EDITORIAL: For mayor? Meh

The campaign for Las Vegas mayor is the biggest race on the April 7 primary ballot, and voters’ choices are utterly underwhelming.

Incumbent Carolyn Goodman is seeking a second four-year term, which would extend her household’s control of the office to two decades. (Her husband, attorney Oscar Goodman, held the job for 12 years before her.) She is being challenged by Councilman Stavros Anthony, a former university regent and retired Las Vegas police officer, and two completely invisible long shots: Abdul Shabazz and Phil Cory, neither of whom wanted to interview with the Review-Journal editorial board.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s approach to leadership was defined by her relentless push for a tax-subsidized downtown sports venue that never had public support. The initial proposals negotiated by City Hall with development partner The Cordish Cos. were too burdensome on taxpayers. When the plan morphed from a multipurpose arena to a soccer stadium and included another private partner, Findlay Sports &Entertainment, at one point the mayor declined to answer questions about the terms and referred queries to Findlay. And she was so dismissive of taxpayer concerns that she worked to block a public vote on the project.

Throughout her first term, Mayor Goodman has been similarly stubborn on other issues. When Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak proposed funding 47 new Metropolitan Police Department officer positions — a plan that would have required just $1.6 million in city funds — Mrs. Goodman declined to trim expenses elsewhere to fund the jobs. She instead urged the commission to increase the sales tax rate to pay for more police — while backing taxpayer-funded donations to education nonprofits.

Among other questionable proposals, Mayor Goodman has demanded that medical marijuana dispensaries operate as nonprofits and provide their products at city-set prices, and she has called for a $5-per-person annual statewide “recovery” tax. Wow.

Her stadium missteps compelled Mr. Anthony to enter the race. His campaign is built around his principled, consistent opposition to the stadium — and not much else.

In Mr. Anthony’s six years on the council, he has not distinguished himself as a champion for, well, anything. Yes, he opposes taxpayer handouts to private entities, and he opposed the risky deal that built the new City Hall. But, like Mayor Goodman, he wants the County Commission to enact a sales tax increase to bolster police budgets. Like Mayor Goodman, he went along with the Fire Department’s power play in seizing patient transports from privately run, franchise-fee-paying American Medical Response, a move that is bound to drive up city costs. He won’t lead the charge to rein in the city’s growing, unsustainable personnel costs. He won’t push to outsource city jobs that can be capably handled by the private sector.

An over-the-top personality and relentless attention seeking are not requirements for mayor. But the job does require some vision and force-of-nature energy to make things happen. The city of Las Vegas needs leadership to gain firm control of its finances while providing the services residents expect and helping the economy grow. But the kind of leadership the city needs won’t come from either of these candidates.

The Review-Journal offers no endorsement for Las Vegas mayor.