Monday, June 21, 2004 | 9 a.m.
Most of us remember TV commercials based on the theme of "Pay me now, or pay me later." One image was of a hefty garage mechanic, handing a shockingly high bill to a car owner who had ignored inexpensive, routine maintenance. The theme was revived last week when Phil Mangano, the Bush administration's energetic point man on homelessness, visited Las Vegas. In a meeting with the Sun's Editorial Board, he explained how virtually ignoring the needs of the homeless -- the policy favored by Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman -- avoids immediate expenses but packs a financial wallop when the proverbial "later" arrives.
Goodman doesn't want the city paying for year-round shelters, emergency weather shelters, housing, food, counseling, job training, health care or much of anything for homeless people. This strategy shaves a few bucks from the city's daily expenses, but costs a fortune when all the publicly financed hospitalization and law enforcement expenses for the homeless are tallied later. Mangano, while attending the first statewide conference on ending chronic homelessness in Las Vegas last week, noted Goodman's practice of blockading progress on the area's homeless front.
In the language of a diplomat, Mangano said, "Mayors all over the country not only have compassion fatigue, they have solution fatigue." In a more direct reference to Goodman, he said the mayor "isn't all the way there yet" when it comes to dealing with the issue. We disagree. The fact is that Goodman has had more than five years in office and hasn't even started dealing with the issue in any positive way.
Mangano, who is considered a hero in Massachusetts for the programs he started there for homeless people, favors local homeless policies that include providing housing and treatment for mental illness and drug addictions. Consistent with Bush administration policy, he is challenging mayors all over the country to develop 10-year plans to end chronic homelessness. He told the Sun's Editorial Board that such programs have tangible results in saving lives, while also saving enormous amounts of money in the long run.
We need a mayor who can see the light on homelessness and get a progressive program working here. It's very typical for a Goodman speech about homeless people to be laced with hostility toward them. We can have all the Philip Manganos in the world coming here, with their good ideas, but it won't do any good until our own local leaders, Goodman in particular, drop their personal prejudices in favor of good public policy.
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