Editorial: Bond issue is one option for homeless

Thursday, April 25, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.

A$50 million housing bond to assist the homeless in Southern Nevada? It sounds ambitious at first, maybe even preposterous. But in California, voters will get the chance in November to vote for a $2.1 billion bond issue that, if passed, would provide housing for low-income and homeless people. For Southern Nevadans to have the same opportunity to help the area's 10,000 homeless people, they would need a bond issue of about $50 million on the ballot. With Southern Nevada governments, particularly the city of Las Vegas, all having difficulty coming up with money to help homeless people, maybe it's time for a leader to propose the option of going directly to the taxpayers for help.

California Gov. Gray Davis showed leadership Monday in presiding over a four-hour "Governor's Summit on Homelessness" at which he signed legislation that will place the bond issue on the November ballot. Attending the summit were builders, real estate agents, housing advocates and local government officials. While a few skeptics criticized the summit as a political stunt, one fact is indisputable: In California, residents now have a chance to vote on a plan that lays out a solid framework for responding to the homeless issue.

Voting yes on the bond issue will be those who believe that government has a role in providing at least subsistence-level support and that housing is a major component. In Southern Nevada, where local governments are lashing out at each other over the issue, and homeless men and women are being driven from one forlorn encampment to another, voters might want a direct say regarding the course of future policy.