Las Vegas Set to Take Its Chances on Next Mayor

Some political observers and Chamber of Commerce boosters thought this city would turn away from its notorious and colorful past this year to choose a mainstream politician as its mayor.

But Las Vegas was born to defy convention. On Tuesday, if public opinion polls are accurate, voters will elect as their mayor Oscar B. Goodman, a lawyer who has spent much of his career keeping notorious mobsters out of jail. What was once regarded as a sideshow candidacy has become a juggernaut, with Goodman holding leads of 19% and more in various polls as he heads into a runoff election against City Councilman Arnie Adamsen.

Goodman’s quick wit, candor and pledge to make developers pay for more civic improvements appear to have captured the imagination of voters in the nation’s fastest-growing city.

The silver-bearded attorney fell just 277 votes short of taking the election in a May primary. Since then, voters have seemed to shrug off his opponent’s repeated warnings that the city will be turning back the clock if it elects Goodman.

“Las Vegas is a novelty for a lot of people. They come here to live or get away from their mundane lives,” said John Miller, 56, who operates a downtown men’s clothing store. “And if a gangster lawyer becomes the mayor, well, all the better.”

Indeed, 69% of voters in a poll published last week by the Las Vegas Review-Journal said Goodman’s colorful client roster--which once included mob financial genius Meyer Lansky and reputed enforcer Anthony “Tony the Ant” Spilotro--will not hurt the city’s image.

“I think it will just redouble people’s interest in coming here, because of the myth of the mob and Bugsy Siegel,” said Howard Bock, owner of a pawn shop and other small businesses. “There is a sort of romance and intrigue to all that, not a repulsion.”

The door to the city’s top office was suddenly thrown wide open this spring, when popular Mayor Jan Jones announced that she would not seek a third term. Not long after that, another top contender dropped out because of a heart condition.

Goodman, 59, suddenly had an opportunity to act on the political aspirations he had been harboring for years.

In the May primary, Goodman’s well-recognized name, fund-raising ability and outspokenness proved a winning combination over eight opponents who were either too obscure or too connected to a Las Vegas establishment that is blamed for the city’s crowding and urban decay.

Goodman struck a populist note by promising to make someone else pay to fix those problems: developers. He said he will impose “impact fees” of $2,000 for each new home built and use the money to improve streets and help restore the city’s tired downtown.

Polls show that the idea is overwhelmingly popular, though the fees can’t be put in place without rewriting state law. And the Legislature, which convenes every other year, does not meet again until 2001.

Some Weighty Endorsements

Never mind the practical details. Goodman’s popularity only increased after last month’s primary. Campaign contributions soared. The community’s powerful casinos, including the Mirage, Circus Circus (owner of the new Mandalay Bay) and others, threw most of their weight behind Goodman. Endorsements by the former U.S. attorney for Nevada and the former head of the region’s organized crime task force helped squelch any lingering fears that Goodman’s old clients might have undue influence at City Hall.

With Goodman and Adamsen each spending more than $1 million, the race is easily the most expensive in the city’s history.

Adamsen, an executive with a title company, has appeared sincere and well meaning. But his pronouncements on city policy seem gray and professorial next to Goodman’s quips and easy manner.

While Goodman had enough money to air television ads every day since the primary, Adamsen was essentially tapped out and off the air. Some residents said in interviews that the councilman’s negative ads about Goodman and his mob clients only turned them off anyway.

Adamsen’s difficulties continued in the closing days of the campaign, when the powerful Culinary Workers Union backed away from an earlier pledge to walk precincts for him. By the time Adamsen released a poll claiming that nearly one-third of Southern Californians would be less likely to visit Las Vegas under a Goodman mayoralty, no one seemed to take it seriously.

“The other candidates didn’t define themselves and didn’t do anything to make people not want to take the risk with Oscar,” said outgoing Mayor Jones, who plans to work as a consultant to the gambling industry and others.

Adamsen, 49, said his phone banks give him reason for hope. “We could still win or it could be a landslide for Oscar Goodman,” he said. “It remains to be seen.”

Even the ebullient Goodman has declined to predict victory, saying he will keep running “like I’m 100 points behind.”

Those who predicted that Las Vegas would walk a straight and narrow political path might have felt differently if they had attended last week’s going-away party for Jones. Amid a stream of off-color jokes, speakers praised Jones not only for her leadership, but also for her sex appeal. The audience then watched a video of Jones in the days when she was a television pitch woman for her husband’s car dealerships. A female impersonator was master of ceremonies.

U.S. Sen. Richard H. Bryan (D-Nevada), who attended the event, said Goodman is prepared to keep his new audience on its toes.

“This is not a city of pastel colors,” Bryan said. “People in Las Vegas have come to expect a little pizazz and zip from their mayor, even something a little outrageous. . . . Oscar can provide that. He doesn’t need a personality transplant.”