Editorial: City Council gives homeless the shaft

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2001 | 8:44 a.m.

Once again the Las Vegas City Council has balked at providing additional funds to help the homeless. This time it turned down a request for $50,000, money that could have opened a tent shelter this month while a permanent shelter is being built. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said that the city has been deluged with requests from charitable organizations for assistance for laid-off workers. "This is a hard time for everyone, and it's hard to know what to do," Goodman said.

The mayor and the City Council can offer up all the excuses they want, but the reality is that the city could have afforded this request. The Clark County Commission in August set aside $100,000 to help pay for the tent shelter this winter. And as far as the laid-off workers go, last week the commission not only agreed to provide them with breaks on their medical bills at the county-run medical clinics, but the commission also approved giving $200,000 to the United Way for its rent-assistance program.

In the past year the city of Las Vegas has tried to pass the buck on the homeless issue. It certainly isn't a matter that lends itself to easy answers, but the city isn't even trying. A region-wide approach is needed to tackle homelessness, but in order for it to work the city is going to have to show some leadership, a commodity that has been in short supply in City Hall on this issue.