Mayor’s call to reopen Las Vegas amid pandemic met with scorn from most

Tuesday, April 21, 2020 | 2 a.m.

Editor’s note: Readers had a lot to say about the Sun’s editorial Friday questioning Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman over her call to end Nevada’s statewide closures of nonessential businesses. (“This shutdown has become one of total insanity,” Goodman said. “I am asking: Open the city. Open Clark County. Open the state.”)

The Sun received dozens of calls and letters to the editor on the subject, mostly from readers criticizing Goodman.

Today, we present a representative collection of the responses we received.

• • •

Bravo! I loved your April 17 editorial, “Las Vegas mayor’s insistence on reopening early raises questions,” on Carolyn Goodman’s insistence on opening up the city.

I am not a Goodman hater, and I am sick of having Las Vegas shut down. It makes me sad and, at times, depressed. But I’d rather see Las Vegas shut down one week too long rather than reopened one week too early, resulting in the virus spreading even more — to visitors, to police officers, health care workers, and all the people your editorial pointed out.

I think Goodman was out of line, and can only hope she realizes it was a very bad idea to say what she has been harping on. I’m not sure who she is trying to gain the favor of, but would those folks want to face families of deceased victims and try to explain to them that it was a good idea to open up the city too early?

I am not a fan of Gov. Steve Sisolak either, but he is making the right, tough, decision here on holding off.

John Amundson, Las Vegas

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I can’t remember when a Goodman wasn’t the mayor of our great city. I can’t remember when a Goodman didn’t promote to the world that Las Vegas was the place to be. Yes, all the world wants to visit Las Vegas and we are grateful for that. Yes we still are the Entertainment Capital of the World. But not now.

If we were to open our city to the world again without worldwide control of COVID-19, we would open ourselves to a Las Vegas pandemic. We would be overrun with this virus and it would kill many of us locals. Mrs. Mayor, this is not acceptable. We must wait as long as it takes to make us locals feel safe.

I asked my financial planner when he thought it would be safe to “go back into the water.” He said, “When my wife feels it’s safe enough to take the three kids to a movie, I will know it’s OK to open back up.

We are not there yet.

Neil Schwartz, Las Vegas

• • •

Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s comment that Nevada’s shutdown is “total insanity” is proof positive that some people do not belong in leadership roles, and in this case, such a statement is totally insane. She goes on to say that “no backup of data as to why “Gov. Steve Sisolak” ordered the shutdown in the first place.

How about more than 150 people dead in Nevada and more than 40,000 dead in the United States? Is that any kind of proof? Stay home for Nevada but in your case, Mrs. Mayor, go home and stay — forever.

John Osuch, Las Vegas

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I do not understand how Mayor Carolyn Goodman can refer to the closing of businesses in Las Vegas as “total insanity.”

Does she not realize how many lives Gov. Steve Sisolak has saved by closing businesses, especially casinos, so early?

Goodman should be praising the governor for his difficult but sensible decision to close everything when he did. I can’t imagine how many people would have been infected, how many lives would have been lost had he waited a day longer.

Shame on you, Mayor Goodman, for putting business ahead of lives. Applause to you, Gov. Sisolak, for putting lives first.

Paula Franki Roizman, Henderson

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To reopen the economy, I suggest that Gov. Steve Sisolak allow certain nonessential business to reopen, with a trade-off: They may reopen if they meet stringent guidelines. Of course, this would not be a total answer, but it could be a start.

Verlon Berkemeyer, North Las Vegas

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Why can’t Mayor Carolyn Goodman just admit that her personal gains and wealth are more important to her than the lives of the common subjects in our community?

Mayor Goodman, if you can’t say something useful, don’t say anything at all. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Larry Brown, Las Vegas

Not only does Mayor Carolyn Goodman need to answer the questions presented in your April 17 editorial, but she needs to tell us what she has done to unify and protect our great city and residents.

Mayor Goodman, you have lots to explain. You cannot only be our “good-time mayor.” You need to be the leader who will protect her city and residents. We need to hear how you are going to do this, now.

Sandra Rodriguez, Henderson

• • •

I agree with every single word in the April 17 editorial. I could not have expressed my view point with any more eloquence or reason.

It isn’t as if I have not also lost income with the shut down. I’m on a fixed income and I tutor to supplement it. But I’d rather lose money for a month or so than die.

Susan Packard, Las Vegas

• • •

The April 17 editorial on Mayor Carolyn Goodman’s COVID-19 response was spot on. I have always respected the mayor, but can’t for the life of me understand her position on an early reopening.

I would love to be playing video poker at Red Rock Resort. I would love to be dining at the Grand Café, and I hope that all those wonderful servers are doing OK. I would love to be taking my 100-year-old father to play his beloved ponies in the sports book, or playing at his favorite roulette tables.

I would love to be drinking martinis with friends at our favorite casino restaurants — but we haven’t been sheltering in place all these many weeks just to risk becoming infected by going out too early. We are in the “vulnerable” age group, although we are healthy.

Goodman has actually met my father at a city council meeting honoring his military service in World War II. I’d like her to ask herself if she is willing to risk his life in this pandemic after he has so admirably survived and thrived.

Judith Pantages, Las Vegas

• • •

Your April 17 editorial mocking Mayor Carolyn Goodman for having the courage to back small-business owners to keep their businesses was an elitist slap at them. You should be ashamed.

Maybe if you worked for hours to build your business and don’t want to lose it, you would understand where the mayor is coming from.

David Tulanian, Las Vegas

• • •

Mayor Carolyn Goodman would have closed Las Vegas for eight days-eight! to respond to the deadliest pandemic in a century. Even if we were dumb enough to follow her advice and keep the place lit, where does she think visitors will come from? California? Locked down. New York? Are you kidding? And so on for another 41 states and most of the civilized world. So let’s just keep everything open. Party it up. Does she want us to be another New Orleans? Or New York City? If this is political posturing, it’s the worst kind. If she’s serious, maybe we should change our motto to “What happens in Vegas, goes home with you and kills your family”. Ridiculous!

Tom Wozniak, Henderson

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There’s a lot of your editorials I don’t agree with, but Smith’s World cartoon and the April 17 editorial were spot on.

I don’t know whose advice the mayor is listening to, but to open up the city before more testing has been accomplished is out of bounds.

Yes, businesses are suffering. But how about the hundreds of family members who are grieving? How many more do you want to add to this number? Yes, maybe these numbers are low to you, but adding to it just to open up some businesses is wrong.

Hopefully with more testing, we can all beat this pandemic, but opening up too soon is not the answer.

Stay home and be safe.

Jim Veltri, Las Vegas

• • •

I applaud your editorial. Thank you for writing what so many of us, Americans and Nevadans, had been wanting to ask. But, I have one more question for Mayor Carolyn Goodman: If she is so certain that COVID-19 is not something we need to worry about, why doesn’s she prove it?

Get out there yourself, Madam Mayor. Let us see you lead by example.

Stacy Mendralla, Las Vegas