Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mayor Carolyn Goodman sells soccer stadium as ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance

Las Vegas City Council Votes on Soccer Stadium

L.E. Baskow

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman listens to David Abrams as he addresses the Las Vegas City Council during a presentation on the proposed downtown soccer stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014.

Click to enlarge photo

Artist's rendering of proposed stadium.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman walked in 45 minutes late. The city of Las Vegas’ first community meeting on its bid for a Major League Soccer team had started at 6:30 p.m. Fresh from a separate soccer meeting, Goodman raced into the Centennial Hills Community Center out of breath.

As she made her way to the front of the room, a resident asked the question every critic wanted to know: Why should taxpayers help pay for a pro sports stadium when the city has so many other needs?

Goodman grabbed the microphone and launched into an impassioned 10-minute speech to rally support for the stadium.

“Believe in Las Vegas,” she cheered.

“If we don’t step up, who’s going to?” she asked. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Facing a critical stadium vote by the City Council on Wednesday, Goodman increasingly has grabbed mics to lobby for the soccer bid, a long-time campaign made famous by her husband, former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. Goodman spent most of his 12 years in office trying, unsuccessfully, to recruit pro soccer, basketball and hockey to Las Vegas.

Carolyn Goodman has spent less time in the spotlight. Her standout accomplishment has been lobbying for a tax credit for filmmakers, but that involved schmoozing with state legislators, not whipping up votes on the City Council.

Now, with the stadium debate at a fevered pitch, Goodman for the first time is using the bully pulpit.

But the city’s soccer bid has grown dimmer over the past few weeks. By just one vote, the City Council agreed Sept. 3 to not kill the deal. But the swing vote, Lois Tarkanian, said she’s likely to vote no unless something changes.

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