Homeless advocates gather at City Hall

Angela Soo

Thursday, July 26, 2001 | 10:27 a.m.

Homeless advocates gathered around Las Vegas City Hall on Wednesday, hoping that city officials would do more than just talk about solving Southern Nevada's homeless problem.

"Talk is fine, but if it takes aggression to get some action, then I will get aggressive," James McGuinness, a homeless advocate, said.

McGuinness may not have to carry out his threat if the Homeless Task Force is successful in accomplishing its goals. The group met for the first time on Wednesday inside council chambers.

The task force, formed in February, is a subcommittee of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition. The purpose of the task force is to approach the homeless issue from a regional perspective and to develop comprehensive solutions that are proven effective.

"We need to address this problem as a community," Mayor Oscar Goodman, who is also chairman of the task force, said. "The problems are so complex ... there's no such thing as a simple answer. I think this is a healthy way to approach it."

Through the assistance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the group enlisted the help of a San Francisco-based consulting service that specializes in homeless strategies. HomeBase has organized a one-year work plan for the task force.

"HomeBase will serve as our main facilitator," Sharon Segerblom, director of neighborhood services for Las Vegas, said. "We don't have to reinvent the wheel."

The nine-member group, which also includes representatives from the county, North Las Vegas and Henderson, will spend the next seven weeks gathering information and forming strategies to present during a summit meeting in September.

"Today is the first time all of these agencies have come together on a regional level to discuss how they are going to solve our homeless problem," Elaine Sanchez, public information officer for Las Vegas, said.

At the summit, they will invite commissioners from other counties to determine how effective their strategies have been in tackling homeless problems.

They hope to reach a consensus on short- and long-term strategies for the group, but group members agreed that an overriding objective was to provide residents with job-training skills that support self-sufficiency.