Editorial: A failure to help

Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007 | 7:27 a.m.

Millions of dollars in federal housing subsidies went unused by the North Las Vegas Housing Authority over the past two years despite overwhelming demand, a federal audit has found.

As reported by Timothy Pratt in the Las Vegas Sun on Thursday, the authority failed to use $4.4 million in housing vouchers.

"The housing authority vouchers sat in the office and were not used," Housing and Urban Development spokesman Larry Bush said.

Housing Authority Executive Director Don England called the HUD audit, which was released earlier this month, "accurate."

"We weren't processing them as fast as we could have," he said. "Many that could've gotten housed didn't get housed."

In January 2005, 1,896 people applied for a chance just to get on a waiting list for federal assistance. The agency was understaffed and had problems getting required criminal background checks for potential aid recipients back from the federal government, England and others said.

England says those problems have been remedied, and that is welcome news. The agency has hired more staff and has outsourced the background checks to a private company, which cut the wait from as long as six months to as little as 24 hours.

North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon says the audit is a way for the federal government to try to overcome local objections to its plan to consolidate the North Las Vegas Housing Authority with those of Clark County and Las Vegas. Whether or not there is any credence to Montandon's speculation, no one doubts the audit's findings, which are troubling.

It is unconscionable to have $4.4 million of federal support unspent because of administrative problems, whether the federal government or the city is responsible, when so many people are in need.

The bottom line is not about who runs the housing authorities but how they are run.