MASH plan faces a gentler council

Diana Sahagun

Monday, Feb. 4, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.

When MASH Village this week proposes a contentious land exchange that was shot down a year ago, agency officials will appear before a less hostile Las Vegas City Council that in recent months has pushed homeless issues to the forefront.

Mayor Oscar Goodman, who led a vote last March to refuse the exchange and got into a yelling match with MASH Village founder Rev. Joe Carroll, this time is keeping quiet on the issue, reserving judgment for Wednesday's council meeting.

MASH Village will also have on its side Councilman Michael Mack, who last year was unable to vote on the proposal but tried then to bring the city and the agency to an agreement. Mack's term as an honorary board member for MASH Village has expired, and he says he will be able to vote on Wednesday.

The San Diego-based charity also thinks that the events of the past year are in the agency's favor. There is a more positive climate on the issue of homelessness because of the city's effort to solve the problem through the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's homeless task force.

But not much has changed in MASH Village's land exchange proposal, which is nearly identical to last year, when the council turned it down. The shelter was required to make $5 million in capital improvements last year before the city would give the agency the land on Main Street.

MASH had made only $2 million in capital improvements when it asked for the land exchange last year, and the council was put off by Carroll's threats to close the shelter if the agency did not receive the land.

MASH Village is still required to raise $5 million before the city will turn over the land, according to the new contract approved last May.

Like last year, MASH has raised only a portion, $1.5 million. And as they argued last year, MASH Village officials maintain that they will be unable to raise the total unless the agency owns the land.

And like last year, Carroll -- who is scheduled to attend the meeting -- has said if the agency does not receive the land, he will close the campus, agency officials say.

Ruth Bruland, executive director of MASH Village, said she is more confident heading into Wednesday's meeting because of the city's efforts in recent months in combating the homeless problem.

"It is so different out there than it was a year ago," she said. "I am just hoping that MASH Village is seen as a key player in everything that the city has planned."

Mack said he is hopeful the item goes more smoothly than last year.

"I haven't talked to any of my colleagues, but hopefully it's not as contentious as last year," he said. "If this agreement is not approved, what are we going to do if MASH leaves?"

The proposal states that if the city turns over the land, the agency will agree to build a new transitional living center, administration offices, medical clinic and senior housing apartments. The agency will spend a minimum $3.5 million before March 31, 2007, or the entire 10-acre campus will revert to the city.

"I think what we're asking the council to say is whether they want Father Joe's MASH Village to be part of a long-term plan in dealing with homelessness in the Las Vegas Valley," Bruland said. "And the way that can be communicated to us is by them approving this proposal and giving us a shot at becoming permanent."

MASH Village is asking the city to turn the land over to St. Vincent de Paul Management, the nonprofit San-Diego-based firm that runs MASH Village. A local nonprofit board, made up of community leaders with one member from MASH Village, would manage the programs.

Goodman said last year that he would not give the land to an out-of-state company. The contract approved last May states the land must be transferred to a nonprofit board.

The city has until March 31 to complete the contract, Bruland said.

"If we don't get the vote of confidence from the council ... ultimately Father Joe would leave town," she said.