Las Vegas Weekly

July 1, 2009 · 2:26 PM

No Internet? No problem for Goodman

By John Katsilometes

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and his wife, Carolyn, on the red carpet on the way into the 13th Annual Power of Love Gala at the Bellagio in Las Vegas on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009.

Photo: Tiffany Brown

I received a voice mail from Mayor Oscar Goodman on Monday afternoon. “John, this is your favorite mayor, and, by golly, you do work” was the message. Risking overkill, of course, on this issue, the mayor's message was in response to the blog I posted over the weekend that he has no Internet aptitude and no interest in gaining such aptitude. I called him back on his office line, and he reiterated that he is not online savvy and will likely never be online savvy. Clearly, in his view, it does not limit his ability to govern, as he’s able sustain a pulse for the new Las Vegas City Hall project and make frequent promotional appearances without logging on to anything.com. When something is posted online that requires Goodman’s attention, such as a blog about his lack of Internet aptitude, a staffer usually puts a printout of the document in his possession. Then, and only then, does he read it.

We talked of the heretofore-uncharted mayoral territory of Facebook and Twitter, and I said that when he announces if he’ll run for governor, he should first tell me so I can tweet the news. He paused and asked, “I wonder if Carolyn has Twitter. Do you think she has Twitter?” He was speaking of his wife, Carolyn, who is president of Meadows School. I said, “I think, in her position, she would at least know about Twitter, yes.” The mayor paused, seeming not to know how to process that possibility. Then I offered, “I’ll show you Twitter next time I see you,” knowing that if we do make this connection, Goodman followers will be reading “Bombay Sapphire time” updates every day at 5 p.m.

Share This