Monday, Dec. 6, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.
Despite being mentioned as a possible terrorist target by everyone from local police to outgoing Federal Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Las Vegas will get less homeland security grant money in 2005.
In 2004 the state received about $36 million in homeland security funds, but this year that number has been cut to $28 million, leaving local emergency officials wondering what the federal government is doing.
"I guess this is just politics as usual," said Dr. Dale Carrison, chairman of the Nevada Homeland Security Commission. "We're being told that we're a high priority and a high risk, but then they shortchange us on funds.
"We know that individuals involved with 9/11 were in Las Vegas, and that there have been videotapes that have shown multiple locations in Las Vegas, but apparently those who are distributing the money have not recognized this. People are talking out both sides of their mouths."
The state is set to receive about the same amount of money as Alabama ($28 million), and less than Oklahoma ($29.9 million), Kentucky ($31.4 million), Tennessee ($32.6 million) Oregon ($34.8 million), Colorado ($36.8 million), Wisconsin ($37.2 million) and Arizona ($41.7 million), among others.
All four funding categories in which Nevada received money in 2004 have been substantially reduced for 2005, including grants under the Urban Area Initiative.
The initiative is designed to get money directly to large cities and urban areas most at risk for terrorist attack. In 2004 Clark County received about $10.5 million, but this year that number has dropped to about $8.5 million.
That is less than Denver, $8.7 million; New Orleans, $9.3 million; Phoenix, $9.9 million; Portland, Ore., $10.3 million; Anaheim, Calif., $10.8 million; Baltimore, $11.3 million; and Seattle, $11.8 million.
Rep. Shelley Berkley said that when she asked officials with the Department of Homeland Security why Clark County was receiving less urban area money, she was told it was because threat assessments show Las Vegas faces less of a threat.
"I cannot believe that Portland. Ore., was assessed at a higher threat level than Las Vegas," Berkley said. "I'm very happy that we have gone down on the list of terror targets according to homeland security assessments but I'd like to know why.
"In many instances (with homeland security) we are flying blind and this is a good example."
Aides for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who monitor the Homeland Security Department money streams, said the amount of money granted to each urban area is based on a department threat matrix that measures real vulnerabilities that need more security, such as ports, energy infrastructure and chemical and nuclear plants.
The money distribution is dictated by the department and its formulas, not by the political muscle of congressional lawmakers, one Reid aide said.
Reid, who will be the new Senate Democratic leader in the next session of Congress, is well aware that law enforcement and emergency response officials in Nevada are clamoring for more money, spokeswoman Shannon Eagan said. Reid plans to work with the department to ensure that cities like Las Vegas get more funding, she said. Reid is looking for more federal money for a new emergency communications system in Clark County, aides said.
"He is concerned," she said. "And he will make sure the state of Nevada gets every penny it needs. If the $8 million isn't enough, he will work to make sure there is more next year."
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., likewise is very concerned about the drop in funding for Las Vegas and Nevada, his spokeswoman Amy Spanbauer said.
"It's clear to the congressman that the law needs to be changed to take into account tourism," Spanbauer said.
Spanbauer said that Gibbons plans to meet with Federal Homeland Security officials about the urban area funds, and will introduce legislation next year that makes tourism one of the factors in doling out funds from the other major pot of money known as the State Homeland Security Grant Program.
States across the nation got less money from the state grant funding stream from the Homeland Security Department, department spokesman Marc Short said. But some big cities got more money this year from the department's urban area program, Short said.
"A necessary shift has to begin to focus on those areas that we recognize as the greatest risk," he said.
Cities divvied up $854 million in urban area funds in 2005 versus the $725 million from 2004. The cities receive money based in part on threat assessments and intelligence, Short said.
New York City got the largest grant for 2005 at more than $207 million, up from $47 million received by the city last year. Washington D.C. was awarded $77.5 million, Los Angeles got $61.2 million and Chicago came in with $45 million.
"The fact that Denver and Phoenix get more than Las Vegas is amazing to me," Carrison said. "What targets do they have?
"If the government is worried about us being a terrorist target they have to put their money where their mouth is."
Staffers for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said they were told by the department that last year's money was intended to launch programs and pay for equipment in high-risk cities, and that money this year was merely intended to maintain the programs, not expand them.
"This is not an indication that Las Vegas is diminishing as a terrorist target, or that the importance of providing money to Las Vegas is decreasing in any way," Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said. Ensign plans to keep close tabs on whether the funding is sufficient and request more if Nevada officials say they need it, Finn said.
Along with the urban area grants, Nevada also saw cuts in three other federal grant allocations.
In 2005 the state will get $12.8 million from the State Homeland Security Grant Program, down from the $19.4 million received in 2004. The cut for the law enforcement terrorism prevention program was about $1 million, dropping from $5.7 million in 2004 to $4.6 million for 2005. The volunteer Citizen Corp. Program was cut from $403,520 to $162,598.
The state was allocated $227,592 for 2005 through the Metropolitan Medical Response Program and $2 million from the Emergency Management Performance Program, after receiving no grants from those programs in 2004.
Clark County Emergency Manager Jim O'Brien said that the drop in funding will just make it harder to pay for the security needs of Clark County and the state.
"It serves as an obstacle in bridging the gap in the $750 million in security needs for training, planning, exercises and equipment we need," O'Brien said. "We'll continue to do what we can with what we've got.
"Some East Coast cities did very well, and I think that the money you see is relative to the political muscle."
Carrison said he didn't understand how cities such as Portland, Denver and Phoenix rank as higher threats than Las Vegas, which hosts 35 million visitors a year and the Strip, where 20 of the world's largest hotels sit.
In addition, the annual New Year's Eve gathering on the Strip fits the description of an al-Qaida target because it's a large outdoor gathering. The annual celebration draws more than 250,000 people every year, and is second only to New York City's celebration in size and scope.
Last year's celebration was marked by armed federal agents patrolling the Strip in Blackhawk helicopters and agents on the ground searching for chemical and biological substances. Las Vegas was one of a handful of major cities that was mentioned in terrorist "chatter" and determined to be the site of a possible threat just prior to last year's New Year's celebration.
Nevada Division of Emergency Management Director Frank Siracusa got word about the grant releases Friday morning, and expects to mail out applications to counties and local agencies this week starting the process of distributing the money.
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