Editorial: Oversight long overdue

Thursday, May 27, 2004 | 9:29 a.m.

A month ago the city of Las Vegas shut down the Sky-Vue Mobile Park because of leaking sewers and faulty wiring. The city's action came after an investigation by the Las Vegas Sun revealed the deplorable conditions there. In response to what happened at Sky-Vue, an array of local government and state regulators got together on Tuesday to discuss ways to be more pro-active, so that other trailer parks don't reach a crisis point that requires them to be shut down, forcing residents out of their homes.

Ironically, on the morning that the local and state task force met, Clark County's chief building inspector said that a maintenance man at another mobile home community, College Inn on Lake Mead Boulevard, told him that an illegal sewer pipe had been installed there. That park is owned by the owners of Sky-Vue -- Sandi and David DiMarco.

Most mobile home communities are well-run, but there are other Sky-Vues out there. It's going to take a real commitment from local and state regulators to get rid of the bad actors. No one in this city should have to live in fear that their home's wiring is so bad that it might burn down or that they might be exposed to raw sewage.