Other mayors oppose Goodman’s call for debate on brothels

RENO -- Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's call for open debate on a proposal to legalize prostitution in Nevada's largest cities isn't shared by his counterparts in Northern Nevada.

State Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Senate Taxation Committee, raised the issue this past week when he said he's willing to hold a hearing on a proposal to legalize and tax prostitution in Las Vegas and other urban areas of the state.

Coffin said the proposal could help the state deal with a severe revenue shortfall.

But Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini and Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell all came out against legal brothels in their cities.

Martini said he realizes that legal brothels are 10 miles away in Storey County, but he doesn't want them within city limits.

"We're too much of a family community for that," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "We went through a lot of generations just getting rid of the topless bars. It wouldn't be the right thing for us."

Crowell said he opposes legal brothels in his city as a mayor and a resident. Legal brothels are located just outside the capital city in Lyon County.

"There's no appetite on my part and I don't think there's an appetite in Carson City," Crowell told the Nevada Appeal.

Cashell said he's not interested in discussing the proposal and he doubts there would be much support for legal brothels in Reno.

Prostitution is legal in many of Nevada's rural counties, but state law prohibits it in counties with populations in excess of 400,000. That means there are no legal brothels in Las Vegas or Reno.

Goodman said while he doesn't support prostitution, the issue is worth discussing.

Goodman acknowledged that some will have "very legitimate" moral objections that women are debased by prostitution and that the state should not profit from it.

But he said legalizing it in cities would get prostitutes away from abusive pimps.

In 2004, Goodman suggested building a "Little Amsterdam" district in downtown Las Vegas with legalized prostitution, but the idea went nowhere.