Oscar Goodman
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Oscar Baylin Goodman (born on July 26, 1939) is a lawyer and the Mayor of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Goodman was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received an undergraduate degree from Haverford College in 1961 and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1964. He was admitted to the Nevada Bar Association in 1965 and he served as Chief Deputy Public Defender in Clark County, Nevada from 1966 to 1967. He is married to Carolyn and they have four children.
During his career as a defense attorney he represented defendants accused of being some of the leading organized crime figures in Las Vegas, such as Meyer Lansky and former Stardust Casino boss Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal. One of his most notorious clients was reputed Chicago mobster Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, who was known to have a very short and violent temper. Spilotro was portrayed by actor Joe Pesci in the semi-factual 1995 movie Casino, in which Goodman had a cameo appearance as himself.
Goodman is a senior partner in the law firm of Goodman Chesnoff & Keach. He was elected Mayor of Las Vegas on June 8, 1999, receiving 32,765 (63.76%) votes while his opponent, Las Vegas City Councilman Arnie Adamsen, received 18,620 (36.24%). He was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2003, defeating five opponents and receiving 29,356 (85.72%) of the votes.
He has also had the distinct privilege of being the only Mayor of Las Vegas to have his face placed on a $5 and $25 casino chip which was issued in 1999 by the Four Queens casino in Downtown Las Vegas and a Bobble Head doll issued in 2000 as a promotion during a Las Vegas 51s baseball game. These three items are very sought after by locals and even by the tourists. Unfortunately though because of their limited quantity they are very hard to find. Occasionally they have shown up on Internet auction service eBay at very high prices.
In 2002 he became a spokesman for Bombay Sapphire Gin receiving a $100,000.00 salary which was donated to charity including $50,000.00 donated to The Meadows School a private school in Las Vegas started by his wife Carolyn.
In 2003, Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter John L. Smith wrote a book titled Of Rats and Men, which chronicles Goodman's life.
In February 2004, Robert Rose, a self-proclaimed ethics watchdog and retired auto mechanic, filed multiple complaints with the Nevada Ethics Commission claiming that during the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Goodman handed out to fellow Mayors, conference attendees and other political figures invitations to a cocktail party he was hosting. Rose alleged that this was nothing more than the Mayor abusing his power of office to help promote a business that is owned by his son Ross and Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack. The Nevada Ethics Commission opened an investigation on April 14, 2004 and on May 13, 2004 the members of the commission became deadlocked and as a result no action was taken against Mayor Goodman and the investigation was closed.
On September 16, 2004 Rose again filed a complaint with the Nevada Ethics Commission this time asking the commission to clarify Goodman's affiliation with his son Ross' law firm. In a statement the mayor explained his name on the letterhead is a way of informing out-of-state firms that Ross Goodman is his son.
Goodman has frequently urged that Major League Baseball locate a team in Las Vegas. In 2004 the city failed to secure a move by the Montreal Expos to their city. Instead, the team relocated to Washington, DC and became the Washington Nationals. Later that year, Goodman met with officials of the Florida Marlins.
See Also
External links
- Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's Official website (http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/mayor_oscar_b_goodman.htm)
- Oscar Goodman's movie and television credits from the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0329189/)