Council votes to contribute to homeless-shelter funding

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2001 | 10:37 a.m.

Boulder City officials will pay $5,629 toward reopening a temporary, air-conditioned shelter for the homeless in Las Vegas until a permanent shelter can be built nearby.

The vote Tuesday by the Boulder City Council marks the first acceptance of a challenge issued earlier this month by County Commissioner Erin Kenny. Kenny asked each of the jurisdictions in Southern Nevada to pay a population-based share of the $563,000 needed to reopen the MASH Village homeless tent for nine months while a new shelter, operated by Catholic Charities, is constructed.

The cities of Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas have criticized the plan variously as a "Band-Aid" approach and as unfair in its distribution of responsibility. Officials have also said they already budget significant funds for the homeless every year.

Boulder City officials on Tuesday said that although they have no homeless population, they want to help. The city has no shelter and no soup kitchens. Boulder City Welfare occasionally provides food baskets for families.

"Boulder City views itself as not having a homeless problem. But we are part of a larger region," Councilman Bryan Nix said. "We have friends in other regional governments and we should participate, even if it's more symbolic than anything else. It will send a message."

Councilwoman Andrea Anderson, noting Boulder City's dependence on Clark County for many services, called the money "a small insurance payment."

Kenny's proposal would require larger payments from the other municipalities: the county would pay $231,000; Las Vegas, $191,000; Henderson, $79,000; and North Las Vegas, $51,000.

Mesquite, which would have paid $5,600, rejected the proposal Tuesday in a vote by the City Council. Residents of Mesquite, 85 miles northeast of Las Vegas, would find it difficult to use the facility, Mesquite City Manager Bryan Montgomery said.

For Franciscan friar David Buer, who has been speaking before government officials and holding vigils in the streets outside casinos, Boulder City's vote provided some hope. He urged the other municipalities, as well as casinos, to provide their share of the grant.

"People are suffering out there. We need to stop this situation where people are so vulnerable in the streets. We need to get them off the street," he said.