after them.

"I think the question with that is, who is he promoting?" Jones said. "I thought that was the job of the convention authority, to bring people to Las Vegas."

Jones, who was a pitchwoman for local car dealer Fletcher Jones before she was elected, said she was held to a "different standard" than Goodman.

"What if I had gone on doing commercials for Fletcher Jones while I was mayor?" Jones said. "I could have said that it was my job, had always been my job, but wouldn't that be a conflict? That would have been something I should have thought about twice.

"We've either walked into a double standard where it wasn't OK before but it's OK now, or Las Vegas has lost sight of the fact that the office of mayor is an honor and you don't use it to promote yourself or your family or a business -- you use it to promote the people of Las Vegas," Jones said.