John Katsilometes gives a State of the Mayor address after a trip to an Indian restaurant on Paradise Road

Thursday, April 12, 2007 | 7:30 a.m.

The scene was typical except that it wasn't: Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, at arm's distance from a martini placed on a bar, surrounded by ... hardly anyone.

The mayor stopped in for a spell at the one-year anniversary party at one of the city's hidden gems, Origin India at Harmon Avenue and Paradise Road, where the restaurant shares a strip mall with such businesses as a CVS Pharmacy and Leonard's Wide Shoes. For a few minutes the mayor found himself in an odd spot, unoccupied by well-wishers, so he had time for a few nuggets about his recent reelection.

"I have never run a race I couldn't win," he said. "My first campaign, I ran against my record as a mob lawyer (he also ran against an opponent, Arnie Adamsen, whom he trounced 64 percent to 36 percent). The second campaign, I ran on my record. This time ... I don't even know who my opponents were."

Goodman also laughed about something his wife, Carolyn Goodman, recently told him: "Only fish who open their mouths get caught." But the mayor remained characteristically freewheeling while toasting Origin India's anniversary. Speaking into a microphone, Goodman noted that the restaurant is actually in unincorporated Clark County. To see Las Vegas, he said, you need to go to Paradise Road and Sahara Avenue, where you will see a billboard featuring a woman offering to come to your room.

"I don't know what she does when she gets to your room," Goodman said, "but that is my Las Vegas."

NoteMart

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