LV plan would give $1 million to victims

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday is to consider spending $1 million in federal funds on Hurricane Katrina victims instead of on an affordable housing project.

It is the second such reprogramming of federal housing money to be suggested in the last three weeks. The first one, which was approved by the Clark County Housing Authority, never made it to the Clark County Commission because officials decided it was better to use that different pot of money -- $1.1 million -- for local residents instead of the more recent arrivals, according to county spokesman Erik Pappa.

The city's proposal involves giving the $1 million to the Las Vegas Housing Authority for issuing 12 months of rental assistance to 100 to 110 families who have fled the Gulf Coast.

The proposal is being floated after last week's announcement that the federal Housing and Urban Development Department had run out of housing for Katrina victims after making about 254 apartments available.

City spokesman Jace Radke wrote in an e-mail that the idea is to use the $1 million to help Katrina victims now "and use future funding allocations for the proposed (affordable housing) project when it is ready to break ground."

Even though the matter involves the public's money, Radke refused to provide details about the affordable housing project and did not say exactly where the "future funding" would come from or when.

Radke wrote in a separate e-mail that the money being considered Wednesday was "earmarked for an affordable housing project that is delayed." But he then indicated that it was not possible to tell the public about when, where, how or by whom the housing project would be built because the "Neighborhood Services (department) is currently in negotiations and is not at liberty to discuss any details."

The Clark County Growth Task Force previously identified a lack of affordable housing as one of the major issues in the Las Vegas Valley and recommended that the county look into mixed-use housing developments, among other recommendations.

There were 2,680 people on the waiting list for subsidized housing for the Las Vegas Housing Authority this spring, according to previous reports. It is one of three housing authorities in the valley.