Homeless task force takes no immediate action

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001 | 9:49 a.m.

More than 100 men spent last night sprawled out on the unyielding concrete near MASH Village, just hours after a homeless task force delayed immediate action on a plan that seeks to put an end to the long-running social problem.

The task force, a committee from the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, met for three hours Wednesday to discuss a report that took a comprehensive look at a number of short-term and long-term solutions to wipe out the homeless problem.

The task force members, made up of elected officials and community activists from around the Las Vegas Valley, did not take immediate action but directed staff from the city of Las Vegas to begin gathering information on a number of options to create more housing and outreach for homeless people.

A committee of city managers from around the valley plans to meet in two weeks to discuss the options and present a report to the Regional Planning Coalition in December.

But December is too late, homeless advocates said after the meeting, to solve the immediate need for shelter. The homeless problem has reached climactic proportions in recent months, with a shortage of beds due to the closure of Catholic Charities' shelter for remodeling and many people out of work due to the Sept. 11 tragedies.

"The need is out there today...tomorrow," said Dean Collins, vice president of development for MASH Village. "If we can take 250 men off the street today, why aren't we doing it?"

Homeless advocates have been prodding elected officials for four months to open the MASH Village emergency winter shelter, which can hold 250 men. The shelter is not scheduled to open until December, when it opens yearly until April. Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny challenged local municipalities in August to help open the shelter early, a challenge that was scoffed at by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman -- who characterized the request as a petty game -- and ignored by other municipalities.

"We have a crisis situation going on down there," said Brother David Buer, a Franciscan friar. "There are human beings on the sidewalks every night."

The priorities outlined in the report -- which included information from last month's homeless summit -- addressed short-term and long-term strategies, ranging from three months to three years to accomplish.

Task force members said because they did not have time to review the 13-page report, which was released before the meeting, they did not feel comfortable taking any immediate action, except for directing staff to move forward with gathering information.

The report contained several suggestions to solve the homeless problem by providing affordable and permanent housing, creating new partnerships with other agencies, and creating a new funding mechanism for homeless services and housing.

Goodman released his own priorities, designed to help the city's homeless and especially the mentally ill, with the ultimate goal of self-sufficiency for homeless individuals and families.

Goodman said he planned to call Gov. Kenny Guinn immediately to try to get funding for a new program -- using the state of California as a model -- to conduct daily outreach to the chronically homeless, particularly those suffering with mental illness.

He also proposed opening four "safe haven" shelters throughout Southern Nevada, group homes for the mentally ill. Currently, the Salvation Army provides one safe haven in the city.

Another proposal is to create a homeless trust fund, which would be a 501c3 company managed by a regional board that would pool resources from various agencies and from the private sector to provide money while avoiding duplicity. Goodman said he has discussed the city chipping in $100,000 to start the trust fund.

One initiative already drawing controversy would have Goodman direct Metro Police to begin arresting homeless people who are violating laws, like trespassing. Metro has had a long-running policy to work with homeless people -- not arrest them. Goodman said he would explore giving Metro additional funds to have a presence in the homeless corridor and arrest those who are disrupting nearby neighborhoods.

The proposal concerns Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"I am concerned that somehow the city wants to deal with this problem by criminalizing it," he said. "Metro officers should be commended for refusing to arrest homeless people. They understand that it would be a violation of constutional rights to arrest them when they are out there by virtue of necessity."