Mayor’s State of the City speech long-winded, shortsighted

One thought surfaced after enduring Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman's first State of the City speech.

She obviously didn't grasp the concept that "less is more."

The new mayor held her audience captive Wednesday for a speech that ran 80 minutes long and wasn't interrupted by applause once.

Goodman warned the audience her speech would be long and admitted it was too long at the end. Some self-discipline on her part would have helped enormously. Just because you can speak that long doesn't mean you should.

Her husband would be the only person who would call it a great speech, and it certainly was not memorable, except for its length.

"What did you think?" I asked one audience member walking out.

The one-word reply: "Long."

While her speech began and ended with the mandatory standing ovation, the only applause came when she gave out awards. Like her husband, she spoke from notes. Unlike him, she didn't build in applause lines. Little she said could be considered fresh or substantive.

Most of the speech regaled the captive audience of fewer than 300 with a laundry list of accomplishments under her husband's 12 years, something he did ably himself during his prior 12 State of the City speeches, which usually ran 30 to 45 minutes.

Oscar Goodman knew enough to have an announcement of some significance to unveil. In his first year, he laid out his vision (now her vision). In 2004, he announced the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health would be built on the city's 61 acres now called Symphony Park, an announcement that sounded big in scope at the time and became even bigger in reality.

While not all his announcements came true -- like that high school for super-achieving students in Symphony Park -- enough did to give him a respectable legacy.

Carolyn Goodman offered no "gee whiz" announcement of any magnitude Wednesday in the new City Hall. She announced the continuation of a Downtown Beautification Initiative, which began in 2007.

The next beautification phase, she said, will focus on adding banners, landscaping and neon signs; making downtown more pedestrian-friendly and easier to navigate with wider sidewalks; building more bicycle lanes; improving pedestrian and vehicle access; and building a $2.5 million pedestrian bridge connecting the new City Hall parking garage with the Symphony Park, so people can cross the railroad tracks safely.

One morsel of news she shared was that the downtown Mob Museum, her husband's love-child, has attracted more than 50,000 visitors since opening Feb. 14.

So much of her first major speech was "me too" piggybacking on her husband's vision, it merely reinforced the popular belief that he is still the de facto mayor.

The one place where she made the speech her own was when she talked about education, which is her area of expertise. She announced a seedling pilot program working with Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian to help younger students improve reading, math and technology schools in poorer areas. Cost and details remain undetermined.

Admitting she can do little as mayor to improve education in Nevada, the founder of Meadows School said she will use her bully pulpit to promote education in every speech she gives to stress the need to improve education.

One area where she and her husband disagreed: the homeless. She is more sympathetic to helping the ever-increasing homeless population, which includes veterans and the mentally challenged. She offered sympathy without specifics.

Next year, Mayor Goodman should abide by basic rules of speaking: "Tell us something we don't already know" and "keep it short."

I'm told she recognizes her failings and vows next year's State of the City will be better. That's a promising first step.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison