Goodman changes mind on policy

Sito Negron

Monday, May 17, 2004 | 9:35 a.m.

The self-proclaimed Happiest Mayor in the Land has changed his mind.

Only a day after he promised to avoid future commerical pitches, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman reversed course and said he may back changing a city policy that limits support for commercial efforts.

When Goodman stood before the state Commission on Ethics Thursday, he told commissioners that "there would be no more commercialism" of the type that led to a charge that he improperly used city resources to help promote his gin contract, which brought $50,000 to the city.

However, the commission ruled the gin contract within the bounds of ethics rules. Commissioners also threw out two other charges, and although they found him guilty of using his office to help his son's business, they decided he didn't do it on purpose, and declined to levy a fine.

Friday, Goodman said he considered the ruling a victory, which, combined with one commissioner's comments in support of the gin contract, led him to change his mind about his statement that there would be no more commercialism.

"I made my statement before I heard the ethics commissioner make his statement and I tend to agree with him more than I agree with me," Goodman said Friday. "I've been reflecting on that. I think there's nothing wrong with that (commercialism) as long as it's done tastefully."

The gin contract examination focused on whether it was proper to have the city's Communications Department tape "The World's Largest Happy Hour," a promotional event to announce the mayor's sponsorship of a brand of liquor distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits. Staff members from the department produced a video news release of the event and sent it to media outlets around the country.

Because the contract brought $50,000 to the city, commissioners found there was enough of a connection to city business to warrant the use of staff time.

However, one of the pieces of evidence in the discussion was a Communications Department policy that forbids employees from using city resources to promote commercial products.

Goodman said Friday that the city "may have to change the policy and delete that portion that says we can't have any kind of commercialization."

City Manager Doug Selby said "there can be a degree of commercialism that benefits the city in regards to certain events. ... But we have to be careful."

He said the policy "needs to be reviewed in the context of what really happens, where there is some consideration for an aspect of commercial activity associated with a city event."

Goodman on Friday also addressed his celebrity apart from being mayor. He said he does not try to separate his persona as a bombastic former mob lawyer from his elected office.

"I incorporate," he said. "I don't apologize in defending people's constitutional rights. The only difference right now is I only have one client, and that's the city."

Goodman said he has "no private life, other than, maybe on Sunday morning before I go out. When you're the mayor of the city of Las Vegas you're the mayor all the time, 24-7. ... This is not work for me, this is all fun. The hours are long, but I just love every second of being the mayor."

Goodman consistently refers to running the city, which is chartered as a "city-manager" form of government. That means that the city manager is the chief executive and runs the city, and the mayor and council constitute a governing board that creates policy.

Some cities have a "strong mayor" form of government, in which the mayor is the chief executive.

When asked whether he has, in effect, become a "strong mayor," Goodman said that "publicly they (city staff) may defer to me that way, but the city is run day to day by the manager. I am not a guy who likes administration, that is not my strong suit."

Goodman said he is "doing my thing. I didn't read any book on what the mayor is supposed to do. I'm doing it the way I want to do."

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, ethics professor Craig Walton said that type of statement is vintage Goodman.

Walton said that attitude "has a couple consequences, and one of them seems to be there's nobody to say 'Hold on a second.' ... so where are the checks and balances?"