Officials celebrate $2.9 million in grants to fight drugs

Erin Neff

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 11:26 a.m.

Just hours after President Clinton signed a record $24.5 billion budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo called his political allies in Las Vegas to announce $2.9 million in grants for local anti-drug programs.

"This is the best HUD budget in 10 years," the secretary said Wednesday via a conference call from Washington, D.C., to U.S. Sen. Harry Reid's downtown office as local officials gathered for their share of ceremonial checks on oversized pieces of blue cardboard.

The Las Vegas Housing Authority received the largest grant -- $1,416,270. Of that, $722,020 will be used to hire more security and fund more Metro Police services. The remaining $694,250 will fund after-school programs.

"These grants give us the resources to put in place preventive programs, after-school programs and ways to help people help themselves," Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones told Cuomo during a press conference to announce the awards.

Clark County received $476,402, of which $201,000 will go toward community policing programs at four housing developments, to purchase vehicles and focus on welfare-to-work programs. The rest will fund programs like Classroom on Wheels, the Clark County Parks and Recreation "New Directions" and the Henderson Boys and Girls Club programs.

"We need to look at solving community problems from a holistic point of view," said Clark County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates. "We look at things from a broader point of view."

North Las Vegas got $829,500, of which $250,000 will be used for the construction of computer learning centers at the Centennial Park Arms I and II housing projects.

"When we applied for these grants, we weren't doing things by the book, so to speak," Reid said. "To keep up with the modern drug traffickers, you have to be modern yourself."

A $225,000 grant was also awarded to the city of Reno Housing Authority for a "Weed and Seed" program to eliminate drug use and gang activity.

Cuomo held similar phone conferences nationwide to announce $35 million in grants to New York City, $10.2 million in Alabama, $14.9 million in New Jersey, $15.7 million in Ohio and $10.7 million in Massachusetts.

All told, $305.2 million in grants were awarded Wednesday to 749 public housing authorities, 39 Indian tribes and 143 privately-owned housing developments that receive HUD assistance.

HUD has awarded more than $1.6 billion in "Drug Elimination Grants" since 1989. Although the grants are non-renewable, housing authorities can re-apply for funding each year, according to Kenneth J. LoBene, HUD's coordinator in Nevada.

"You had to have a great plan in place to win today," Cuomo said, adding that just one in three applicants received funding in the "ferocious competition."

When the secretary announced the details of HUD's budget -- which contains $2 billion more than last year -- he mentioned additional funds would be available for enterprise zones.

"I want to put in our plug right now," Gates said. "We believe that we have put together the strongest application."

Cuomo laughed, adding "I was waiting to see how long it would take you to jump on that chance."

Jones said public housing residents were "actively involved in selecting" the types of programs the city will implement with the grant.

Reid said that in the past, "It used to be we would just bring in the cops."

Now, however, he said, with drugs remaining a "cancer" in public housing, a multi-faceted approach involving security, education and intervention programs works best.