Homeless, community await action on ‘will nots’

Thursday, March 21, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's actions this week on homelessness have both encouraged and confused advocates and civil liberties activists.

A comprehensive plan expected to be approved today by the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's Homelessness Task Force, which is chaired by Goodman, has provided hope for long-term solutions.

But Goodman also this week has indicated that about 150 homeless people in an encampment at Foremaster Lane and Main Street will be moved soon, using arrests if necessary.

Advocates wonder if possible actions at Foremaster and Main show Goodman's new strategy to deal with the segment of the homeless described in the report as the "will nots," those able but unwilling to go to shelters or get jobs.

"I'm hopeful because the regional plan seems to be a positive first step toward solving a complex problem that affects the whole community," said Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"But I'm dismayed that the mayor's plan seems to undermine the regional plan by dealing with the homeless not as people who need help but who need to be eradicated from the community," he said.

Goodman has characterized the sidewalk encampment that stretches for blocks along both Foremaster and Main on several occasions in past weeks as an area of lawlessness and referred to most of the inhabitants as types who refuse services.

"Perhaps the mayor is sending out a message about how he's going to deal with the 'will nots,"' said Brother David Buer, a Franciscan friar who offers meals and other services to the homeless at the Poverello House.

"But you have to ask how we even determine who the 'will nots' are. Who decides? Metro Police? The mayor?

"Also, why would the mayor be doing this now? It's perplexing, because it seems to distract from the larger problem, which is what the regional plan addresses. You would think he would see this," he said.

City spokesman Erik Pappa defended the mayor's actions.

"People shouldn't be premature in judging the plan before we act on it," Pappa said. "We wouldn't be proceeding forward if we weren't sure that everything that we were doing was completely legal."

Homeless advocates also questioned where people moved from Foremaster and Main will go, since officials at the Catholic Charities, Salvation Army and MASH shelters all said Wednesday they have little to no emergency beds available.

"Something has to be done about the area," said Ruth Bruland, executive director of the MASH shelter, located across Main Street from the encampment.

"But whatever's going to be done will not be the most innovative solution, since the Las Vegas Valley as a whole doesn't have enough of any services to help these people," she said.

Several homeless people already have left the area, said Dolores Barron, a woman who said she has been in the area since she lost her job after Sept. 11. She added there is confusion about when the city might act.

At least three she knew left the state, Barron said, and others found other spots in the Las Vegas Valley.

Businesses in the area, which have complained that the encampment hinders their day-to-day activities, are caught in the middle.

Several of them, including Anderson Dairy, Palm Mortuaries and Davis Mortuary, have met in recent weeks with Metro Police and are due to meet with the agency today, said Ned Phillips, vice president for Palm Mortuaries, located on Main Street south of Foremaster Lane.

"There should be more facilities and programs for these people, many of whom have mental illness and addictions," Phillips said.

"I'm not sure if arresting them is a solution, but we're anxious to see what the city comes up with."

Phillips said the area's homeless have slept in the mortuary's driveway and in the doorway of its chapel and used the grounds as a bathroom. He said he is concerned about the safety of the homeless and his clients and the effects the homeless are having on his business.

A few families have asked about the process of disinterring their loved ones in recent weeks, he said, saying they are uncomfortable visiting the graves with the encampment in place.

"I've told them to be patient, that something will be done about the problem.

"We're very compassionate because we work with people dealing with death on a daily basis. But we also have to run a business." Who decides? Metro Police? The mayor?