Published on: November 4, 2024, 08:01h. 

Last updated on: November 4, 2024, 08:04h.

There’s another significant election on Nov. 5 — for the city of Las Vegas. Residents will choose their first mayor who is not a Goodman in 25 years. (Both Oscar Goodman and his wife, Carolyn, served three terms each.) Regardless of whether Shelley Berkley or Victoria Seaman wins, one thing remains clear…

Neither candidate will have any control or influence over activities on the Las Vegas Strip. The misconception that Las Vegas mayors do have such authority stems from another misconception we have previously debunked — that the city of Las Vegas encompasses the Las Vegas Strip.

It doesn’t. If your entire Vegas trip involves arriving at Harry Reid International Airport and staying on the Strip, you will never actually be in the city of Las Vegas, which is commonly referred to as downtown.

In reality, Las Vegas Boulevard (formerly Highway 91) was renamed in 1959 not because most of it passed through Las Vegas, but because most of it led to Las Vegas.

This distinction is often overlooked by members of the public and media who are not local residents, and there is a deliberate effort to perpetuate this myth, carried out by those implicated in the myth.

No Las Vegas mayor has ever objected to being mistaken for overseeing the most famous part of Clark County. This is why Mayor Carolyn recently criticized the Oakland A’s for their Strip relocation plans, which was picked up by national media outlets.

Mayor Oscar, affectionately known as O.G., was particularly guilty of this behavior. Often surrounded by showgirls, the former mob attorney would regularly make appearances, hold press conferences, and attend major openings in a place where he was not the actual mayor.

Local residents calling him out would reportedly be met with the response, “They don’t know I’m not the mayor here.”

When asked specifically about the extent of his jurisdiction by NBC’s Chris Matthews in 2007 during an interview at Caesars Palace, O.G. responded, “I’m the mayor of everywhere!”

We appreciate O.G., we truly do.

Why Strip Casinos Play Along

Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip also benefit from this myth. Having the official Mayor of Las Vegas attend their events further legitimizes their claim on Las Vegas as an address.

All Strip casinos are located in the unincorporated Nevada townships of Paradise or Winchester, allowing their corporate owners to avoid paying additional taxes to an actual city. (The US Postal Service has disregarded their inaccurate Las Vegas addresses since the townships were founded by the casinos’ mob owners in the early ’50s.)

The only individuals who seek to clarify the geographical boundaries of the Las Vegas mayor’s authority are the Clark County commissioners. These seven elected officials are the ones who actually govern the Strip.

That is why, starting in 2013, then-Commissioner (later Nevada Governor) Steve Sisolak initiated Clark County’s own “Key to the Las Vegas Strip” awards, excluding any city official (i.e., the mayor) from participating in the ceremonies.

Mayor Carolyn did not take kindly to being excluded from a Key to the Las Vegas Strip presentation to Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood in 2014, criticizing the move as “ridiculous” and “childish.”

Recently, Commissioner Tick Segerblom proposed renaming Clark County to Las Vegas County to reduce confusion. This would decrease the likelihood of Strip casinos inviting irrelevant mayors to their events and increase the commission’s international visibility.

In response, Mayor Carolyn diplomatically downplayed Segerblom’s suggestion while appearing to take the high road.

Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. To read previously debunked Vegas myths, visit VegasMythsBusted.com. Have a suggestion for a Vegas myth that needs debunking? Email [email protected].