Wow: Readers Unleash Even More Intensity On Oscar’s Mob Museum
Yet more readers chime in with opinions about Mayor Oscar's mob museum, after I asked you today to email me ideas for a two-fer museum. That is, have it do something in addition to being a mob museum, the way LSU's Tiger Stadium is also a dorm.
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IDEA: Oscar Needs To Get His Priorities In Order
Good Morning,
I have never written a newspaper or called a radio station, but every time I read or hear something about the latest imbecile thing Mayor Goodman wants to do, I rant and rave to myself. I decided to relieve the stress in my life about him and his idiotic idea of putting millions of dollars into a museum for the mob, to write to you.
In these depressing days of unemployment, schools overloaded, teachers overburdened with too many students, roads in some areas in deplorable conditions, people being put out on the street after paying for years on their home, business closing, budget cuts that hurt the poor, senior citizens, mental patients, hospitals closing units because they can no longer afford to give care to the indigent, doctors refusing to take Medicaid patients and I am sure I could go on and on and on, but you get the idea. I know he cannot fix all these problems, but he damn sure has a say about some of them, and I did not mention his pet peeve of the HOMELESS. Wouldn't it have been a wonderful, caring and proving he is a person who cares about his fellow human being if he had asked for millions to build a homeless shelter for persons, with some sort of way of working to pay for their stay there, a small factory, gardens, anything to give them the dignity of having something worthwhile to do and at the same time a place to stay and have food and shelter. I have always told my family that most people are about three paychecks away from being homeless and to help them whenever they can.
I could go on and on about how this Mayor is really the laughing stock of the rest of the world, him and his gin and his showgirls, is this the way he wants to be remembered?? I am sure he has done some positive things for Las Vegas, although I do not know of any, but that does not mean he hasn't done them.
I go out of the country a lot and I always hear from people about our mayor with his showgirls, if he wanted to give the opinion that we really are sin city, well, job well done, people only have to look at him and hear about him and they will believe it.
I am always explaining to people that there really are sane, working people that live in Las Vegas and keep it going as a thriving city, not just the people they see on the street. I will stop my ranting and raving, but I am sure you get the idea. He is (in my opinion) a blithering idiot at this critical time to want to spend a dime on building a museum for the mob. Maybe your readers could give him some better ideas for grant money, since he does not seem to have a very good one, he needs help.
- Rosella Rosen
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BY THE WAY: LSU Isn't The Only Stadium With Dorms
Hey Doug...
All quite interesting about Huey Long's way of dancing around the bureaucracy of getting' funds for a stadium. LSU isn't the only one though, at least in bygone years. In the 1960s, students lived in dorms that were part of Ohio State's football stadium in Columbus. And there might be others.
Regards,
- Jim Brush
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IDEA: The Numbers Should Get Scrutinized
A $50M MOB Museum according to Oscar is going to bring business to downtown Las Vegas? I don't think so. Last year, Oscar alluded to the fact that the museum would bring business to Las Vegas. If my memory serves me correct, I believe Oscar left the impression that the Mob Museum would attract a quarter-million visitors to downtown. Assuming 250,000 people do visit the MOB Museum; is the entrance to the museum complying with the magic words (FREE)? Assuming Oscar was able to entice visitors with a $10 admission fee. That ain't much money, particularly when Oscar has to make arrangements to amortize a $50 million building/construction loan. Is Oscar planning to have an ROI in 10, 20 or 50 years?
The Huey Long LSU Stadium Expansion may have been structured for poor students but I'll bet you if you investigate their Two-Fer program for Dorm Revenue last year — LSU is making money. Is it possible that Oscar's Museum Project could make money providing over-night accommodations to Street People?
Question: How generous is a Fed Loan Package in 2009?
- Patrick Carlin
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IDEA: Oscar Needs To Get His Priorities In Order, Part II
Oscar has dreams of a professional sports team and stadium, yet the citizenry finds this a lowest of low priorities. He wants a new city hall in the guise of creating jobs and downtown development; sell the current city hall, have a developer build a new one to foster downtown development and create jobs, and then rent it back to the City. And, then there is "his" Mob Museum. Sure seems like he is ever trying to build the Oscar Goodman Memorial.
Whatever.
Taxpayers are losing their jobs. City employees are asked to reduce their cost of living adjustment, cut their hours, etc. Citizens are losing them homes to foreclosure. The average Las Vegas citizen is budgeting just to meet daily needs. Recreation centers that provide entertainment are reducing hours of operation. On and on, changes due to the recession say to a person of reason to stop, think, budget, save, and don't spend unless necessary. Yet, here comes our Mayor desiring to create jobs with projects worth millions but used by thousands, money that could be spent helping feed the hungry, or forestall home foreclosures, or less grand expectations that benefit the taxpayers' immediate needs.
When the economy recovers and Vegas does not see casinos laying off employees or stopping mid-built due to lack of funding, then the citizens of the City of Las Vegas can encourage that Major and City Council to renovate a building into a museum or support the expense of a professional sporting center, or even build a green City hall. But in the meantime, Mr. Goodman needs to realize the average taxpayer has other priorities called survival!
- Margo
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IDEA: Put Homeless People In There
Doug, I think that expansion of the Tiger Stadium idea would work here; there's been an increase in the amount of homeless people lately, it's getting to be like a MOB. Surely a place that's to be dedicated as a the Mob Museum would help make a difference. Oscar should like it, Barack would probably understand it with Reids help, and I like it.
- Margie
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IDEA: Put Prostitutes In There
Hey Doug,
A no-brainer for the mob museum would be to turn the upstairs of the building into a brothel (once the mayor gets it legalized) and then it would be a kind of living museum for sin city. In the end (no pun intended) it would be very interactive (a trend with museums these days) and fit in nicely with the other mob exhibits. Or how about this, turn the basement into a jail and bring some of the mobsters imprisoned elsewhere, to Vegas to do time here. Museum visitors could see first hand what mobsters look like, etc. It would be the real deal, kind of like a mobster zoo.
-Jack
