Editorial: Rhetoric won’t aid homeless

Friday, May 4, 2001 | 9:55 a.m.

It was disappointing that a resolution couldn't be reached this week regarding the fate of the MASH Village homeless shelter. A war of words instead took center stage, and the Las Vegas City Council terminated its agreement with MASH Village. If this decision isn't reversed, an end would come to what has been a successful partnership between the city and MASH Village, a project that has given struggling Las Vegans an all-important opportunity to turn their lives around.

MASH Village's five-year contract with the city to provide homeless shelter services ended in December. During renegotiation a dispute ensued over the fact that a provision in the original agreement called for the operator to make $5 million in capital improvements before the city would sell it the land the facility is located on. The city says the operator has made only $2.5 million worth of improvements, but MASH Village counters that it needs the land first in order to raise the rest of the money -- a sizable amount -- from philanthropic groups.

The exchanges were bitter on Wednesday between Mayor Oscar Goodman and the Rev. Joe Carroll, who runs the 6-year-old shelter. Goodman accused MASH Village officials of lying to him, saying they went back on their word to give him two more weeks to work out a compromise. In response, Carroll said Goodman treated him like dirt. "He is no man of honor," Carroll added. After the meeting was over, Goodman's temper did abate somewhat. MASH Village will continue to operate for at least 10 more days while the city and MASH Village try to resolve this impasse.

What is dismaying about this whole episode is that for years the city of Las Vegas, among all local governments in Southern Nevada, has been the leader in ensuring that the homeless have a place to go for help. MASH Village has been a beacon for the homeless, offering housing, needed medical services and job training. There's too much at stake, then, to walk away from all the good that has been accomplished by MASH Village and the city of Las Vegas. Both sides need to cool the white-hot rhetoric and work out their differences. Otherwise, MASH Village's 105 residents -- which includes 34 families and their 66 children -- will have to fend for themselves on the street. That would be an unacceptable tragedy in a city as prosperous as Las Vegas.