Editorial: The ‘happiest mayor’ needs to sober up

Thursday, March 3, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has hit rock bottom with his drinking and arrogance. The way the mayor associates his name with gin to develop a "colorful" personality has always been distasteful. But Goodman sank as low as it gets Monday.

Participating in "Nevada Reading Week," Goodman responded to questions from 8- and 9-year-olds at Mackey Elementary School. One child asked what the mayor would like to have with him on a desert island. "A bottle of gin," Goodman answered. Another child asked him to name his hobbies. The mayor included drinking. School officials said that any teacher saying such things would be disciplined. Goodman, whose favorite line is that he's the "happiest mayor" in the world, arrogantly laughed it off. "I'm the George Washington of mayors," he said. "I cannot tell a lie. If they didn't want the answer, the kid shouldn't have asked the question. It's me, what can I do?"

For starters, and before something like this happens again, the mayor should consider professional help. For him to boast of the merits of drinking before impressionable children, when teachers and parents are doing everything they can to save them from life-threatening addictions, is unconscionable. Goodman has done some good things for Las Vegas, but his constant references to his drinking are no longer cute -- they're harmful.