Failure to fund is a blow to safety

J. Craig Anderson

Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

Long-term efforts to keep Southern Nevada residents and visitors safe face an uncertain future because of the way the federal government hands out anti-terrorism grants, local officials say.

The Homeland Security Department's recent decision to remove Southern Nevada from its A-list of terrorist targets has put some long-term projects in jeopardy, county Emergency Manager Jim O'Brien said.

"It thwarts our efforts to move forward," he said.

The federal Urban Area Security Initiative grant program has doled out nearly $19 million to Clark County since the program began in 2003. Other homeland security grant programs have provided an additional $29 million.

That money has been used to improve coordination between public safety, health and other government agencies by installing better radio and microwave technology to replace or augment incompatible communications systems, O'Brien said.

Grant money also has been used to purchase chemical and biological hazard detectors and analyzers, protective suits and other safety equipment.

But Southern Nevada still has a long way to go toward achieving its goal of being fully prepared for a devastating attack, O'Brien said. That would cost an additional $700 million.

Without explanation or warning, federal officials cut Southern Nevada from the list of guaranteed funding recipients for 2006.

Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid said that kind of volatility cripples the county's ability to think ahead.

"If they're going to, willy-nilly, change the criteria ... how are we going to plan for the future?" Reid said.

The exact reasons for nixing Las Vegas from the list are classified as top secret, but Homeland Security spokesman Marc Short said the changes come as the department reassesses risk.

He said that means the department "will have to make some tough decisions, and criticism will inevitably come with that."

Still, Nevada officials have said leaving Las Vegas off the list defies logic and common sense.

Officials from Sheriff Bill Young, a Republican, to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have spoken out against the decision and demanded an explanation since the department released its new list of 35 "at-risk" urban areas.

Other communities have dropped off or been added to the list during the grant program's first three years, but Short said the list of recipients should stabilize as the program evolves.

He said it is not an entitlement program, and recipients are warned that they should not expect the funding to continue indefinitely.

"It should be viewed as a two-year allocation of funds," he said.

Even though Southern Nevada is off this year's list, emergency management officials can still apply for "sustainment funding" to maintain ongoing projects. Clark County is applying for that money and will compete against 10 other communities that were cut from the list.

O'Brien said the county won't know until June whether it will get the funds.

"There are no guarantees," he said.

If Clark County remains off the list in 2007, it will no longer be eligible for sustainment funding, O'Brien said. Losing the "at-risk" status does not preclude Clark County from applying for other types of homeland security grants such as funding for law enforcement and emergency medical efforts, however.

Still, O'Brien said losing the security grants will make it difficult to estimate when certain long-term projects will be completed, such as one to improve emergency communications in rural areas.

"There's no telling, because we don't know what our budget is," he said.

Short said he sympathizes with Nevada officials' frustration, but said it's impossible to guarantee funding for the future.

"Each year of this program, Congress has changed the level of funding," he said.

But Rory Reid said the Homeland Security Department's actions show a lack of commitment to Southern Nevadans' safety.

"The federal government is no longer a good partner," he said.

J. Craig Anderson can be reached at 259-2320 or at craig@lasvegassun.com.