Goodman nemesis was thorn in the side of Washoe officials

Mark Hansel, Las Vegas Sun

Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

The gadfly who was removed from a Las Vegas City Council meeting last month has a history of disruptive behavior at local government meetings.

Mayor Oscar Goodman shut off Al Hesson's microphone at the Dec. 20 meeting, after Hesson referred to the showgirls who frequently appear with the mayor at local events as bimbos. Goodman then ordered him removed when Hesson continued to rant from his seat in the council chambers, at which time Hesson unleashed an anti-Semitic tirade against the mayor.

Hesson returned to the council Wednesday and made more vitriolic comments, referring to council members as dwarfs and suggesting Goodman and Councilman Steve Wolfson, both lawyers, slept through some of their law classes and got their law degrees online.

Hesson's antics are nothing new to government officials in the Reno area, where he lived before moving to Las Vegas a few months ago.

In November 2005, Washoe County Commissioner Bonnie Weber secured a restraining order against Hesson after a disturbance at a commission meeting there. Witnesses say Hesson and Commissioner David Humke almost came to blows at the same meeting, and Humke had to be restrained by sheriff's deputies.

"Humke went after him," said Gary Schmidt, a community activist who attended the meeting.

After the deputies intervened, Schmidt said, Humke "called Hesson outside" to settle the matter.

The dispute began when Weber recessed the meeting and had Hesson removed over what she called personal attacks by Hesson against commissioners.

In Washoe County, a commissioner can halt a meeting if they consider the speech of a citizen objectionable.

Hesson then confronted Weber as she was leaving the meeting, at which point Humke intervened.

Weber subsequently requested a restraining order, which was granted despite complaints from Hesson that it restricted his First Amendment rights.

Hesson's actions in Las Vegas bear a striking similarity to those in Reno. Schmidt said it was not uncommon for the purpose of Hesson's message to be overshadowed by his personal attacks.

"He has received significant recognition here for his advocacy and dealing with the homeless," Schmidt said. But Hesson's penchant for engaging in insults tended to diminish the effectiveness of his message, Schmidt said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, which supported Hesson's right to speak in Washoe County, has taken a similar position on his appearances before the Las Vegas City Council.

"Clearly, in our view, unless someone disrupts a meeting or their comments are off topic, hurt feelings should not trump the right to public comment," said Allen Lichtenstein, attorney for the ACLU of Nevada.

The ACLU is not in favor of personal attacks, Lichtenstein says, but when dealing with political issues, rhetoric can get heated and that's the price we pay for an open democracy.

Hesson's insults may have escalated to threats when, after last month's council meeting, he sent a letter to Goodman and the council members saying he was going to slice Goodman up and serve him up at a local homeless shelter.

City officials took the letter seriously enough to send city marshals to Hesson's home asking for an explanation of the comments.

Hesson said the intention of the letter was to suggest he would slice the mayor up with words. Hesson said he considered the visit from marshals an intimidation tactic and said he would continue to speak at council meetings.