Editorial: Homeless issue stirs image fear

For some North Las Vegas officials, image is everything. They worry that when valley residents drive north on Las Vegas Boulevard and enter North Las Vegas city limits -- what North Las Vegas calls the city's "gateway" -- they sometimes see homeless men, women and children loitering along the street.

This upsets North Las Vegas Mayor Mike Montandon. He believes valley residents mistakenly think that the city has a homeless problem when the homeless shelters actually are located in Las Vegas, just across the border that separates the two cities. North Las Vegas Councilwoman Stephanie Smith is so concerned that she wants the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition to address the issue of homeless shelters in the valley.

Yes, the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities, Shade Tree and the MASH Village are all located close together near, but outside, North Las Vegas. But a Salvation Army official says that more than half of the people his organization helps are North Las Vegas residents.

Smith believes that the shelters should be spread throughout the valley equally. But as shelter officials note, consolidating services near one another is more efficient, especially when funding is so tight. For instance, while Catholic Charities serves lunch during the day the Salvation Army dishes up dinner in the evening.

Even the charitable act of serving a meal can't warm Montandon's heart, though. "At a certain point, by feeding the homeless, you are no longer serving them. You are just attracting them," Montandon told the Sun's Scott Reeder in an article published Sunday.

Las Vegas has tried to be a good neighbor, even honoring North Las Vegas' requests to prevent some businesses from selling alcohol in the area near the shelters. Ironically, one of the homeless men interviewed by Reeder for his story said one reason he went to North Las Vegas during the day was to buy cheap wine from convenience stores there.

Despite the concerns of Montandon and Smith, it's tough to take them seriously. North Las Vegas' concerns are misguided and seem a manifestation of the city's overall insecurity of playing second fiddle to its larger neighbor, the city of Las Vegas.

If North Las Vegas officials spent half as much time devoting their energies to devising innovative homeless solutions as they do obsessing about their city's image, then they might actually come up with constructive suggestions instead of acting like whiners.

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