Carroll: Original MASH deal is OK

Diana Sahagun

Tuesday, May 15, 2001 | 9:14 a.m.

A new contract for MASH Village is likely to be postponed indefinitely, a city spokeswoman said Monday.

The City Council was scheduled to consider a new contract for the shelter at Wednesday's meeting, but city spokeswoman Andrea Reitan said the item will likely be stricken from the agenda until a future date.

The Rev. Joe Carroll, who runs the shelter, said he would not agree to the city's proposal, which would have given ownership of the land where the homeless shelter sits to a local nonprofit company.

Instead, Carroll, who demanded a new contract earlier this month, now says that the shelter's original contract, which expired in December, is suitable and preferred.

Reitan said although Carroll wants to go back to the original contract, which states the shelter must make $5 million in capital improvements before the city will sell it the land, several city attorneys are exploring the legal ramifications of renewing the contract.

Because the contract lapsed, the city must determine whether it can legally allow Carroll to revert to the expired contract, Reitan said.

Monday, during a radio talk show, Carroll said rather than go through prolonged negotiations, he wanted to proceed with the original contract.

But weeks ago Carroll said the shelter couldn't raise the necessary $5 million because it doesn't own the land and threatened to shut down the shelter when the council voted not to amend the shelter's contract. He said Tuesday he hopes to raise the necessary funds and more in order to gain ownership of the land. He blamed the controversy on petty politics.

"We became the scapegoat of a political debate," Carroll said.