Crime gang mouthpiece verbally assaults innocent researcher

Erstwhile proud defender of murdering fascist thugs and current Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman got into an argy-bargy with the Culinary union this week over building a new town hall.

Rest assured, the union is always looking out for itself (oh! the horrors!) and has a dog in the fight over downtown development that goes beyond the fiscal soundness of the town hall project. But Culinary researcher Chris Bohner's point -- what with the recent wholesale collapse of the global economy, maybe a shiny new city hall isn't the best reason for the city to take on a quarter billion dollars worth of debt -- seems a  not unreasonable assessment.

Alas, a Las Vegas City Council meeting is apparently an ill-suited venue for reason. Cutting and pasting from the Sun:

Goodman, rising from his seat and wagging his finger, wouldn’t have any of it.

Bohner: “Can I proceed with my testimony?”

Goodman: “No! Because you’re disingenuous! You’re disingenuous!”

Bohner: “It’s not disingenuous.”

Goodman: “I’m not going to allow lies! Tell the truth! Tell the truth!”

...

(Goodman) then flashed back to his days as a criminal defense attorney and compared union protesters to federal prosecutors and FBI agents who showed up in courtrooms, arms crossed, to intimidate judges. “There is no intimidation here,” Goodman said. “The judge did his job. He wasn’t intimated because of numbers.”

That comment drew a round of applause from a dozen or so building trades members sitting across the council chamber gallery.

“We’re trying to keep you working,” Goodman said. “Help us do it. Don’t impede us.”

And then to Bohner: “I don’t respect you, sir.”

Reasonable -- and unreasonable, too, apparently -- people can disagree over the merits of the city's downtown development plans. (Though a component of those plans includes tax breaks for developers and in a time of government budget shortfalls, giveaways to developers should be the first thing to get the ax). But the city's latest scheme isn't what this post is about.

I know and like Chris Bohner so take this as you will ... I'm convinced of his dedication to social and economic justice for all the community's citizens, his respect for the rights and concerns of his fellow human units and his basic integrity, honor and honesty. This town can only wish it had more people like Bohner.

By contrast, while Goodman no doubt thinks he's something special, Southern Nevada in fact has never experienced a shortage of self-promoting narcissistic blow-hards. And for Goodman to cap off yet another one of his tantrums by saying Bohner is not worthy of respect says much more about Goodman than it does about Bohner.

Comments

[Patrick]

Finally, something the Gleaner and I can agree on.

Corporate subsidies are bad and Goodman is a crook.

[CollegeStudent]

Uhhhh,
Goodman 2010?

[The Penguin]

You can take the mouthpiece out of the mob, but you can't take the mob out of the mouthpiece.

[temujin... khan of the yakka mongols]

....Goodman for Governor....

Well Temu, you'd get all the tax increases you'd like, but you'll be pissed when Governor Goodman spends them on construction projects to build office towers for rich white men.

[dave404]

Oh, the ice picks are out!

[atdleft]

Wow! The Gleaner & Patrick agree on something? Should I check the weather forecast in Hell?

Seriously, Goodman is creepy. Why won't he allow a complete assessment of the facts? And why can't we question the need for this new city hall?

This only confirms that Goodman is a DINO not worthy of our support should he embarrass himself more by running for Governor.

[Libra Dude]

@Atdleft - who has the Democratic party groomed for the governorship? for the Senate if/when Reid leaves? Obviously we won't impose on Dina because the northeners and rurals don't like her voice. Talking about DINO's both of the mayors of Nevada's largest cities can't be bothered to do anything public for the Democrats. Why do they keep winning? Look at Gibbons, blue Nevada possibly knows better although Goodman and Gibson are on a par with him.

[Not Bob]

Its rare that I find myself in almost total disagreement with the Gleaner, but on this one I do. Sure, the idea of a new City Hall isn't a pressing issue, but it is an attempt at a public works program to create building trades jobs -- which is there was as much cheering for the proposal from the Carpenters as there was chanting against it by Culinary.

The goal here is quite clear and a case where the Mayor has been pretty consistent -- to facilitate downtown development by opening up real estate on LV Blvd (on the current City Hall site) to commercial development in -- a rarety for the City -- a site where commerical development is appropriate.

Funding a public construction project with bonds is not the same thing as taking it out of the general fund; it is a form of pump priming.

Sure its good for Culinary to see around the corner and try to be sure that whomever develops the current City Hall site into a casino does so with a unionized workforce, and applying pressure at this stage is one way to do that. (Just as it used its location in proximity to the proposed REI/NEON to object to that one before the City Council, for the same reason).

But lets not pretend that just because the Mayor spoke like a jerk to the Culinary research director, that this is the central issue at stake here.

The central issue is that so often, land-use and urban planning issues are pushed by the Business Development cart rather than the Planning horse. The alliance of major interest groups like the Carpenters or Culinary shifts from issue to issue, but whats really at stake -- especially in 2011 -- is how the City looks at quality of life in City neighborhoods.

[Patrick]

If government spending created net jobs then why not just hire people to dig holes and fill them in again?

By the way, even if that worked, a budetary shortfall is no time to throw down cash for luxuries like a new city hall.

[Not Bob]

Actually Patrick an economic downturn is precisely the time for the public sector to invest in the private sector. I know you don't care for Keynesiasm, but it does actually work.

As a reasonably wise man once said about the sort of Hooveresque-Bushite monetarism you're suggesting here, the downturn we're seeing now is the final verdict on a failed economic theory.

[Just wondering]

This is about ACTUAL construction jobs versus HYPOTHETICAL casino jobs (and the unionization of same).

I'm on the side of ACTUAL jobs. Yes, Goodman could have been a bit more delicate, but since when has that been his style? And is there some sort of track record that indicates gentility wins the day? Oscar is fighting for construction JOBS. Sounds like a good Democrat to me.

[temujin... khan of the yakka mongols]

....Ello, ....Ello...Spot o tea....bubbles and squeak....Ello....

[Patrick]

Not Bob,

Keynesiasm doesn't work. You might have missed the memo. The reason is simple, government tends to invest in half-baked ideas. If the investment turns out to suck, the politicians don't lose money, so they don't have to worry about making bad investments.

By the way, Hoover pushed for job creating programs and federal bailouts of private companies and state governments. FDR just renamed the programs.