Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Mayor Goodman’s calls to reopen Las Vegas draw a handful of backers to council meeting

Mayor Goodman Supporters Rally at City Hall

Steve Marcus

City Councilwoman Michele Fiore holds up a ‘We’re Open” sign behind Mayor Carolyn Goodman during a city council meeting at Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas Wednesday, May 6, 2020. The sign was a gift to Mayor Goodman from supporter John Baietti.

Mayor Goodman Supporters Rally at City Hall

A woman holds a sign in support of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman during a city council meeting at Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Launch slideshow »

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman restated her distaste for state-mandated business closures to slow the spread of COVID-19 at Wednesday’s Las Vegas City Council meeting. This time, she was flanked with supporters.

An estimated 25 people attended the council meeting to back the mayor’s stance on the coronavirus pandemic, including that virus deaths in Nevada do not warrant an economic shutdown. Some held signs that read “We love Mayor Goodman” with a picture of the mayor and an American flag.

The city, which has continued to hold in-person meetings for the duration of the pandemic, took safety precautions inside the chamber, including monitoring the number of people there to ensure that they could practice social distancing, said city spokesperson Jace Radke. 

Goodman addressed the criticism she has received for her comments downplaying coronavirus. Mayor Pro Tempore Michele Fiore, who supports Goodman's drive to open the city, played a video showing residents who also supported Goodman.

“I wouldn't be in this job and in this community if I didn't have broad shoulders. No matter what it is and how untruthful some of the comments have been, it's okay. I know we're doing the right thing in Las Vegas,” Goodman said Wednesday.

Since mid-March, Goodman has downplayed the severity of the virus and said the economic toll it has taken on the city and the state is worse than the virus itself. As of Wednesday, coronavirus has killed 238 people in Clark County and sickened at least 4,473, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.

In an April 22 interview with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, Goodman offered Las Vegas residents as a “control group” to determine how high the death rate would be if businesses reopened. She also recently expressed on social media that summer heat in Las Vegas could kill the virus, a claim that scientists have questioned.

Many state and local leaders, including Ward 1 Councilman Brian Knudsen, Ward 3 Councilwoman Olivia Diaz and Ward 5 Councilman Cedric Crear, have denounced her comments. Diaz and Crear tuned into the meeting via teleconference, as they have done since mid-March. 

The three other members of the council — Fiore, Ward 2 Councilwoman Victoria Seaman and Ward 4 Councilman Stavros Anthony — voiced support for Goodman Wednesday, emphasizing the toll that state-mandated business closures have taken on small businesses in particular.

“There’s going to be a lot of businesses that go out of business unless we get them open,” Anthony said. “There is no reason why a retail store or restaurant cannot open up today.”

Considering that big-box stores, including “Whole Foods, Target and Costco” can stay open during the shutdown, small businesses should also be allowed to reopen, Seaman said. Whole Foods, Target and Costco all sell groceries and are therefore considered essential businesses in Nevada.

Fiore said that people who are healthy and staying home are “being controlled” and urged them to go outside and resume their lives as normal. Adding that business closures and the economic shutdown have driven some people to suicide, she questioned how that could be better than death by coronavirus.

“Speaking out, I’ll tell you, is very scary sometimes because we get attacked by the liberal media. However, our silence is much more deadly than the COVID-19 itself,” Fiore said.

During the meeting’s public comment period, supporters of Goodman thanked her for speaking out against Gov. Steve Sisolak’s handling of the pandemic. Several said they were small business owners impacted by the business shutdown.

Some promoted debunked conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, including that the virus was created in a lab in North Carolina, even though most scientists agree that it probably originated from bats in Wuhan, China. One speaker said it was “suspicious” that New York City has more cases than Las Vegas considering that many Asian tourists visit both cities; the virus has been on every continent except Antarctica since late February. Another shared that they will refuse any future vaccinations against coronavirus, calling them the “purpose” of the “fake pandemic.”

None of the council members nor Goodman corrected any of the speakers’ statements, many of which have been proven false. Although Goodman urged speakers to remain civil and has previously chastised members of the public for criticizing council members, she did not condemn one speaker who claimed that the council members who tuned into the meeting remotely were not doing their jobs. Nor did she chastise a speaker who called for Sisolak and other governors to be “locked up.”

In addition to their presence in the council chambers, an estimated 50-75 people gathered outside city hall before the meeting, according to a city marshal. The demonstration was organized by Michael and Crystal Frehner and Farah Gallaher Carter, Michael Frehner said.

Frehner owns two hair salon and extension stores in Las Vegas, which have remained open during the pandemic by appointment only, he said. Some of his staff have had trouble filing for unemployment or receiving money through the federal paycheck protection program for small businesses affected by the pandemic, he said.

Nevada businesses have a “constitutional right” to reopen, and can and should do so safely, Frehner said. 

“We can’t afford this any longer. Americans can’t afford this,” he said.