National group calls Las Vegas homeless problem ‘astonishing’

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

Shocked and dismayed about conditions for the Las Vegas Valley's estimated 8,000 to 10,000 homeless, two representatives from the nation's oldest and largest homeless advocacy group vowed to become part of the solution in their visit to the region this week.

"I've been following what's going in your city and I find it astonishing," Michael Stoops, director of community organizing for the National Coalition for the Homeless, told a room of about 40 nonprofit and government agencies that work with the homeless Tuesday.

"I've been working on homeless issues for 30 years and I have never seen such inflammatory rhetoric by elected officials as I have seen in the last year or so in Las Vegas."

"The city seems to breed prejudice and hatred toward this population," Lisa Davis, civil rights organizer for the group, said.

The Washington-based group came to the city on a fact-finding trip for its annual report published in January, titled "Illegal to be Homeless."

The report includes a list of the "Ten Meanest Cities" for the homeless around the nation.

"There's a good chance Las Vegas will be on the list this year," Stoops said.

To help remedy what the advocates said was a counter-productive climate of stereotyping and polarized public discourse on the issue, the two said they will be working with local groups such as the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the 70-member Southern Nevada Homeless Coalition to begin a civil rights monitoring project.

The idea is to document cases where homeless in the valley are illegally asked to leave an area or arrested repeatedly for offences such as spitting or loitering.

"We're not saying all law enforcement officials -- or elected officials -- are doing the wrong thing, but there are definitely some that seem to be harassing the homeless," Stoops said.

Davis said the group is also seeking testimony from local homeless people who were filmed in a video being sold on the Internet called "Bumfights," which includes violent scenes and stunts such as men pulling out their teeth with pliers or smoking crack.

The video was made by two Las Vegas-based filmmakers. Davis thinks the national organization may have grounds for filing a lawsuit to stop the video's distribution.

The group also hopes to offer technical assistance to local nonprofits on establishing a trust fund for building affordable housing with the help of federal funds. The idea of a trust fund has been explored by a regional task force on homelessness Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman created more than a year ago, so far with little results.

Other conditions Stoop said he has observed unique to Las Vegas include the public's attitude to the problem of homelessness.

"It seems like every myth you've heard about the homeless can be found here -- that they're all lazy drug addicts or drunks, that it's easy to be homeless, with free food and shelter, that the homeless don't want to work," he said.

"Your public officials tend to encourage these myths. The fact is, 40 percent of the homeless work, and the fastest-growing population of the homeless are families."

He also said the city's homeless population "is one of the most visible," which he attributes partially to a lack of daytime facilities.

The advocates will be visiting area shelters and homeless camps until Thursday and plan to make another visit in November.

"This group's presence speaks volumes about the lack of leadership and the failure of our community on this issue," Gary Peck, executive director for the Nevada chapter of the ACLU, said after hearing the advocates speak.

"But this is not the kind of attention Las Vegas should get for itself. Instead of presenting a face to the world that makes people want to come and visit us ... (it's) one where we're leaving a problem unattended and letting people wander the streets and die in the heat."