Letter: Mayor’s leadership is ahead of its time

Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007 | 1:22 a.m.

It is unfortunate that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, an all too rare political leader who actually leads by expressing a vision for positive change, is so unfairly attacked by your paper and columnists Bob Herbert of the New York Times and Jon Ralston.

Your paper, and Messrs. Ralston and Herbert, cite the detestable exploitation of women, abuse of minors and human trafficking associated with the sex trade in lambasting Mayor Goodman's proposal to have legal brothels in Las Vegas.

Neither Mayor Goodman nor any other advocate (or person open to the idea) of legalizing the sex trade supports such atrocities. Yet it is precisely because such conduct occurs, and is not going to be stopped by the continued criminalization of the sex trade, that Mayor Goodman's proposal is so worthy of consideration.

Taking the sex trade out of the shadows, having it safely regulated, and having law enforcement root out the exploitation of minors and human trafficking, would do far more to champion and advance the rights of women (and eliminate the pimps and predators who prey on sex workers).

Taking issue with the mayor's taste (his repeated public displays of affection for gin, his appearances with showgirls, etc.) should not distract from serious consideration of his most intelligent proposal. His vision is like that of Nevada itself when it acquired an almost pariah status by legalizing gambling in the 1930s, an activity now viewed as perfectly acceptable (and legal) in almost every community in the United States.

Leon Greenberg, Las Vegas