LOOKING IN ON: CITY HALL

Sunday, July 22, 2007 | 1:17 a.m.

At times, words spoken can be words misunderstood.

During his weekly news conference last week, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's fiery self fell upon a messenger, in this case a TV reporter who asked for his thoughts on people who don't like the $9.5 billion downtown arena/condo/casino proposal.

The proposal is from Real Estate Interests Group Inc., of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., which has formed REI Neon LLC to handle the project. If all goes according to plan, REI Neon spokesmen said the arena could open by the fall of 2010.

But the project overshadows part of downtown's Arts District, which grew in prominence after it formed First Friday - a once-a-month party/walking tour of galleries.

As an olive branch, REI has offered to give the Arts District 2 percent of its accrued taxes, unpaid taxes owed based upon earned income or a property value assessment.

The developers also have altered preliminary designs to push the arena back from the intersection of Main Street and Charleston Boulevard, so the 22,000-seat facility doesn't cloak the area in shadows.

Still, some people are leery.

So the reporter asked about that and the mayor fired back.

"There's no reason to get upset yet," he began. "Right now, the way I look at it, $9.5 billion is being proposed for an area that stinks. For an area ... that doesn't have any life or vibrancy but for perhaps one day - First Friday. Occasionally some intellectuals get lost and wander into one of the art galleries.

"This would have people down there every single night in an area, and if artists put down their art work, they have a shot at it getting sold ... I don't want to hear anybody complaining about this, not yet."

"But they are," the reporter said.

"Well, that's tough!"

And where did the words get misunderstood? By other reporters, who couldn't hold back belly laughs at the mayor's vitriol, whether it was real or just show time.

At the same news conference, Goodman spoke about research on an ordinance to do something about day workers who stand by Home Depots or plant nurseries offering their services to do-it-yourselfers.

The workers are a bother to the businesses and some customers, the mayor said. They can be intimidating, and have been known to urinate in public, Goodman added.

But when pressed by reporters if this was an unfair attack on people who simply want to work, the mayor softened a bit.

Accusations are sometimes heard, Goodman said, that day workers are hired but never paid, and that a permit would allow the workers to identify for authorities the people who hired them.

By the end of all the questions, Goodman appeared almost sorry for bringing it up, repeating that the issue still is just being researched.

A day earlier, when Goodman presided over the City Council, he took umbrage at Clark County's proposed formula for doling out room taxes to local municipalities.

Under the formula, Las Vegas would receive $2.4 million less in 2012 than under the current formula.

As the mayor ended his comments, he jokingly admonished the City Council members to make sure not to get indicted.

There was no question about what Goodman was referring to, given the 2 1/2-year sentence given to former Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny last week - and to whom his comments were directed.