Controversy over access to Strip’s sidewalks leaves Salvation Army ringing the blues

Sam Skolnik

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2006 | 7:01 a.m.

It's a classic Christmas image: the Salvation Army bell-ringer in a red Santa outfit, with a small kettle nearby to accept funds for the needy and downtrodden.

In recent years those bell-ringers have become an increasingly accepted presence on the Strip. But this year one casino told them they are not welcome.

According to Salvation Army officials, a bell-ringer working on a sidewalk in front of the Aladdin last weekend was pressured to leave the property.

When officials from the nonprofit charity called the casino's security office, they said they were told it was an "eminent domain" issue and the casino had a legal right to order the bell-ringers off the sidewalk.

"They pass out pornography all over the place. But the bell-ringers? They shut us out? I mean, come on. Look at all the good we do in the world," said Charlie Desiderio, director of development and marketing for the Salvation Army of Clark County.

An Aladdin official responded that a security officer last Saturday did approach a bell-ringer near the north entrance of the casino, and suggested that she move toward a Clark County-owned "island" between the Aladdin and Paris Las Vegas next door.

Significant construction has been taking place near the hotel's Strip entrance, Aladdin spokeswoman Amy Sadowsky said. "Our primary concern is for the safety of our guests and the safety of the people walking by," she said.

The island is a high pedestrian traffic area anyway, said Sadowsky, who noted Wednesday afternoon that she'll be meeting with Salvation Army officials next week to discuss the issue. "She was redirected to a better spot."

Desiderio said that the Salvation Army has had a tougher time this year generally in dealing with Strip hotels. But they have found a couple of exceptions, Paris and the Mirage, that have welcomed them.

He said they are in discussions with two other large hotels, the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay, to place bell-ringers at those properties through Christmas.

Every year, Desiderio said, the Salvation Army in Clark County raises about $18 million to assist the homeless, jobless and others in need of help. About $400,000 of that money, he said, comes from the 50 or so men and women who ring the bells.

There's a larger issue at stake, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The Salvation Army, the ACLU says, shouldn't be required to receive a hotel's permission to raise funds on a front sidewalk, even if that sidewalk is owned by the casinos, which is the case in many Strip hotels.

According to a recent federal court ruling, the sidewalks in front of casinos were deemed public thoroughfares, where First Amendment speech and assembly rights are always protected, said Allen Lichtenstein, the attorney for the ACLU of Nevada. That includes charitable solicitations from groups such as the Salvation Army, he said.

"It doesn't matter whether the land under the sidewalk is owned by the casino, the county or the man on the moon," Lichtenstein said.