Friday, April 16, 2004 | 11 a.m.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman stood his ground before a larger-than-usual contingent of reporters at his Thursday news conference, spending much of the time parrying questions about the ethics charges against him and explaining why he will speak about it only in selected forums.
He began the news conference by saying that "ordinarily I answer all questions." However, in this case, he said, "I am not going to answer any questions about the ethics hearing. I am not going to add any credence to the allegations. I am not going to answer questions which become the answers, but I'll be happy to answer anything else you have."
He was asked immediately why, if he had chosen not to speak about the hearing until it takes place May 12, he had appeared in several television interviews since last week, including one three hours before his press conference.
"I believe at this point in time the answers will be misconstrued, the questions will become the answers ... I don't want to put myself in a position where I'm going to be able to harm my status when I appear in front of the commission," Goodman answered.
Another reporter asked what had changed in the three hours since he appeared on television and his news conference.
"I am not going to put myself in a position, very simply, and I'm saying it nicely and saying it calmly, I'm not going to put myself in a position where my answers will be misconstrued and played with," Goodman said.
"I will testify in front of the ethics commission and at the end of the day I will be exonerated and that's when you're going to hear me talking about ethics."
The state Commission on Ethics will meet May 12 and 13 to consider whether the mayor broke ethics rules when he hosted a party for his son's business, iPolitix, which uses software and a computer disc to track people's response to specific issues. The Jan. 22 party took place during a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C.
Ross Goodman and Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack are among the partners in the company, and are among those called to be witnesses before the commission.
The commission also will consider whether Goodman broke rules when he used a Cadillac donated to the city, accepted a contract to promote a brand of gin with half the proceeds going to city programs for the homeless and half going to a school for the disadvantaged that was co-founded by his wife, and appeared in a women's magazine promotion, issues that came up during commission Executive Director's Stacy Jennings' inquiry into the iPolitix complaint.
A two-person panel decided to send the charges to the commission April 2.
Almost immediately, Goodman called a press conference and denounced the charges, questioning the intent of Jennings in pursuing issues other than iPolitix.
Last Thursday, Goodman angrily left his news conference after he was asked what proof he had to back up his assertion that the commission had a sinister motive in pursuing the ethics charges.
However, his appearances since then have been much toned down.
"I lost my temper the other day," Goodman said at his news conference Thursday. "I don't want to lose my temper again. I have a very bad temper and I see it as a fault and I'm trying to be a nice kind gentleman here today."
He explained his anger by saying that he felt his family had been attacked. However, when pressed as to how the ethics issues or any of the subsequent questions constituted an attack on his family, Goodman could offer only one example. That was an incident two years ago in which Sun columnist Jon Ralston noted, as part of a broader piece on political issues in the valley, that the gin contract was benefiting a school co-founded by Goodman's wife. Ralston is also host of "Face to Face with Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channels 1 and 19.
Goodman claimed that resulted in a retraction. It did not.
The mayor also was asked why he won't fully explain his claims that people are trying to smear his name.
"I'll answer that without it being considered a waiver," Goodman said, apparently referring to his opening remarks about not talking about ethics issues at the press conference. "I thought very seriously about that. I don't want to hurt people, innocent people. There are people I think deserve to be called on the carpet for their activity ... but other people would be hurt.
"In a life that's very precious, where every day is important, as an ethical human being is it worth it to me to hurt innocent people? And I made a determination (that) even if I were able to prove what I believe are the facts, innocent people would be hurt and I couldn't live with myself," he said.
Goodman also repeated comments made Wednesday, when the ethics commission released a list of witnesses that included his wife and son.
"They didn't need a subpoena. They were on my witness list a long long time ago," he said.
Answering other questions, Goodman also said:
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