Stadium deal isn’t the dead horse the mayor would like it to be

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman must know she’s in a horse race for re-election.

Her billboards are up and omnipresent. She’s energetically repeating her catchy campaign mantra about “building a world-class city together.” She’s fundraising at a brisk clip, and her list of campaign supporters — perhaps the most voluminous ever assembled for a local election — is bursting with members of Southern Nevada’s business and legal elite.

There’s another sign she’s spurring toward a full campaign gallop: Her flinty tone when the subject of the city’s scotched soccer stadium plan is raised. This past week in a Review-Journal endorsement interview, she easily transitioned from the city’s affable cheerleader to a terse politician when the name of her opponent, City Councilman Stavros Anthony, entered the conversation.

First, about that fizzled $200 million private stadium proposal that would have encumbered $56.5 million in public funds. You know, the one that handed her opponent an issue that promises to fire up lethargic city voters.

“We want to build a world-class city with great culture, with great medical care … We have so many very important problems and issues with which to deal to make this a great city. Why beat a dead horse? The horse is dead. It doesn’t matter.”

Trouble is, it appears to be eating oats. The harder the city works to rein in the political fallout from the stadium deal, the worse its supporters look — and the more the issue will matter in the June election. For evidence, look no further than the legal machinations coming out of City Attorney Brad Jerbic’s office. Usually sure-footed, Jerbic looked unsteady recently in his failed attempt in District Court to prevent an anti-stadium initiative from making the ballot. Now a proposed ordinance that would pre-empt the initiative from that ballot has surfaced on this week’s council agenda.

This half-slick political maneuvering in the wake of the stadium vote is reminiscent of the rushed feel of the professional soccer sales job in the weeks before the council’s 4-3 decision. Proponents were too busy pushing toward their goal to see the damage being done.

Something else also emerged from Goodman’s interview, something casual council viewers rarely see from her: a fire in her belly to do battle with Anthony, whose campaign is being managed by veteran Steve Forsythe with communications assistance from Lisa Mayo-DeRiso, who helped rabblerouse against the stadium.

After Goodman’s “dead horse” remark popped on Twitter Thursday, Mayo-DeRiso chirped, “Odd use of the term ‘dead horse’ coming from a mob lawyer’s wife.”

Get it? That’s horse head-in-the-bed imagery.

But speaking of under-energized equines, Mr. Ed showed more spark and personality on black-and-white TV than Anthony has generally displayed during his tenure on the council. That low-key, conservative guy approach might endear him to Ward 4 voters, but someone should remind the ex-cop he’s not running for Night Watchman of Dullsville or mayor of a one-horse town.

At her best, Mayor Goodman possesses an unabashed optimism the city’s business owners and casino bosses admire. She’s comfortable talking about policy and the city’s initiatives on subjects ranging from homelessness to downtown redevelopment. Her love of the job, as she defines it, is undeniable.

It makes you wonder why she risked so much by not displaying more public skepticism of a stadium deal that popped up on City Hall radar just days before The Cordish Cos. was to lose its exclusive development grip on that choice Symphony Park real estate.

But maybe she’s right. Maybe that’s a dead horse.

Given an opening, Goodman showed a spark of tenacity most never noticed beneath her pro-Vegas happy chatter. She wasn’t shy about popping her opponent, calling Anthony “rigid and inflexible” and lacking in vision about most things, including the occasional necessity of investing public dollars for the greater good.

“Had the Hoover Dam been out there, he would have voted against public spending on that,” she said.

The comparison was catchy, if imprecise, and it won’t prevent Anthony from mentioning the soccer stadium at every turn. On Friday, a campaign press missive from his campaign called for greater disclosure of the financial details of the deflated stadium plan.

At one point Thursday, an otherwise unflappable Goodman said: “I’d love to talk about something else. I don’t want to waste your time. I want to build a city. This is a world-class city. I just love it here. … This (stadium) thing’s dead. It’s absolutely dead.”

Perhaps. But the dead horse is saddled. We’ll see if Anthony can coax it to giddy-up.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. Follow @jlnevadasmith on Twitter.