LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Las Vegas Mayors Oscar and Carolyn Goodman are known for speaking their minds.
But as mayors of Las Vegas, outlandish and sometimes controversial comments can land them in hot water and make headlines.
They addressed some of the biggest controversies of their administrations in a recent interview with Channel 13's Tricia Kean.
WATCH 'THE GOODMAN YEARS' HERE
There was a time Oscar Goodman suggested cutting off thumbs after someone defaced the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.
"The old-fashioned way of having a public punishment; I really mean that," Goodman said in an old interview. "They make fun when I say 'cut off the thumbs.' That was just an example."
And there's the time Goodman says he was just being honest when speaking to a group of fourth-graders.
"If I was on an island, stranded in the ocean, what's the one thing I want with me? And I said 'gin,'" Goodman said at the time.
OSCAR GOODMAN: "I've always done it my way: a little unusual. I've had a little bit of controversy."
TRICIA KEAN: "Talk about that. I mean, the cutting off the thumbs and having a bottle of gin if you were stranded on an island. Any regrets saying that?"
OSCAR GOODMAN: "Absolutely none. What's there to regret?"
CAROLYN GOODMAN: "Any normal person would have said, 'my wife, a Bible, children.' No, I have to hear he said 'Bombay Sapphire gin.'"
ACCUSED OF ETHICS VIOLATIONS
Perhaps the most controversial moments of Goodman's administration came in 2004, when complaints were filed against Oscar for ethics violations — accusing him of abusing his power to promote a business owned by his son Ross.
Ultimately, the allegations were dismissed. But in true Oscar fashion, he doesn't hold back about how he feels.
"Everything I did was challenged as an ethical violation. There was one fellow here — I don't know what happened to him; maybe he's the guy who's in the bucket or the barrel out at the lake," Goodman said. "Even though I was the subject of these hearings, I never felt that I did anything wrong at all — and didn't lose a second of sleep; not a moment's sleep."
TRICIA KEAN: "And the Supreme Court ruled in your favor."
OSCAR GOODMAN: "Yes, of course. I mean, there was no doubt in my mind."
"DON'T SHUT US DOWN"
Carolyn Goodman has been the center of her own controversy while in office.
TRICIA KEAN: "It was during COVID. You really felt that we should open up the businesses and get back..."
CAROLYN GOODMAN: "Leave them open, not shut down. I asked the governor, 'Don't shut us down.'"
That opinion made national headlines after an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper.
"This isn't China. This is Las Vegas, Nevada," Goodman said in her old interview with Cooper.
"Wow, OK. That's really ignorant," Cooper responded.
TRICIA KEAN: "How do you feel about that now?"
CAROLYN GOODMAN: "I'm waiting for an apology from Anderson Cooper... I was embarrassed for him as a professional who sits in a very pretty spot, to ask such dumb questions and be so rude. And (I) keep hearing about it all the time."
The interview drew the ire of late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, who called for Goodman to resign.
"Mayor Carolyn Goodman revealed her lunacy to Anderson Cooper and the whole country," Kimmel said in a 2020 episode of "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
But Carolyn is unapologetic.
CAROLYN GOODMAN: "We're in a unique state. We're trying to diversify everything. But the reality was, we are who we are. We depend 100 percent, almost, on our tourist industry."
TRICIA KEAN: "So today, now that we're post pandemic, how do you feel about it?"
CAROLYN GOODMAN: "Exactly the same. I would have — if I could have controlled it, I would have. I mean, definitely. And as we find out more and more, it will absolutely substantiate why we shouldn't have shut this city, this state down, and to put all these people out of work."
Channel 13's exclusive interview and televised special, The Goodman Years, aired Tuesday, March 25. Find more exclusive interviews and insight into how the Goodmans have shaped Las Vegas at ktnv.com/goodmanyears.
