A Big Deal Over So Little ($)

Yesterday, a very special guest appeared at Casa Don Juan in Downtown Las Vegas. Vice President Joe Biden stopped by to host a roundtable discussion on raising the minimum wage. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas), Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I), and local business owners joined Vice President Biden at Casa Don Juan.

The Vice President received some tough questions yesterday, including one on the economic impact this would have on small businesses. Here's how he responded.



And he's actually quite far from alone. According to a CareerBuilder national survey released late last month, 55% of hiring managers support raising the federal minimum wage to at least $10 an hour (while another 30% want it raised above $8 an hour). This falls in line with a July Lake Research poll showing 61% of small business owners support a $10.10 national minimum wage. And that came after a March Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll showing 57% of small business owners support a $10.10 minimum wage.

So yes, even those in charge of hiring understand the need for a fairer and more livable minimum wage. And why not? They're on the economic front line. They realize how much we're losing by allowing so many people to fall between the cracks and into unnecessary poverty.

Yesterday, the usual "TEA" powered suspects were mocking Vice President Biden's message at Casa Don Juan. Have they tried living on minimum wage level earnings? Have they met the hard working Americans who are struggling to make ends meet on poverty level income? Have they even visited the states that have recently raised the minimum wage and are actually experiencing improved job growth?

Our guess is no. After all, it's so much easier to take political pot shots than to examine the actual policy. It's so much easier to pontificate about "economic philosophy" than to produce actual policies to solve our growing inequality crisis.

Who knew there could be such a huge fight over so little?

The (#MLS2LV) Show Will Go On

Last month, we were treated to "visions of stadium splendor". All of a sudden, a Downtown soccer stadium became the magic elixir that could somehow catapult Las Vegas into nirvana...

Until reality set in. And then, all of a sudden, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman's (I) MLS dreams came crashing down. Once independent experts started poking through the Cordish-Findlay stadium proposal, they found some nasty red alarms. So Mayor Goodman, Cordish, and Findlay announced a new plan.



But is the new plan enough to assuage Las Vegas City Council Members and Las Vegas residents who have been worried about the city being left with the short end of the stick while Cordish & Findlay laugh all the way to the bank (with all those taxpayer provided subsidies)?



Just might it... If it includes $250 million worth of "Downtown investment"?

Maybe. The Las Vegas City Council just voted 6-1 to grant another 2 month extension to Cordish & Findlay. Apparently, the promise to "enhance Symphony Park" is worth both $250 million and a 2 month extension.

However, this just takes us back to the fundamental question at hand. If Cordish can afford $250 million to "enhance Symphony Park", why are Cordish executives and Justin Findlay still demanding public subsidies? Oh, yes. That's right. Their "profit margins are too thin" without public funding.

Last we checked, Cordish & Findlay are still demanding a $3 million per year annual subsidy from the City of Las Vegas. And last we checked, Council Member Lois Tarkanian (D) has promised to vote against any stadium proposal involving any public subsidies.

So what's it going to be? Will Cordish & Findlay finally drop their demands for the City of Las Vegas to essentially pay them to build a soccer stadium on city land? Or will they try yet another scheme to try to flip Council Member Tarkanian's vote? All we know now is that this show will go on to December.

Visions of Stadium Splendor

Uh oh. Maybe no goal?

In recent weeks, Las Vegas City Hall has been heating up as speculation has been ramping up over a proposed soccer stadium Downtown. Findlay Sports & Entertainment and The Cordish Companies have been hyping the cache of a prestigious sports stadium in the heart of "The Entertainment Capital of the World". Yet while they and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) have been hyping the razzle-dazzle of this stadium, others have been asking the tough questions. How many will actually attend games here? What are the real revenue projections? And how much will Las Vegas taxpayers have to pay for this?



Now, we know Cordish wants $3 million per year from the City of Las Vegas in addition to all the other subsidies Cordish & Findlay are demanding from city government (such as the ~$130 million they want the city to chip into stadium construction). That money would come from hotel tax revenues. Mayor Carolyn Goodman actually admitted it earlier this month on his show, even as she was claiming room tax revenue "isn't tax dollars, it's tourist dollars".

Last night, Las Vegas Council Member Lois Tarkanian (D) told Jon Ralston she would not vote for the Cordish-Findlay Stadium if the vote was today. She mentioned the issue of those hotel room tax revenues, and in particular how those room tax funds are used to maintain Las Vegas city parks. Council Members Bob Beers (R) and Bob Coffin (D) have already been sounding the alarms on this, and Tarkanian added that the city is just about to finish repaying bonds for parks in Northwest Las Vegas.



And the City of Las Vegas just recently raised user fees for youth sports leagues to use city parks. So how much will Las Vegas residents actually have to pay for this stadium?

Las Vegas isn't the only municipal company chasing after a MLS team. And when we look at the history other sports stadium subsidy deals, the outlook turns from merely very concerning to downright frightening.



Look, we're not against soccer. Far from it. And no, Mayor Goodman, we're not all just "naysayers". We're realists. And all we're asking for are the real numbers behind this stadium proposal.

We can see why Cordish won't talk to anyone and Findlay only agrees to "happy talk". However, Las Vegas city officials don't answer to Cordish and Findlay. They answer to Las Vegas residents. So they should not be afraid to drop the spin and start talking about the reality behind these visions of stadium splendor.

Goal?

Last night, the City of Las Vegas held its first of a series of six community town hall meetings at Centennial Hills Community Center. Why? Well... Goal!

Or at least, Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) and some City Council Members are hoping they're about to hit a big goal with a proposed Downtown soccer stadium. However, not everyone seems to be sold on this. Las Vegas city officials looked ready to give a "pep talk", but a number of residents were ready to grill officials over the numbers behind this grandiose proposal.



Las Vegas city taxpayers are being asked to chip in nearly $130 million towards the estimated $410 million price tag for the new stadium. A number of financial experts are now stepping forward to explain the many risks the city will take if it decides to partially subsidize The Cordish Companies' and Findlay Sports & Entertainment's desired Downtown stadium. After all, the city will ultimately be on the hook for at least $82 million even if the stadium succeeds in attracting a well performing Major League Soccer (MLS) team and selling out plenty of games... And that's still a major if.

Over the years, Dr. Judith Grant Long has been crunching the numbers on the public costs of "public-private partnership" sports stadiums. She's revealed the hidden costs of these stadium deals, such as "free land", lease discounts, and tax exemptions. Yet so far, the City of Las Vegas isn't noting any of these costs in its "financial analysis" of the stadium plan.

In 2012, Bloomberg News revealed that Americans had spent $4 billion subsidizing sports stadiums since 1986. And what have we received in turn? Oh, about $10 billion in additional costs while sports team owners laugh all the way to the bank.

There are plenty of good reasons for Las Vegas city residents to be skeptical about this latest stadium proposal. Remember when the City of Henderson ran into trouble over a stadium plan that Chris Milam was never going to get off the ground? While the Cordish-Findlay Las Vegas soccer stadium plan doesn't approach that level of fraud (or at least, not yet), there are already a number of warning signs on the high costs the City of Las Vegas will have to incur for it. And so far, there's little evidence suggesting this stadium will actually "pay for itself". After all, no publically subsidized stadium ever truly has.

Perhaps now that Tesla scored the sweetheart deal of a lifetime from the State of Nevada, Cordish & Findlay now want in on the corporate welfare gravy train. What exactly is the goal of Mayor Goodman and the stadium cheerleaders? That's the key question that City Council Members and Las Vegas city residents must ask at the upcoming town halls.

New Center... & New Beginnings

On Saturday, The Center (for Southern Nevada's LGBTQ community) celebrated the grand opening of the Bob Forbuss Building in Downtown Las Vegas. Not only is it the new headquarters for The Center, but it also injects some new life into another Downtown Las Vegas neighborhood. That's why the courtyard filled up with people from throughout the community to witness the star-studded ribbon cutting.

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and City Council Member Bob Coffin (whose district includes The Center) attended. And they gave some fairly brief remarks before the ribbon cutting. In Coffin's speech, he gave a very full-throated endorsement of LGBTQ equality. He's even hoping there will one day be weddings at The Center!









Also attending on Saturday were Rep. Dina Titus (D-Paradise) and Former Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Las Vegas). Both have long records of supporting Nevada's LGBTQ families. And The Center is now just around the corner from Dina Titus' new district office. Titus talked for a few minutes about her history HERstory with the local LGBTQ community, and about the fabulous new addition to Downtown Las Vegas. Oh, and she also sounded hopeful about SJR 13's passage and marriage equality coming to Nevada.







Even several state lawmakers headed down from Carson City for the grand opening. State Senator (and Center board member) David Parks (D-Paradise), Senator Pat Spearman (D-North Las Vegas), and Assembly Member James Healey (D-Enterprise) all pitched in for the ribbon cutting. And James Healey now has a meeting room named after him!

As mentioned above, there was a healthy crowd outside. Yet when they moved inside, they were stunned by the interior. Thanks to the support of many corporate, foundation, and other community sponsors, The Center now has a cafe inside, along with several meeting rooms (big and small!), a recreation center, staff work space, and even a new area designated just for testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS and other STDs.

It was amazing to see the outpouring of support for The Center and Southern Nevada's LGBTQ community on Saturday. Not too long ago, something like this would have been considered unimaginable. Yet it happened on Saturday.

And now, The Center has a new home to serve the larger community. And Downtown Las Vegas has a new landmark. Hopefully, this will be the start of something amazing.

What a Fool Believes: Is "Tea Party" Showing Double Standard for McDonald?

The Nevada GOP has taken quite a few hits this week over the election of former Las Vegas City Council Member Michael McDonald as its new Chairman. And I'm not the only one talking. Ralston had this to say.

I want all of you — especially Gov. Sandoval, Sen. Heller and Rep. Joe Heck — to imagine it is October. CNN is here. Fox and MSNBC, too. You turn on your TV to hear, “Joining us now, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, Michael McDonald.”

Do you:

A. Pray

B. Hold your breath

C. Both

As the Nevada Policy Research Institute said in a screed Tuesday: “You just can’t make this stuff up.” The conservative think tank was referring to McDonald’s latest juice job at City Hall, with NPRI correctly pointing out that McDonald has a pattern of questionable conduct. Indeed, McDonald almost was thrown out of office 11 years ago after the state Ethics Commission found “his loyalty to his employer motivated him to assist (his private sector boss) in attempting to overcome a difficult financial situation by using access to staff and other members of the City Council (which an ordinary member of the public would not have) and lobbying them to take action which would benefit (his boss) and, therefore, himself. ... There was absolutely no evidence that the action Councilman McDonald was advocating ... was a good economic deal for the City of Las Vegas and in the public’s interest.”

Some things don’t change. The ex-councilman’s history neuters him when it comes to assailing Democrats on anything. McDonald is not just a flawed messenger; he is a fatally flawed messenger.

Maybe Michael McDonald is right in arguing that no one will pay any attention to him, that he will unify the party and that he will lead the GOP to smashing victories in November. Or maybe, as Michael McDonald also once said, that’s what a fool believes.

But perhaps the most searing indictment of the Nevada GOP for this move comes from one of its own, Orrin Johnson, who had this to say about his party's new leader.

Taken in the kindest possible light, new GOP Chair Michael McDonald’s past and current “property development” activities proves that he’s all for government-forced redistribution of wealth. A more honest assessment would be that he’s all about brazenly using positions of political power to enrich himself and/or his friends at taxpayer expense to the tune of millions of dollars.

Either way, he’s EVERYTHING the Tea Party Movement – and conservatism generally – is supposed to be against. And yet he was elected supposedly as the tea party, anti-establishment, “true conservative” option to chair the Nevada Republican Party. How did this happen?

The Nevada State GOP began hemorrhaging credibility back in October. With McDonald’s election, they’ve officially eliminated it completely. This will end badly for the state party, and for any politician stupid enough to get to close to Mr. McDonald. When it does, I just hope there are enough Republicans left untainted by this to save the conservative movement from total irrelevance for the foreseeable future.

Again, that's from a Republican! And hey, I at least have to give both Orrin Johnson and NPRI some credit in calling out their own.

However, do you remember the last time some "tea party" Republicans called out one of their own? Come on now, you must. It was only in February when none other than Chuck Muth took down Elizabeth Halseth and her political career by airing her dirty laundry. It was quite the sight to behold, since earlier that year he honored her as one of his "true conservative" stars.

Now as I said in February, Halseth made her dirty laundry into a legitimate problem by fleeing the state and her duties as a Nevada Legislator over it. And it only made things worse that she campaigned on "moral values" while failing to practice what she preached.

Back then, I gave Chuck Muth kudos for being honest about a politician he once backed. So why won't he do the same now? He's been a relentless cheerleader for Michael McDonald despite his sleazy "land deals cum bailouts" and "G-Sting" history. In fact, he's now attacking Orrin Johnson for simply pointing out the obvious! So Elizabeth Halseth was in the wrong for letting her affair with Tiger Helgelien get in the way of her public duty, but it's perfectly OK for newly elected Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald to cheat Las Vegas taxpayers and still refuse to apologize for his role in "G-Sting"?

And folks wonder why Nevada Republicans always seem to be in trouble?

Sorry, but this looks to me like a double standard. If Elizabeth Halseth had to face consequences for her ethical lapses, then so should Michael McDonald. I'm just perplexed as to why Chuck Muth can't see what all the rest of us see, especially since McDonald's line of "business" flies in the face of what the "tea party" is supposed to be about.

Oh, what a fool believes...

Election Liveblog #2: Bob Beers Wins Las Vegas Ward 2 Special (Updated)

OK, so we had the Illinois G-O-TEA train wreck covered. Now it's time to come back to Nevada and see what's happening in our own backyard. Here are the first results for Las Vegas Ward 2.

Precincts Reporting: 0 of 49 (0.00 %)

Candidate Graph Votes %/Total
Beers, Bob 942 36.29 %
Boyers, Roberta 46 1.77 %
Chinn, Bob 313 12.06 %
Gale, Bruce L. 37 1.43 %
Holmes, Sherese 27 1.04 %
Kuzemka, Kristine 340 13.10 %
Raja, F. 28 1.08 %
Ruggiero, Anthony 272 10.48 %
Truesdell, Ric 591 22.77 %
Total 2,596

As most pundits expected, Bob Beers has an early lead. His name recognition most certainly got him there... But will his lead remain this strong all night? We'll have to wait and see.

7:30 PM-

The R-J now has an article up on the early Ward 2 special election results. They interviewed some Las Vegas voters, and apparently found a mix of anti-Goodman sentiment, pro-Goodman sentiment... And even one voter for Kristine Kuzemka.

Whatever happens tonight, it will probably be used by the media as some sort of barometer measuring Mayor Carolyn Goodmans' hold on city hall and influence over city politics. If Bob Beers indeed wins, or if the results change dramatically in the coming hours to reveal some kind of stunning upset by one of "the underdogs", I'm sure at least a few local pundits will start to ask if perhaps Las Vegas is tiring of "government by celebrity glamour".

8:10 PM-

Was this Ric Truesdell's undoing? (Start at 14:00 on the video below.)



Jon Ralston seems to think so.

Team @bobbeers feels confident they won Election Day, too. If so, @RicTruesdellLV spent a fortune to get blown out. Results soon, I'd think.

And I am wondering if perhaps Truesdell's ethics tit-for-tat with Beers indeed dragged him down in the final days. I guess we'll just have to wait for the actual election day numbers to know for sure. I'll just say now that I won't be surprised if it turned out to be a factor.

However, the bigger factors in this election may have ultimately been Carolyn and Oscar. The former Mayor never seemed to handle criticism of his beloved Mob Museum well, and the current Mayor has been feeling the heat lately over that and the new Las Vegas City Hall.



Despite their delicate dance suggesting there was no actual endorsement, it was hard to actually deny that Ric Truesdell was indeed "The Good(man) Candidate". Most pundits had originally thought it would benefit him, and perhaps it did in raising his profile in Ward 2. However, that could have also led to blowback as angry voters found a way to take out their frustration over continued problems with local government, which would mainly be the favoring of certain pet projects over investing in necessary infrastructure to take care of the entire city. After all, how can one justify a city backed "mob museum" when roads have potholes, parks are closed, and police and fire protection have been cut back?

It still strikes me as bizarre that voters would send a "tea party" backed flame thrower to city hall, but then again weird things often happen in special elections.

Oh, and by the way, Bob Beers officially wins. Oh gawd, here he comes...

It's Election Night (Again)!

So it's time to live-blog again. We have another G-O-TEA Presidential Primary in Illinois, and we have a local election here in Southern Nevada. I'll be monitoring both tonight and posting both results & analysis of what's happening.

Stay tuned here at Nevada Progressive tonight as we live-blog the Illinois primary results and the Las Vegas Ward 2 special election.

5:15 PM-

Haven't we heard this before? Tonight is poised to be the night of Mittens' great comeback! Well, isn't it? Perhaps not, depending on Romney's performance in Illinois tonight.

Another scenario is possible, though, one that’s not as unlikely now as it was 24 hours ago – and for the Romney campaign, it’s the doomsday scenario. The key here is that Santorum didn’t just beat Romney in Mississippi and Alabama – he also knocked off Newt Gingrich, who has pitched himself as the South’s candidate. On the heels of his Oklahoma and Tennessee wins on Super Tuesday (and his Ohio near-miss), Santorum can now make a strong case for anti-Romney conservatives to ditch Gingrich once and for all and rally around him. This would give Santorum the one-on-one race with Romney that he’s craved, and how it would turn out is the great unknown.

Starting in the early days of this campaign, polls have shown potentially serious trouble for Romney if the conservative base ever united behind a single candidate. On a few occasions, like with Rick Perry’s late August surge or Gingrich’s in December, a single candidate actually managed to play this role, opening giant leads in national and key early state surveys and attaining polling heights that Romney has still yet to reach. But those candidates were horribly deficient and their surges were short-lived.

Santorum, though, is demonstrating more staying power — and Gingrich has been getting in his way. Without the former speaker in the race, the results wouldn’t have been close last night, nor would they have been in Tennessee and Oklahoma last week. And Santorum probably would have won Ohio, scored a clear win in Iowa and probably Georgia, and maybe pulled off South Carolina, and perhaps even Florida.

We may be arriving at the moment Romney and his campaign have feared for the entire campaign, when they can no longer benefit from a split conservative vote. Gingrich gave no hint in his speech last night that he’ll leave the race anytime soon. But he may be eliminated organically, if conservatives conclude that he’s exhausted his viability and that they’re better off lining up with Santorum. It might not matter if Gingrich presses ahead; if his support evaporates, Santorum will get his one-on-one race anyway.

So far, MSNBC is describing Illinois as "too early to call". This isn't a good sign for Mitt Romney. Some of the final pre-election polls suggested a blowout win for Romney, so anything less than that will probably set him back at least somewhat. And if somehow Mittens manages to bomb everywhere except Greater Chicago-land, it will just confirm his continued woes with the "tea party" base that just can't warm up to the guy who's supposed to be their "inevitable nominee".

Now, we just have to wait for this map to fill up so we can catch a first glimpse of the next stage of the G-O-TEA circus clown show.

5:28 PM-

And we have the first results. And interestingly enough, they're from The Windy City itself... Or at least somewhere in Cook County (which is home to Chicago and its most immediate suburbs), along with Lake County (home to wealthy Chicago suburbs). So far, Mitt Romney is comfortably ahead 54-29 over Rick Santorum. But remember, Chicago-land is where Mittens is expected to run up the score. We just have to wait and see what happens down state.

5:40 PM-

Some news outlets are now calling Illinois for Romney. It's looking likely he'll win tonight, as nearly everyone expected, but now we're all wondering how big (or small) the margin is. How well (or poorly) Romney wins will determine the media spin later tonight, as well as whether we'll hear louder calls for Santorum to drop out (and let Romney wrap up the nomination) or for Newt Gingrich to drop out (so Santorum can coalesce the hard-core teabagger opposition to Romney and deny him the nomination).

It's still quite possible that Romney can't ultimately get the 1,144 delegates needed to officially earn the GOP nomination. Now, it's just a matter of whether Mittens can push everyone else out soon... Or if everyone else pushes him out come Tampa.

5:50 PM-

Perhaps Team Mittens shouldn't pop out too much champagne tonight. So far in looking at the exit polls, I'm sensing Romney only wins Illinois tonight by about 6-8%. Yes, a win is a win is a win. And yes, Mittens will get the most delegates regardless (thanks to Santorum's campaign screwing up on delegate selection again). But again, he's only barely winning a state he was expected to coast to victory in not that long ago. And if he has to spend many millions of dollars just to squeak past a campaign so incompetent it's bleeding delegates all over the place, there's a serious problem in Republican-Land.

6:10 PM-

Funny enough, Rachel Maddow is explaining on MSNBC how Mittens may not be all that secure in his "delegate plan". Apparently, Illinois' GOP primary ballot is so damned long and complicated (in having folks vote for Presidential preference AND delegates, but also allowing them to do so separately) that Santorum, Gingrich, and/or Ron Paul may actually be able to "win" votes intended for Romney if voters don't vote for Romney delegates. YIKES!

But wait, there's more! Looking at the latest results, it looks like Romney is doing well in the closest-in Chicago-Land counties, as expected, but Santorum is starting to post leads in a few exurban Chicago area counties. Ruh-roh. And as many Romney boosters feared, Santorum is mostly cleaning up downstate.

And looking at the exit polls, we can see that Santorum actually WON late breaking voters. And yes, Santorum also won all those "conservative white working class" and "tea party" aligned demographic groups that Romney continues to struggle with. Oh yes, this contest will go on. Mittens can't celebrate "victory" just yet.

6:35 PM-

OK, let's get this out of the way. Rick Santorum is batshit crazy.

If his campaign can’t be defined by his stance on either contraception or unemployment, what’s the rationale for Santorum’s marathon and increasingly long-shot candidacy? Cheering on a Christian theocracy, and then quickly backpedaling, is as close as I can get. Dennis Terry’s hysterical remarks should be chilling to anyone who values religious freedom, on the right or left (watch it here). Watching Santorum standing and clapping for the bigot made it more clear than ever that he can never lead this nation. The fact that he later backtracked and (sort of) said he disagreed with Terry’s remarks doesn’t erase the fact that when he heard them, he stood and clapped like all the other good Christians. This is the company Santorum keeps.

Yet Willard "Mr. 1%" Romney had to radically outspend "Crazy Ricky" Santorum just to (probably only narrowly) beat him in Illinois.

It’s not all good news. The run-up to Illinois demonstrated surprising cracks in Romney’s campaign — typically considered the most solid and competent — in the long primary. Reports over the suggested revealed Romney’s campaign in Illinois was as disorganized as Santorum’s — not a good sign for an operation that will need to make a quick pivot to the general election against President Obama’s incredibly efficient campaign. Romney also vastly outspent his chief rival and conducted ran a very negative campaign, the kind of thing that doesn’t do much for his Republican enthusiasm problem.

And so far, that's the big takeaway for me tonight.

Oh yes, and there's this takeaway from somewhere closer to home. Jim Rogers blogged this yesterday.

I am a liberal. I make no excuses for that, nor do I believe I am obligated to defend my position. I do not believe that I am always right. I also have the greatest respect for the leading conservatives in this country. Agree with them or not, their philosophies have been sound, constructive and productive for the last 40 years I have followed their endeavors.

The issue is not the liberal view versus the conservative view. The issue is how the lunatic and intellectually bankrupt group that calls itself conservatives has been able to kidnap and hold for ransom the Republican Party and totally destroy its heritage of sound and logical thinking.

The political successes of intellectually bankrupt people like Sharron Angle and Sarah Palin should scare all of you. Fortunately neither one of these idiots, who has no understanding of conservatism, does not understand any of this country’s problems, and certainly has no capacity to solve those problems, has done nothing more than take this nation’s focus away from supporting people in their own party who could keep this country going forward.

And IMHO he's 100% correct! As we've talked about before, today's Republican Party is becoming increasingly enamored with "tea party" radicals like Sharrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrron over pragmatic center-right problem solvers like Kenny Guinn and Bill Raggio. As we may see later tonight, Nevada Republicans continue to grapple with this frightening reality.

However, we're also seeing this play out on the national stage. Even if Mitt Romney somehow manages to sew up the nomination soon, he'll have to do so by foresaking whatever shred of moderation he once embraced to instead try to "out-teabagger" the official "tea party" approved candidates. Romney continues to alienate women, minorities, and just about every swing voter demographic around with his support of the extreme "tea party" agenda. So is Mittens really "winning"?

Another Day, Another Special Election

I know, I know. It's hard to keep up with all the regularly scheduled elections and special elections happening this year. And now, we have another one coming... This time in Las Vegas Ward 2. Now that former Las Vegas Council Member Steve Wolfson is our new Clark County District Attorney, someone has to fill the Ward 2 vacancy he's leaving behind.

So we'll be seeing yet another special election here in Southern Nevada. Early voting starts March 15, so it's really right around the corner! And now it looks like there will be nine candidates running in this special election. Among them are:

- None other than Former State Senator and "Mean 15" right wing rabble rouser Bob Beers. Seriously, he was "tea party" before "tea party" became the new cool in Republican circles. In private life, he's worked as a CPA.

- Recently retired Las Vegas Metro Police captain Bob Chinn. He's also a Republican, but he's being endorsed by Clark County Sheriff Bill Young (R) and all the local police unions.

- Second grade teacher Sherese Holmes. She's a Democrat, and she's being endorsed by Assembly Member Harvey Munford (D-Las Vegas). For the last five years, she facilitated CCSD's English Language Learners program for immigrant children before returning to the classroom when the program was cut.

- Anthony Ruggiero, special assistant to Las Vegas Mayor Pro-tem and Ward 6 Council Member Stavros Anthony (R). He's a Republican, and he's being endorsed by Anthony. Before working for the city, he was a criminal investigator for the Nevada Attorney General's office and served on the Nevada Board of Education.

- Meadows School co-founder Ric Truesdell. He's a Republican, currently serves on the Las Vegas Planning Commission, and previously served on the Downtown Las Vegas Partnership. He's endorsed by Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman (I) and current Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I).

- And local attorney/public defender Kristine Kuzemka. She's a Democrat, and she previously ran for Las Vegas Justice of the Peace in 2010. She's served as Deputy Public Defender for the Clark County Public Defender's office since 2004, and before that clerked for both former District Judge David Wall and the District Attorney's office (when Stewart Bell was DA).

Well, it certainly looks like we have an interesting crop of candidates here. Chinn already has the police union backing locked up... But considering what's been in the news lately, that may not be much of an asset any more.

I can see Truesdell and Ruggiero duking it out for the "business establishment" support. Truesdell probably starts with a leg up because of his ties to the Goodmans. (And now that local attorney Ross Goodman isn't running, Truesdell is the closest we'll get to another Goodman in Las Vegas City Hall.)

But with Bob Beers wanting a political comeback, it may not be easy for Truesdell and Ruggiero to wrestle out a lot of GOP support. Again, Beers was "tea party" before the "tea party" became cool in GOP circles. He's already been making the media rounds and he's already seen as a local GOP "rock star". And other Clark County GOP favorite (and former local news anchor) Ron Futrell was expected to run himself, he instead endorsed Beers.

However, it may not be that easy for Republicans to reclaim this Las Vegas Council seat. (I know this race is officially nonpartisan, who really cares about that any more?) Kristine Kuzemka now has some campaign experience under her belt, and she has grown a loyal following since 2010.
We'll also have to see what Sherese Holmes does.

So far, it seems like we're in for an exciting election in Las Vegas. I can't wait to see what happens next.

It's Time for Nevada's Mayors to Do the Right Thing

Recently, a huge, pan-partisan national coalition of mayors (of cities both big and small!) from all over the country joined with Freedom to Marry to launch Mayors for the Freedom to Marry and demand the end of marriage discrimination at all levels of government. But take a closer look at that list, and one notices a glaring omission. For some reason, no Mayor of any Nevada city is on this list.

Nevada Stonewall Democratic Caucus Chair Derek Washington penned an op-ed for QVegas over the weekend to specifically ask why the Mayor of Nevada's most famous and most populous city has so far refused to join the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry coalition. Considering the huge potential for increased tourism (and economic benefit) for Southern Nevada, why won't Carolyn Goodman even talk about this?

What makes this even weirder is that this shouldn't really be a "controversial" issue any more. Both of Carolyn Goodman's most recent predecessors as Las Vegas Mayor, Jan Laverty Jones (D) and Oscar Goodman (I) (who, by the way, is also Carolyn's husband), endorsed civil marriage equality during their respective tenures as Mayor. And statewide, Public Policy Polling found last August that a growing plurality of Nevadans support marriage equality. I'm sure support is even higher in the City of Las Vegas, so I'm quite perplexed that Carolyn Goodman still won't endorse civil marriage equality.

As we (and The Reno Gazette-Journal) have talked about before, domestic partnerships are better than nothing... But they are still no substitute for the real deal. There are over 1,100 federal rights, benefits, and responsibilities given to married couples that LGBTQ families can not access. In addition, there are still many aspects of Nevada law where LGBQT families must still be subjected to unequal treatment because of the Question 2 state marriage ban. Question 2 continues to harm local families who just want the same treatment everyone else expects, and it continues to harm efforts to bring in more domestic and international tourists because discrimination just doesn't fit in with the message of "freedom" we use when marketing to them.

Again, this really shouldn't be "controversial" any more. Supporting civil marriage equality is simply a good business decision for Nevada. And regardless of whether or not Carolyn Goodman finally realizes this, her inaction should not stop Nevada's other big city mayors from taking action. Andy Hafen (D-Henderson), Shari Buck (R-North Las Vegas), Bob Cashell (R-Reno), and Geno Martini (R-Sparks), we're all waiting for you to fill this void and fill it soon. If we really want to treat all our citizens equally and discover new business opportunities for our communities, we need to fix this error and make civil marriage equality a reality here in Nevada. And we need for our local mayors to seize this opportunity to speak up and make it happen.

Obama's Back in Vegas

So the President is here. Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I) greeted him at McCarran Airport last night. And despite her husband not always giving President Obama a warm welcome, she obviously displayed far better manners than Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R-WTF??!!).

Goodman briefly discussed housing with Obama last night after HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan came to town to discuss new relief efforts for distressed homeowners that the President announced in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday. Apparently, more details will be coming soon... And local officials can hardly wait for that.

Later today, President Obama will be pivoting to matters of energy security and efficiency when he visits UPS' Las Vegas hub near McCarran this afternoon.

The president’s energy plan, which he introduced in Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, has three core components: the safe and responsible development of oil and gas, the creation of clean-energy jobs in the U.S., and increasing energy efficiency, with a special focus on the industrial sector.

That begins at the UPS facility in Las Vegas. The company, in cooperation with local governments and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, won a $5.6 million cost-share investment through the stimulus bill to purchase a fleet of trucks that could run on liquefied natural gas (LNG is a cleaner-burning fuel than regular gas or diesel) and construct a publicly accessible LNG refueling station — the first of its kind in the country.

The natural gas-fueled corridor allows UPS to move merchandise through more energy-efficient engines from Long Beach, Calif., to Salt Lake City, according to senior White House advisers.

It’s a model the president wants to replicate in other areas of the country as well, primarily by upping the incentives to get the country’s transport vehicles off gasoline.

Natural gas has become a focus of this administration, as well as lawmakers and energy advocates of all political stripes, not only because it burns about 30 percent cleaner than petroleum products, but also because it’s far more plentiful than oil in the United States. And, it’s cheaper.

The president aims to begin raising consumption of natural gas by encouraging companies to invest in trucks that run on natural gas with a tax credit, equivalent to about 50 percent of the cost difference between trucks that have engines that run on natural gas versus the standard diesel engine. Implementing such tax credits, senior White House advisers admitted, would require an act of Congress.

As we discussed on Tuesday, natural gas offers opportunities for cheaper, cleaner, and more domestically sourced fuel. Again, natural gas isn't without its own set of problems. But considering its availability and it not being as dirty as traditional oil or coal, it can be useful as a "transition tool" while we're still finding more ways to use renewables.

And of course, there's the possibility of more job creation out of this. And along with housing, jobs is the other big issue Nevadans want to hear about. We'll have to see how Obama threads it all together in his speech this afternoon.

LV CityLife Gets It. Will the Rest of the City?

Here's an interesting curveball.

[...I]n the case of Chris Giunchigliani, what "career politician" really means is that she's spent two decades mastering the workings of the two largest non-fed governments in Nevada. She's racked up an enviable record of tangible achievement: creating the bond legislation that helped build more than 100 new schools without a property-tax hike; securing the funding for the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, one of the high points of Oscar Goodman's mayoralty; earning a solid reputation for supporting education (she spent years as a teacher).

So she's got skills. Enough that one of her constituents mounted a vote-for-Goodman campaign so as to keep Giunchigliani at the county.

Hers is the sort of hard-won expertise Las Vegas needs at this time. Some economists and politicians believe a recovery is under way; yet, as this endorsement is being composed, a worried headline tells us that housing prices have dropped to where they were in 1999, the year Goodman was elected. These, then, are enormously complicated times, and the city needs a leader -- however symbolic that leadership sometimes is -- who can expertly squeeze every bit of efficacy out of government.

And she is a leader. If she doesn't have Oscar-grade charisma, she does have a forceful presence. Some say she's abrasive; we say she doesn't suffer fools gladly. She'll call out staffers who don't do their jobs, yes -- but that's why we elect strong-willed people, to ensure that our representatives run the government, not the bureaucracy. Plus, she's fearless: As a commissioner she stood up to Republic Services and other big players without regard to the political consequences.

Wow. CityLife did what the other papers were too afraid to do. Instead of making "the safe pick", they actually endorsed who they believe is the best candidate.

So are Las Vegas voters doing the same? The LA Times actually noticed Las Vegas is having this election.

So Las Vegas barely bristled when Oscar ran his mouth about wanting to cart the homeless to an abandoned prison, open legal brothels in downtown Las Vegas and cut off the thumbs of graffiti taggers (none of which came to fruition). A grade-schooler once asked what he'd want if stranded on a deserted island. His answer: gin.

"Goodman is so prone to making outrageous and offensive comments, it is hard to be shocked by him anymore," a Las Vegas Sun editorial said in 2005. Two years later, he won his third four-year term with more than 80% of the vote.

Oscar's backers view him as a symbol of their devil-may-care city, which he defends with as much zeal as he once did reputed Mafiosos. They applaud him for railing against President Obama for saying bailout-funded executives shouldn't jet off to Las Vegas — though Oscar's fit probably drew more attention to the throwaway remark.

The Las Vegas mayor's role is mostly ceremonial. The mayor runs City Council meetings and can declare emergencies, but lacks veto power over the other six members of the council. Still, Oscar is credited with persuading nightclubs, art galleries and even a clinic devoted to brain health to open in still-scraggly downtown.

"When I go door to door, I find I'm running against a name ... people think it's Oscar they're supporting instead of Carolyn," said Giunchigliani, who's trying to push voters who normally blow off local elections to the polls. A former state lawmaker who bested more than a dozen contenders to face Carolyn Goodman in a runoff, she's been more focused on business licensing and urban planning than, for example, photographing a Playboy playmate (another Oscar stunt).

"He was flash and jazz more than substance," Giunchigliani said. "It worked then, but this is now."

And this is the problem that Las Vegas faces. I can say this because I travel to other "big cities" and talk to other "big city folk" who show looks of repulsion when I describe Las Vegas city government. It's really the 800 pound gorilla in the room that many here don't want to acknowledge.

So instead, we're seeing the unoriginal and pointless attack ads Carolyn Goodman is dumping onto our airwaves. Oh, and by the way, is this also Carolyn's awkward attempt to distance herself from Oscar? After all, he has espoused the exact same views on home rule, education funding, and state revenues that she's attacking Chris G for now.

It's sad to see Carolyn Goodman really has nothing else to run on. What is her plan for the city? Does she even have one? How will she create jobs? What will she do about the homeless downtown? What about revitalizing West Las Vegas? What about home foreclosures?

Oh wait, she actually does have a plan for that!



So how is Carolyn Goodman even earning votes? Poker chips? A celebrity endorsement or three? How does that really help Las Vegas?

Again, notice the contrast.





So what does Las Vegas need? And what do Las Vegas voters really want? I guess we'll know for sure next week.

The Gloves Come Off...

The municipal campaigns are reaching home stretch, and the gloves are now coming off!



Well, what can I say? It may be "negative", but there is definitely truth to this. Come on... Try to make sense of this!



Why is Carolyn Goodman running? Seriously. I gave her a chance and waited to see what she would offer policy wise. So far, she just seems to be throwing out a whole lot of confusing hot air. I guess this is why she's been avoiding debates with Chris G.

In the mean time here in Henderson, this is getting more attention.





Yep, I finally received it in the mail. And while Mike Mayberry may be throwing a hissy fit over it, he still refuses to talk about whether or not he actually needs $40,000 per year in disability benefits... Or for that matter, whether his "fiscal conservative" platform actually means anything.

(And by the way, I still haven't heard any response from Mayberry's campaign on his explicit endorsement of homophobic and transphobic legislative bigotry.)





Look, I'm usually not one to enjoy negative campaign ads. They can be grating, annoying, and downright demeaning to the ("small d") democratic process. But when candidates refuse to meet with local voters and debate actual issues of substance, this is what ends up happening. Seriously, Carolyn Goodman and Mike Mayberry only have themselves to blame for not offering anything to allow for serious discussion of local policy.

#oscarswife? Or Something More?

It's tawdry. It's titillating. And yes, it can be scandalous at times.

Wait, you thought I was talking about "Gigolos"? (the new show about Vegas male "escorts) Oh, no! This is Las Vegas' mayoral election.



There's renewed buzz over Carolyn Goodman not really knowing what The Dream Act is... Or even what Teach for America does (link es en espanol)...



And of course, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly what happened when she couldn't recall what domestic partnerships are, couldn't form an opinion on marriage equality, and talked about gay and lesbian couples forming "50/50 contracts". So obviously, there's a perception that Goodman isn't really ready for the job. Is that true? Or are some Las Vegans overreacting?

Last month, Las Vegas Weekly profiled Carolyn Goodman. And in profiling her, they caught a glimpse of her vision of Las Vegas...

Carolyn has a definite vision for the city, including bringing in more retiree dollars. “There’s a huge retiree population in Buffalo and Chicago that could come here with no income tax, corporate tax, estate tax and enjoy this wonderful weather,” she says.
Carolyn admits the city would need “massive advertisement” from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as well as the Nevada Development Authority, to accomplish her goal, “but that’s got to be sold to them, and I think I have a persuasive voice and somewhat of an intellect.”

In addition to “putting a lot of emphasis into medical care” and “making sure the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Brain Institute takes advantage of continual growth,” Goodman hopes to nurture the city’s cultural element, including “attracting more young professionals Downtown” and getting a supermarket built there to service their needs. With the cost of gasoline rising, Goodman has an idea for the Strip: “The hotels should say, ‘Come here and we’ll give you a tank of gas to get home.’”

And wondered if maybe hers actually is unique and separate from Oscar's.

Goodman notes that, technically, the mayor’s office requires little beyond holding city council meetings and declaring emergencies, but adds, “Look at all Oscar was able to accomplish.” She says she’ll aggressively pursue bringing new businesses to Nevada that will create new jobs and that she’s ready to be a voice for the city. Like Oscar … minus the showgirls and martini glasses. “Oscar can get away with things, like Don Rickles, that I can’t imagine getting away with,” she says. “I don’t need publicity, I don’t like publicity. In fact, this is very disturbing for me because it’s not me. Oscar loves the flamboyance, but I’m an under-the-radar type person.”

So why run? Carolyn says it’s a direct result of the Goodmans’ strong bond. “You cannot love someone if you don’t trust and respect them.” She believed in his vision when he first ran in 1999, and she wants that vision—particularly Downtown redevelopment—to continue. “What he accomplished is amazing to me. That’s the only reason I filed, to see [the city] continue in that direction.”

But Carolyn is careful to point out that she hasn’t supported her husband on everything. The two have had differences, like the F Street closure. “It wasn’t that it was so terrible a thing. It was the symbolism of what it meant,” Carolyn says, referring to the perceived disenfranchisement of a historically black community. And she had words for Oscar after his scathing response to President Obama’s two slights of Las Vegas: “I said, ‘No matter what, he is the President, and in my opinion, you respect him.’”

So Carolyn Goodman is her own person?

And does she have the knowledge and experience needed for the job she's seeking? I really did catch interesting moments last month when I saw her first-hand at "The People's Debate". However Laura Martin went to even more debates and campaign forums, and she tried to poke deeper into the mystique of #oscarswife.

I attended almost all of the mayoral debates during the primary, and I noticed whenever Chris Giunchigliani talked about legislation or ordinances she worked on, #OscarsWife would roll her eyes or pass a look to her staff as if to say[,] "Now here she goes with all those facts and shit[.]"

Why the hate from OscarsWife?

Every time Chris G talks about her experience, OscarsWife [is] forced to admit that she has none. Every time Chris G describes in detail a bill, proposed legislation or policy, OscarsWife is exposed as not just a political neophyte, but a Sarah Palineqsue character who has no knowledge of current events and no ability to articulate any of the little knowledge she does have.

There's certainly no question of Chris Giunchigliani's sharp intellect, or of her strong work ethic. She will certainly prove to be a formidable challenger. So is Carolyn Goodman up to the challenge that may be far greater than initial poll numbers suggest?

The first debate next week may prove to be quite pivotal. It may be Carolyn's chance to prove she's more than just #oscarswife. Can she rise to this occasion?

April Fools? Las Vegas' Mayoral Race Devolves to Silly Season (& My Last Minute Endorsement)

Face, meet palm...

Several of the leading candidates for Las Vegas mayor have come under fire this week for their surprising lack of knowledge about basic current events.

First, at a debate Wednesday night hosted by Si Se Puede, a Democratic Hispanic group, City Councilman Steve Ross was left speechless by a question asking whether he supports the DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for qualifying undocumented young people who were brought to this country as children.

"I don't know enough about that to answer one way or the other," Ross said.

The DREAM Act has dominated headlines for years and is of particular interest in Nevada because of its support and advocacy by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Las Vegas students have protested to advance the measure, and supporters and opponents have written dozens of editorials on the topic.

And if that wasn't bad enough, try to follow the (lack of) logic of Carolyn Goodman's stance on domestic partnerships and marriage equality as Steve Friess tried to get a coherent answer out of her this week.

A crystallized commentary on that for me is difficult because you know I am about the rights of the human being but I’m also about legal rights. I’m certainly accepting of anybody and anybody’s rights to determine for themselves their own lifestyle as long as it’s not causing problems for anybody else and it’s legal. One of the things I remember asking years ago of my uncle who is a very astute lawyer because I didn’t understand, I had many friends and I’ve had friends all my life who are gay. I said I don’t understand why a legal contract wuldn’t suffice to bind two people together. You and I would have a legal contract, same sex let’s say, and I would agree that everything that’s mine it’s 50-50. If I die you would get everything, split down the middle. All I would say is why a legal binding contract wouldn’t work for a couple.

To be fair, Goodman's campaign manager, Bradley Mayer, later texted Friess to clarify that she SUPPORTS SB 283 and would not favor any effort to repeal domestic partnerships. Still, I'm baffled as to why she couldn't just spit that out to Friess when she had a chance to.

And what's with none of these candidates (save for Chris Giunchigliani, clearly the ONLY serious and qualified candidate running!) knowing anything on The DREAM Act? Don't any of them remember anything from last year's campaign?



Or are Larry Brown and Steve Ross joining Victor Chaltiel in courting the Sharrontology vote?



Carolyn Goodman really needs to brush up on her facts if she's serious about being Las Vegas' next Mayor, and both Steve Ross and Larry Brown should be ashamed of themselves for stooping down to such base homophobia and xenophobia just to court the "Christian Taliban" teabaggers who will never vote for either of them anyway. It's embarrassing that Las Vegas' mayoral candidates are mostly rich with embarrassments, and it's frustrating that all the rest of us who live outside the city have to see our issues get eclipsed by media frenzy over "teh stupid, it hurts".



Apparently, Chris Giunchigliani is the only candidate willing to take this job seriously and do her homework. Oh, and it also helps that she's always been pro-equality and she doesn't change her answers just to pander to xenophobes.

My Take on "The People's Debate"

The bumper car ride came to Santa Fe Station last night, and I'm still a little shaken from it. Last night was "The People's Debate". And while some great questions were offered, not all the answers matched that caliber.

- Gadfly extraordinaire Larry Jeppesen talked on and on about his mini electric car and how horrible (he thinks) local government is. At one point, he wore a plastic firefighter hat with fake money attached to it. Need I say more?

- George Harris took this forum as an opportunity to just plain bash government. He demanded that "government get out of the way" of private investment, even though this may be the time when Las Vegas needs investment in public infrastructure the most.

- Ed Uehling also jumped on the "I Hate Guv'mint!!!" bandwagon, and kept obsessing over foreign tourists. Seriously, he's stuck in a time warp.



Hint: Our problem has been overdependence on casinos. And grandstanding on "big guv'mint" is just stupid.

- Marlene Rogoff was the only "minor candidate" with actual, serious answers on development, environmental preservation, and job creation. It's a shame a couple of the "major candidates" get more attention with their blathering nonsense.

- Victor Chaltiel basically proved that he has no clue how to do the job he's running for, as he contradicted himself on public employee contracts, refused to answer questions he didn't want, and sometimes threw out totally nonsensical statements that I would have expected from the more unhinged gadflies. I guess Sheldon Adelson didn't give him the crib notes beforehand?

- And then there was Steve Ross. Where do I start? He contradicted himself on development, kept throwing out talk of "JOBS!!!" without much of any specifics, couldn't think of a single thing he's done to advance LGBTQ equality in Las Vegas, then bolted early. And this is "Working Man Steve Ross"? Give me a break.

- Carolyn Goodman had her good moments. She made a good point on "bigger not always better" when it comes to local government consolidation, and she had the best answer of the night on why Vegas isn't better at job creation. However on green collar jobs and local zoning, she punted with canned lines on "staying out of the private sector's way". Hey, isn't local government there for a reason? So she wasn't perfect, but she was also far from bad.

- Chris Giunchigliani clearly did her homework before last night, and it showed well. She handled questions on ecotourism, neighborhood redevelopment and reinvestment, streamlining business fees, and green collar jobs incredibly well. She was one of the only people on the stage last night who had me on the edge of my seat.

- Larry Brown was the other one. When he explained the intricacies of privileged gaming licenses, I knew he knew what he's supposed to do in local government. He also handled a question on keeping master-planned communities as planned quite well. He also talked about public-private partnerships on green-collar jobs, and getting public works projects on line soon.

And the verdict? I already gave mine. What's yours?

What Are We Really Seeing on TV?

What do you think when you see this?



And this?



(Yay! Brown's campaign now has it on YouTube!)

And what do you think when you see this?



And this?



So what did you get out of those? That Larry Brown and Chris Giunchigliani are serious about getting Las Vegas out of the economic doldrums and into a brighter future? That Brown and/or Chris G care about regular Las Vegans? That they're "just like us"?

Now take a look at this.



What do you see here? "V for Victory"? "V for Vendetta"? Apparently, Victor Chaltiel for Las Vegas. So I guess that's what Sheldon Adelson's billions buy you these days?

Now take a look at this.



What did you get out of this? That we love Oscar? That Oscar has to "say goodbye"? Who's "good enough" to follow up his great act? It seems like Carolyn Goodman is taking a different approach in her ads, engaging with some playful nostalgia instead of the typical promises to do this or that.

Sadly, many voters' first impressions of the candidates will likely come from these TV ads. Do they convey the messages these candidates want to send? Or might voters eventually hear a different tune from what everyone else is saying away from commercial time?

I can definitely see different strategies at play with these various ads. Larry Brown and Chris G want to be taken seriously as practical problem solvers, and that's why they play up the general policy outlines and mix them up with "feel good" promises. Victor Chaltiel is trying to play the "businessman outsider" card a la Arnold Schwarzenegger v.2003, and it seems he's just trying to take advantage of whatever "tea party" fervor Sharron Angle left over with a vague "elect him, not a 'politician'" message.

And Carolyn Goodman? Well, what else can I say about that ad? It's original! ;-)

Dynasty: Las Vegas?

The intrigue. The mystique. The majesty...

The Goodmans??!!

It seems that the biggest issue being tossed about in Las Vegas' mayoral race may just be the question of whether Carolyn Goodman is some sort of "legacy candidate" running to keep "The Goodman Dynasty" the marquee show in Las Vegas.

Term limits are forcing out her husband after 12 years in office. Her critics said her candidacy was a ploy to keep her husband in power.

Many of those critics support other candidates and saw those people’s political aspirations take a hit when she entered the race. Others are simply projecting their dislike of Oscar, who they see as all style and no substance, onto his wife. Some think 12 years with a Goodman in office is enough.

Carolyn says her husband tried to persuade her not to run, but many political insiders find that hard to believe (in part because Oscar knows as well as anyone that Carolyn wears the pants in the family). Both enjoy the spotlight. Four more years with a mayor in their household would keep them in demand.

Carolyn stresses that she wants to be judged on her own merits. “I am my own person, and I will stand on my own beliefs,” she says adamantly. And she has an impressive professional track record at Meadows.

But in the next breath she introduces herself to voters as “Oscar’s wife.”

It’s a sound strategy, even if she’s loath to own it. Carolyn is a front-runner in the crowded race. A recent poll showed her leading her next closest competitors — Clark County Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Larry Brown — by more than a 2 to 1 margin.

Much of that support can likely be attributed to her last name. Oscar is Southern Nevada’s most popular politician, known internationally for his showgirls, gin and “happiest mayor” shtick.

It's never easy when a relative of a politician then runs for that same office. Accusations like these come all the time. Ask Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush. Still, it may be a legitimate issue to discuss, especially since we are in a state that cherishes its political dynasties.

Why is Carolyn Goodman running? And for that matter, why are the other candidates running? Whose agenda will the eventual winner serve?

Let's be fair here. It's not as if Carolyn Goodman is the only candidate who can be accused of being part of the dynasty. Both Larry Brown and Steve Ross have had close ties to Mayor Oscar. Victor Chaltiel is a close pawn "friend" of Sheldon Adelson. Chris Giunchigliani's husband is a powerful campaign consultant. Wherever we look, we see all sorts of juice.

So is it a problem that Las Vegas' next mayor may be the wife of the outgoing mayor? Honestly, it's a question I'm still wrestling with. What if Carolyn Goodman actually expands on her platitudes and offers good policy on remaking a Downtown that's accessible to all? What if she really does have more in store for Vegas than just "Oscar's vision"?

But what if she doesn't? Can someone who happily identifies as "Oscar's wife" on the campaign trail be trusted to move past the failed policies of criminalizing the homeless, pursuing endless "condo mania" Downtown, and using unsustainable "growth" at the edges of town to fund sweetheart deals with big developers Downtown?

I guess the jury is still out on that. No matter what last name Las Vegas' next mayor will have, will he or she be able to resist temptation from "the real estate industrial complex"?

Two Goodmans, Two Possibilities to Shake up Nevada Politics

Oh, joy. This should get everyone talking.

"I've always said that if I was going to run for governor I'm going to run as a non-partisan," said Goodman, who is currently a Democrat. "And I have until the end of the year in which to register as a non-partisan." [...]

"I feel the only way, in my own mind, I would be a good governor and a successful governor, is to try to do it the same way I'm a mayor," he said. "To keep politics out of it. To treat all people equally. To serve Nevada and Nevadans. I don't think I could do that as a member of a specific party. I think when you're a member of a specific party, you have certain loyalties and commitments to others in your party. If I want to be able to do what I do now when somebody comes to me for something, I would try to help them without asking them if they are an 'R' or a 'D.'"

Goodman said he hasn't formed a formal exploratory committee.

"I go to Costco. That's my exploratory committee," he said. "I'm out and about all the time. When people come up and they say, 'Mayor, you're doing a great job,' that's my exploratory committee. When they say, 'Mayor you stink,' that's my exploratory committee."

But wait... It gets better! Guess who may soon be looking to succeed "Mayor Oscar of Vegas". Hint: Her last name is also Goodman.

Now that she is set to give up the reins of the Meadows School, Carolyn Goodman is no longer saying she won’t run to succeed her husband as Las Vegas’ mayor.

In the past, she had always brushed off the idea by pointing out how dedicated and busy she was as president of the prestigious private school she founded a quarter-century ago. But this week she informed the school’s board and its more than 900 students’ families that her last day on the job will be July 1.

The announcement is being seen by some as an indication that Oscar Goodman does intend to run for governor next year or that Carolyn Goodman intends to run for mayor in 2011 — or both. [...]

But Carolyn Goodman said her husband has told her: “ ‘Everyone on my council is very wonderful and so capable, but they don’t have the passion for the pieces that I have. You’re the only one who understands all the pieces.’ ”

For whatever reason, Oscar Goodman seems intent on screwing up both parties' chances of taking the Governor's seat next year and shaking up state politics more to his own liking. Republican Brian Sandoval would be no match for "Hizzoner", and Rory Reid would no longer be able to count on Democrats to stick with him.

But now, Mayor Oscar may also try to keep his stronghold over Las Vegas alive by having Carolyn run to succeed him. While she's proven herself to be an independent woman to goes her own way, I have a hard time seeing her scrap her husband's redevelopment plans for Downtown.

This really takes the concept of "two for the price of one" to a whole new level!

Of course, it's looking more likely right now that we'll just see one or the other, Oscar running for Governor or Carolyn running for Mayor... But their almost simultaneous respective announcements now leaves the door open for both Goodmans to run for both offices. Just imagine it, double the legend, double the controversy, double the excitement, double the insanity.

I can see Jon Ralston getting giddy already...