Editorial: Now, on with the job

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 | 8:47 a.m.

After years of quarreling over jurisdiction and levels of responsibility, local governments have taken a big step toward working together on behalf of the 10,000 men, women and children in the area who lack homes.

An agreement has been struck among Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City to hire a regional homeless coordinator. The agreement, worked out in the homeless committee of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition, is nearly certain to receive final approval Thursday during a meeting of the full coalition. The new coordinator, Paula Haynes-Green, has already been selected from among 70 candidates following a national search. She will report to Darryl Martin, director of the Clark County Department of Social Service. The county and cities have agreed to proportionally fund the cost of the new coordinator. This represents, at long last, an acknowledgement that homelessness is a regional issue.

The hiring comes at a good time. Catholic Charities, United Way, local businesses and skilled trades workers are cooperating on a Community Assistance Center for the homeless, Nevada Health Centers recently opened a second clinic and other organizations and volunteers are stepping up their efforts.

We hope all of this means that a new and lasting era of cooperation is under way. We've had five years of no progress, years in which boundary, funding and other disputes have caused homeless services to diminish. Now that our local governments are working more closely together, let's get on with providing those in need with low-cost housing, sufficient shelter, health care, counseling and dozens of other necessary services.