Editorial: City treats homeless like dirt

Friday, May 10, 2002 | 9:23 a.m.

Mayor Oscar Goodman might as well post signs beside all roads leading into Las Vegas blaring his message to the homeless: Get out! For the three years he has been in office he has paid lip service to real homeless solutions while his tangible actions have been callous and unenlightened. He bad-mouths the unfortunate souls on the streets at every opportunity and periodically sends out the city marshals to break up their encampments and scatter them to some new location, where the cycle will repeat itself in a few weeks' time.

The latest incident was this past Saturday at dawn, when 50 to 75 homeless men and women were moved along by city marshals from two camps in the downtown area. There were no social services providers among the city force, except for Ruth Bruland, executive director of the overcrowded MASH Village homeless shelter, who handed out tickets for bed space that does not exist. It was all she had to give them, she said, adding that she felt stupid being out there and that the whole affair was sad.

Twelve hours before the raid by the marshals, many of whom were reluctant themselves to be engaged in such activity, the homeless people were given notice that they would be dispersed at first light. Of course, Saturday at dawn is not the time to be looking for shelter assistance in this city -- the few spaces available are always spoken for long before the weekend arrives. Extremely troubling was the experience of Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the nonprofit group Straight from the Streets. She had a replacement hearing aid for one homeless person and had made a doctor's appointment for another whose pregnancy is at risk. Swept off into the void, these two were among people she couldn't find.

Under Goodman, the city of Las Vegas has ended its $500,000 annual subsidy of MASH, which was the rock upon which the shelter was built in the previous mayoral administration. It's time for the Goodman administration to do more than pay a share of the costs for tents at the shelter. Maybe the city's talk of a regional solution will prove to be fruitful at some point, but that's not helping anyone now. If it won't provide MASH with any operating money, the city could at least designate an area for homeless people to congregate where outreach workers could find them and marshals would leave them alone.

AT ISSUE:

The city relentlessly pursues its policy of breaking up homeless camps and forcing the people to relocate while only half-heartedly pursuing other solutions.

OUR TAKE:

If the city is not going to provide any funding for real solutions, it could at least designate an area where the homeless people could congregate in peace.