Mayor may form PAC to help promote Las Vegas

Dan Kulin

Friday, March 11, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is looking into establishing a political action committee that he says would not be used to support any political cause or candidate but instead to fund activities that support and promote Las Vegas, at least initially.

Goodman said former Sen. Richard Bryan is reviewing the feasibility of creating what the mayor called "OPAC," which he said would be "a PAC to support Las Vegas."

He said eventually he may consider donating money from the political action committee, if it is created, to candidates. But he said that would only happen with the consent of the donors.

But if a nonprofit organization instead of a political action committee is the proper legal entity to create for the mayor's purposes, Goodman said he would still try to establish the account and forego the potential political uses of the funds.

Goodman said he could not talk about the details of how such a fund would be set up at this time but said he envisions a fund that he could use to give donations to other cities or needy causes. For example, Goodman said if he had such a fund he could give money to Las Vegas residents whose homes were damaged in floods, or contribute to the relief effort for the victims of the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia.

The fund could also be used to pay for trips, such as a 10-city tour planned for next month to promote Las Vegas' centennial. The Centennial Committee is expected to foot the bill for that trip, but Goodman said his OPAC (Oscar's political action committee) could pay for the trip instead if it is up and running in time.

"There's a lot of people who want to give money to the mayor," Goodman said.

Billy Vassiliadis, a political consultant whose company R&R Partners is the ad agency for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said he's not sure a political action committee is the correct vehicle for what Goodman is describing because it would not start with a political bent.

But Vassiliadis said Goodman's efforts are certainly welcome.

"Oscar has been tremendously collaborative and cooperative with marketing the LVCVA," Vassiliadis said about Goodman, who is currently chairman of the LVCVA.

"He's taken his role as the city's leading tourism promoter very seriously, so if he is looking to do more of that and get some private money, too, then God bless him."

Goodman has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor in 2006 and will not rule out such a run, although whenever questioned about potential candidacy for governor he says he is the happiest mayor in the world.

Vassiliadis said that if Goodman launched the political action committee he is describing, Vassiliadis said he doesn't think the political action committee would be used for anything other than as the promotional tool Goodman described.

"If he has expressed his stated purpose is for X then it's highly unlikely it would be used for Y," Vassiliadis said. "It might not be a legal issue but it would be a perceptual issue and a political issue."

Steve George, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said state laws do not require a political action committee be political. There are no limits on donations to a political action committee, but political action committees must follow the same limits on how much they can contribute to candidates, which is $5,000 per election. Primary and general elections are considered separate elections.