Vegas mayor draws critics' ire over remarks about reopening

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nevada officials condemned comments Wednesday by Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman after she called for casinos and other non-essential businesses to reopen and suggested the city could serve as a test case to measure the impact during the coronavirus pandemic. One local official called her comments “reckless and dangerous" and another described them as an “embarassment.”

Goodman, during a 25-minute with Anderson Cooper on CNN, said she wants everything back open, including casinos, restaurants and small businesses, and a return of conventions.

The politically independent mayor suggested that “viruses for years have been here” and said that she had suggested that the citizens of Las Vegas become “a control group” to see how relaxing closures and restrictions would affect the city.

“I offered to be a control group and I was told by our statistician you can't do that because people from all parts of southern Nevada come in to work in the city,” Goodman said. “We would love to be that placebo side so you have something to measure against."

Goodman for weeks has spoken out against Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak's orders shuttering casinos and non-essential businesses, calling it “total insanity” that's “killing Las Vegas.”

Sisolak has repeatedly pushed back, saying that he understands the economic harm the order is causing but saving lives is more important.

Goodman, 81, was elected in 2019 to serve a third and final term as mayor. She has no oversight of the casino-lined Las Vegas Strip because it is outside the city limits, though older downtown casinos near the Freemont Street district fall within its boundaries.

The mayor said Wednesday that while she wants casinos to reopen, she offered no guidance on how they could do so...