Deal gives homeless shelter reprieve: MASH Village will stay open 10 more days

Diana Sahagun

Friday, May 4, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

More than 180 people living or accessing services at the MASH Village homeless shelter face an uncertain future, as they wait day-to-day for a permanent decision on whether the shelter will close its doors.

After threatening to shut down earlier this week, the Rev. Joe Carroll, who heads the shelter, made an agreement with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on Thursday evening to continue operating for 10 more days while negotiations continue.

The two-hour meeting will insure the shelter, medical clinic and transitional living center will remain open -- but for just how long is unknown.

Thursday's agreement came after months of negotiations that eventually spiraled out of control this week and sent Carroll packing.

Their battle came to a head Wednesday when Goodman voted with the rest of the council not to give in to Carroll's ultimatum that the city sell it the land on which the shelter sits. When the council voted not to amend the shelter contract for the land transfer, Carroll said he would shut the shelter down in 30 days.

Before Thursday night's meeting, Carroll was poised to shut down the crisis intervention center at 2 p.m. today. After the meeting, Assistant City Manager Betsy Fretwell said the council will funnel up to $25,000 to the crisis center so it can remain open. According to the city's ordinance, City Manager Virginia Valentine can authorize expenses up to that amount without prior approval of the City Council.

In the coming days the city will explore other options, which include looking for a new provider to run the shelter if Carroll leaves, or working on a new contract with MASH Village. The department will also work on bringing a long-term plan for the homeless shelter back to the council.

"The city is committed to serving the homeless population and we're trying to make sure we do anything and everything to assist MASH," Fretwell said.

Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack is in a unique position to help bring both parties together. Although he abstained from Wednesday's vote because he sits on the board of directors for MASH Village, he's also acted as a mediator to bring the two parties together.

"When you put all the feelings aside, both sides have the common goal as to serve the homeless," Mack said. "I have been trying to push the emotions to the side and get them back to the table. I don't think the city wants to push MASH out and I don't think MASH wants to leave."

Their attempt to find a solution is far from the harsh words exchanged Friday after Goodman and Carroll stopped just short of calling each other liars.

On Tuesday Goodman met with MASH Village board member and founder Arnie Stalk and the two agreed to continue the discussions for two weeks so the parties could reach an agreement.

But at Wednesday's City Council meeting, Carroll said he needed an answer as to whether the city would sell it the land. Furious at being threatened, Goodman made the motion to deny the amendment.

Carroll said Stalk had no authority to enter into an agreement, but the board member in an e-mail sent to Goodman Thursday said otherwise. Stalk wrote that he was given full authority to negotiate on behalf of MASH Village.

Stalk wrote that he was so disappointed upon hearing news that the shelter was closing that he submitted his resignation from the board of directors of MASH Village effective immediately.

"I find Father Joe's behavior by refusing to negotiate with the city of Las Vegas to be irresponsible to the people we serve. If Father Joe leaves our city, so be it. He is a good man, however I cannot support his behavior on this critical issue. I feel betrayed and lied to," Stalk wrote.

Carroll, though, tells a completely different story -- one which Goodman says is untrue. Carroll disclosed this week that Goodman had made an agreement with him in December to sell the land to MASH Village.

"I did not make an agreement with him in December," Goodman said at his weekly press conference Thursday afternoon.

The original contract that expired in December said the city would sell the land to MASH Village as long as it put in $5 million in capital improvements. The shelter, though, has put in less than $2 million. Board members said they cannot raise enough funds because they did not own the land -- something potential donors were requiring.

In the middle of this tug-of-war is 180 people who live and receive assistance through MASH Village. They've gone from believing that the shelter would close, to a glimmer of hope that it will remain open.

The Crisis Intervention Center provides immediate services through public and private agencies available in one location. It opened in 1995 and has 30 agencies under one roof, including the Clark County School District, Nevada Welfare Division, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The center also provides the homeless with services such as career counseling, GED classes, and a telephone bank for contacting potential employers. More than 18,000 clients accessed employment services in the last year.

Wednesday's announcement that the shelter was closing came as a shock to those waiting inside the lobby for appointments with the welfare office or for referrals for medical treatment.

"I don't want to be here," one woman said, her belongings packed onto a small luggage pull cart and bound with twine. "But it's sure better than what's out there."

The shelter also provides transitional housing for 180 family members, including single mothers and fathers with children, and intact families. A winter shelter -- which recently closed for the season -- provides beds for 250 single men.

The shelter medical clinic provides free heath care to the homeless. The clinic opened last year with the help of Lake Mead Hospital and University Medical Center, to cut down on the numbers who were walking into the emergency room for routine care. The clinic sees 600 patients a month.

MASH Village was created with the help of former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, who envisioned establishing a community of services in one location to aid the homeless. The city of Las Vegas and Clark County joined together in 1995 to build the shelter.

But her vision is different than Goodman's.

Goodman, who chairs the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, says Las Vegas is carrying the brunt of the homeless problem and says it should be spread out among all governments.

City Councilman Lawrence Weekly, who represents the ward that includes the homeless shelter, said Las Vegas cannot continue to carry all the weight of the homeless problem.

"My hope is the public will start to realize this is a regional problem," Weekly said. "I don't think any of us didn't sympathize with those women and children. But for years the city has been taken advantage of."