Homeless problem visits mayor’s office

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 9:49 a.m.

James Richard Lucas, who is writing a book on the homeless, had never tried to help a homeless person get into a shelter or a hospital until Friday, though he had given some men on the street a bite to eat now and again.

A man he met at the downtown Regional Transportation Commission bus station inspired him to make his first attempt, and brought the issue in the flesh to the upper floors of City Hall.

The homeless man, who said his name was Jeffrey Lee Phillips, said he needed shelter and medical attention. So Lucas, who does not have a car, walked him to City Hall, a block away, and took him up to the office of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

The unexpected visit to Goodman's 10th-floor office came in the thick of recent controversy surrounding the homeless, after the mayor coordinated a sweep of a 175-member homeless camp downtown and has headed ongoing talks to develop a regional solution to the problem.

Phillips was not the first homeless man to show up on the mayor's doorstep, Stephanie Boixo, special assistant to the mayor, said. About six men have sought help from the mayor in recent weeks, but they came on their own, she said.

When the other homeless men showed up at City Hall, staffers "always tried to connect them with services such as job searches or medical help and have even paid for them to stay at Catholic Charities shelter," Boixo said. The men left the shelters after a few days or did not show up for job interviews staffers set up, she said.

This visit was different and angered city staffers, who accused Lucas of trying to embarrass the mayor.

"You don't take homeless people to City Hall if you want them to get treatment," said Erik Pappa, spokesman for Goodman. "You take them to where the services are.

"We think this guy did this as a cheap political stunt and used this other guy as a pawn to try and make a point," he said.

Homeless advocates said the incident reminded them of homeless rallies at City Hall in the 1980s, which helped draw attention to the issue and bring about the construction of shelters in what is now known as the "homeless corridor."

"I know I could round up 25 people easily who don't have a place to stay and take them over to City Hall today," said Linda Lera-Randle El, director of Straight from the Streets, an outreach program.

"But I don't think this would be at all useful to resolving the overall situation, and it would be disrespectful to the homeless to have them on display like that," she said.

Lucas, who was described by the pastor of his church as "a very active citizen and a good Samaritan," said recent news reports on the homeless led him to do what he did.

"Goodman said in the paper that he'd help the homeless get shelter -- even if it was out of his own pocket," he said. Goodman has insisted that there are enough shelter beds for those who want them.

The closest shelter was too far to walk to, Lucas said. He stayed with the man at City Hall for about 20 minutes, then went to First Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, at Maryland Parkway and Bridger Avenue, to talk to his pastor about another of Phillips' requests: baptism.

Phillips was given some doughnuts and staffers decided he should be taken to Nevada Mental Health Services, Boixo said.

Then Phillips began complaining of chest pains. Paramedics were called and he was taken to Valley Hospital, where he spent most of the day in the emergency room. He was discharged about 6 p.m.

Boixo said she didn't know if the homeless man made it to the mental health facility. The mayor's office did what it could, but cases like this show the need for more mental health outreach workers in the streets, she said.

Lucas said he had no agenda.

"I hadn't seen this man before on the streets, and he didn't look as far gone as most of the people you see -- so I guess I thought I could do something good," he said.

He added he learned something from the day's events.

"What this illustrates to me is that what I did was probably a wasted effort," he said.

"There's most likely no change at all in this man's situation, and he's probably asleep against a wall somewhere right now."