Clearly, the city of Las Vegas has offended the gods of the calendar, and the gods are getting their revenge. 

 It all started when the city declared 2005 to be the "centennial," a random date pegged to the auction of a bunch of lots downtown and not the discovery, first settlement or incorporation of Las Vegas. Mayor Oscar Goodman would later acknowledge this historical inaccuracy, but say he pushed for the party anyway because he wasn’t sure if he’d be around in 2011, which marks 100 years from the when the city was actually incorporated.

 And things have been going wrong with the project since the beginning.

 First, we were promised that almost no taxpayer dollars would be used to pay for "centennial" events. But the city didn’t own up — until CityLife asked recently — to the fact that three city staffers were dedicated full-time to the project, at a cost of at least $223,776. And the city is currently negotiating a "consulting" contract with former "centennial" Executive Director Stacy Allsbrook, who got married and left town recently, so that price will only climb.

Then "centennial" underwriter Clear Chanel Entertainment had trouble getting sponsors for the big Las Vegas party, which is simply lame. Even if it is on false pretenses, underwriting a big Las Vegas party should be as easy as getting a sweetheart deal downtown if your name is Bill Walters.

With financing finally in place, the "centennial" lurched forward, with few people questioning its historical accuracy and boosters all over the place, including the media. Controversy struck, however, when makers of the supposedly donated world’s largest birthday cake, Sara Lee, demanded $95,000 for the creation, most of which was later fed to pigs. Now there were people who didn’t like Sara Lee.

Then today comes word that Clear Channel wants the city to reimburse it $627,209 for the supposedly "free" Red Hot Chili Peppers concert July 2, due to a last-minute venue change. Additional costs include parking, stage hands, insurance and barricades. Read the Review-Journal story on the topic here.

Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell told the R-J that she’s uncomfortable writing a check (only $400,000 remains in the "centennial" fund anyway) but Mayor Oscar Goodman says they’ll settle things up at year’s end and "…at least in me, they’re going to have a friend." Of course they are. A friend who looks beyond the fact that Clear Channel’s contract doesn’t provide for reimbursement should things go wrong.

We sense an extra-special "centennial" edition taxpayer screwing on the horizon. Let’s be sure to pay attention to this closely. If Clear Channel demands extra money, let’s make sure their good friend Oscar Goodman pays for the overage — out of his own pocket. It’s the mayor’s party, after all, so it only seems fair.