Panel clears mayor

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman did not give the Crazy Horse Too topless club special treatment and an ethics allegation against him is without merit, according to a Nevada Commission on Ethics report.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Goodman said Friday. "I assumed it would turn out that way."

The allegation was filed by former Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Miller.

"Whether they felt it was a valid request for opinion or not, it kept the mayor from helping his friends at the Crazy Horse," Miller said. "I'm glad I filed it. I'm glad the mayor kept his nose out of it."

Miller's complaint said Goodman did not take disciplinary action against the Crazy Horse Too from 2002 to 2006 because of his connections to the club through his old law practice. It also noted that Goodman received a $40,000 campaign contribution from the club's owner.

Goodman also was the resident agent in the 1980s for the corporation that owns the club.

The Crazy Horse Too is closed and for sale now, and its owner, Rick Rizzolo, is in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion.

In his response, Goodman said there wasn't sufficient cause to go after the club until after a federal investigation ended with felony guilty pleas last year.

The Las Vegas City Council voted in September 2006 to revoke the club's liquor license and impose a $2.2 million fine. Goodman abstained from that proceeding because his former law partner represented one of the club's employees.

In announcing its decision, the ethics commission said there was no evidence that Goodman used his position to influence the outcome of complaints against the Crazy Horse Too. It also found that the campaign contribution was not "disproportionate" and that Goodman had properly abstained from the matter.