Oscar’s mailer: City business or politics?

By Delen Goldberg

Thursday, May 19, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Every resident and business in Las Vegas received a glossy blue mailer last week extolling the successes of Mayor Oscar Goodman’s administration — cutting administrative bloat, winning union concessions, protecting emergency services.

“We’ve been listening to you as we work to keep the city financially strong, while trying to maintain as many services to you as possible,” stated the flier signed by Goodman and City Manager Elizabeth Fretwell.

About 225,000 copies went out, and the city footed the $49,000 bill. City officials said they sent the mailers to keep residents in the loop in advance of a city budget hearing. Large print warned: “This is not a political mailer.”

But Goodman’s critics call it exactly that.

Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who is running against first lady Carolyn Goodman for mayor, accused Oscar Goodman of using the mailer to promote his family’s brand and help get his wife elected.

Early voting in the mayoral race begins Saturday. Election Day is June 7. The city sent the mailers out Wednesday.

“Sending this by U.S. mail three weeks before the election isn’t ethical, it could be illegal, and it is certainly a waste of the very tax dollars (Goodman) says he’s trying to save,” said Gary Gray, Giunchigliani’s campaign manager and husband.

Political observers say they can’t remember the last time the city distributed such a mailer.

Oscar Goodman argues the flier is just good government. “The letter is the way we do business in the city,” he said. “We’re an open, transparent government. It was an honest letter.”

The mayor has tried to keep his wife’s campaign separate from his official duties since she announced her candidacy in February. At his weekly mayoral news conference, he brushes off questions about her campaign, saying little more than that he supports her.

Still, many accuse Goodman of using his office and influence to help Carolyn Goodman win. The mayor attends fundraisers for his wife, makes calls on her behalf soliciting donations and attends constituent meet-and-greets with her. His supporters have been instructed to become her supporters. Carolyn Goodman calls the mayor immediately after most events (if he’s not there) to debrief him, and once during a debate, Oscar Goodman shouted an answer to his wife.

Oscar Goodman insists that when he is campaigning, it is as a husband, not the mayor. “When I make my phone calls, I say ‘it’s Oscar calling,’ ” he said.

The pair have been married for decades and are each other’s closest advisers. That makes it hard to distinguish whether Oscar truly is a helpful husband who happens to be mayor, or a mayor who’s actively working to get his wife elected.

Carolyn Goodman has described her husband as a resource for her campaign and said continuing his legacy is her top priority. That invited, in part, the criticism about the city flier. It’s easier to view the mailer as political when it touts the mayor’s achievements while his wife’s main campaign platform is continuing them.

Oscar Goodman and city spokesman David Riggleman said the mayor played no role in creating the mailer; they said the city manager’s office designed it.

“It was a follow-up letting people know the budget hearings were coming,” Riggleman said.

Last year, the city advertised its budget hearing with a $15,000 newspaper ad. Riggleman said they shifted their approach — and tripled the budget — to reach more people.

“We thought it might be more effective to do something that touched every household,” Riggleman said. “We weren’t sure if everyone saw (the newspaper ad).”

Gray didn’t buy it. “There’s more information on that flier about Las Vegas than Carolyn Goodman has told voters this whole campaign,” he said. “But why bother to debate if the city will do your work for you?”

Gray was referring to the fact that Goodman has declined to participate in several debates. Giunchigliani’s campaign says it is because she has no real understanding of the issues.

Critics also point out that Oscar Goodman has previously been accused of using his city position to help family members.

In 2004, he was charged with eight ethics violations based on gifts he received and events he promoted. Goodman came under fire for using city resources to purchase and produce videotapes of appearances he made on TV and during endorsement events, some of which were later used to promote a business owned by his son, Ross Goodman.

A few of the ethics charges stemmed from the fact that Goodman hosted a cocktail party for Ross’ company, allowed his mayoral title to be used on the invitation, personally handed out some invitations and appeared as a featured politician in his son’s marketing materials.

Goodman also came under investigation for giving $50,000 from an endorsement check he received from Bombay Sapphire gin to Carolyn Goodman’s private Meadows School.

Review-Journal columnist Steve Sebelius at the time observed that Goodman had “turned an entire department of city government into his own personal public relations agency.”

Later the same year, Metro Police investigated a downtown land dispute in which Goodman was accused of granting Ross access to insider information about downtown redevelopment zones.

Goodman was eventually cleared of all charges.