Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Parks and plight of the homeless plight

Las Vegas is looking to add legal ammunition to its efforts to shoo the homeless from local parks with a new law that would make it illegal to feed the homeless in any city park.

But representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, who have opposed the city's past efforts on this front, said they also will battle the proposed law, expected to go to the council later this month.

"They are seeking to exclude people who don't fit their definition of community members," Lee Rowland, a local ACLU public advocate, said. "It's a sad day when good Samaritans' efforts like feeding the homeless become the target of criminal charges."

But city leaders and some park neighbors say the free food attracts the homeless to an area far from most other social service agencies, making surrounding homeowners reluctant to use their neighborhood park.

"People are feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods," said Councilman Gary Reese, who strongly supports the proposed ordinance. Reese's ward includes Circle Park in Huntridge, which has been the center of the fight between the city and homeless activist Gail Sacco.

To date, city officials have used a law that limits the size of a gathering at a city park to take Sacco to court for bringing food to the homeless at the park on Maryland Parkway near Charleston Boulevard. She has been charged twice under the city law, which requires anyone planning to host a park gathering for 25 or more people to get a permit.

ACLU officials plan to challenge the charges against Sacco and that law in a federal lawsuit expected to be filed this week.

"The city parks are public spaces, and restricting them to certain groups is unconstitutional," Rowland said, adding that in past cases handing out food to the homeless has been viewed as a protected political expression.

Meanwhile, City Attorney Brad Jerbic said he plans to propose a new ordinance to the City Council on June 21 that would "prohibit mobile soup kitchens in our parks.

"We're never going to issue a permit for a mobile soup kitchen in a city park, so why don't we just say it?" Jerbic said. "It's a very intense use, and it's inconsistent with the recreational use the park was intended for."

Ernesto Masancay, a 41-year-old hotel housekeeper who has lived about a block from Circle Park for seven years, said he won't go to the park "because it's full of bums."

"I'm not against them helping them, but they should do it somewhere else," he said.

Sacco said she understands some neighbors' complaints and concerns about parks becoming a center for assistance for the homeless.

"They don't want the homeless in their park. They just want it to look pretty," she said.

The homeless won't go away even if the help does, she predicts.

"We don't have enough services for the people who are down and out, so it's up to some individuals to step up to the plate," Sacco said.

"A lot of people are fearful of the homeless, and a lot of people say a city park should not be used primarily for social services outreach," she said. "However, the homeless that live in this area cannot and will not walk up to Main and Owens," she added, referring to the area that is home to several homeless services, including soup kitchens and shelters.

"The homeless are there at Circle Park because they feel it is safer and it is cooler," she said.

Jerry Patrick, a 51-year-old homeless man, said the shade from the large trees and the frequent breeze attract him and others to the park more than the free food.

He concedes, however, that "maybe the people wouldn't hang out as long here if she didn't come by."

Patrick said he and other homeless people won't go to the Main Street and Owens Avenue area because it is "overcrowded and filthy."

Sacco, 50, is a retired cafe owner who has been bringing lunch and drinks to Circle and Baker parks several times a week for about a year. Sometimes as many as 100 people line up for food at Circle Park, but she said the turnout at Baker is usually fewer than 20.

"Others were feeding the people there for about three or four years before I was - sometimes handing out McDonald's, sometimes sandwiches, sometimes soup," Sacco said. "But they were intimidated by the city marshals, so they stopped and now they just drop stuff off sometimes."

But Sacco hasn't been scared away. She continued feeding the needy after being cited by city marshals in February and picked up a second citation on May 21. And a new law specifically aimed at how she helps the homeless apparently wouldn't scare her, either.

"It won't stop me," she said.

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