Despite protests about a “war on the poor,” Las Vegas officials
passed a law Wednesday making it illegal for the homeless to sleep on streets
when beds are available at established shelters.
The issue spurred emotion and drama, including the ejection by
city marshals of several audience members who Mayor Carolyn Goodman deemed
disruptive during a daylong City Council meeting that drew dozens of
time-limited comments.
Most people spoke against the law before the 5-2 council vote.
The measure will apply to the city’s downtown urban core, not the tourist-heavy
Las Vegas Strip, which is overseen by a different jurisdiction.
Goodman, the sponsor of the measure, called it imperfect but
necessary to deal with what officials and downtown business owners characterize
as a homeless crisis.
“This is flawed but it is a start,” the mayor said after noting
Las Vegas’ economy relies on its image as an attractive international tourist
attraction.
“We have been having these conversations for 20 years,” she
said, “and we must have results.”
Las Vegas becomes the latest city in the U.S. West — from San
Francisco and Seattle to Honolulu and Salt Lake City — to try to deal with
complaints about homelessness.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar law
from Boise, Idaho, last year — calling it unconstitutional to prosecute people
for sleeping in public places when there aren’t enough shelter beds.
City Attorney Brad Jerbic said the Las Vegas law was crafted to
withstand a similar legal challenge, with its “if beds are available”
provision.
Opponents rejected city officials’ assurances that there will be
enough shelter space when necessary.
The law provides for warnings by public officers, beginning
Sunday, for people found “camping, lodging, sitting, lying down, sleeping and
similar activities” in most downtown areas.
Those activities become a misdemeanor beginning Jan. 1,
punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
“It’s criminalizing the homeless,” the Rev. Leonard Jackson,
associate pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church in North Las Vegas
and director of the regional Faith Organizing Alliance said during a morning
protest outside City Hall.
About 100 people rallied, chanting, “The war on the poor has got
to go,” before taking their protest into the contentious public meeting that
lasted more than nine hours.
“If we can build stadiums, then we can build housing for the
homeless,” George Allen, a self-described “working homeless” home-care worker,
told the council.
Allen was referring to a $2 billion, 65,000-seat football
stadium set to open next year for the relocated Oakland Raiders. Taxpayers are
contributing $750 million to the project through hotel room taxes.
City officials report spending more than $35 million on
homeless-related services last year, including outreach, fire, police and
community services.
The camping ban proposal drew opposition from Democratic
presidential candidates Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala
Harris, Cory Booker, Tom Steyer and Julian Castro.
Castro, a former U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary,
attended an Oct. 2 protest against the proposed ordinance.
Michael McDonald, head of the Nevada Republican Party, accused
the Democrats of “pandering to Las Vegans” and “advocating for the homeless to
continue suffering on our streets.”
He noted the proposal requires warnings and offering
transportation to a shelter with an available bed before a person would get
cited.
An annual survey taken one night in January counted more than
5,500 people on the streets in Las Vegas and surrounding cities and county
property. Officials estimate that more than 14,000 people are homeless in and
around Las Vegas at some point during the year.
The Review-Journal has tallied about 2,000 beds plus an
open-air, 24/7 courtyard offered by the city where officials say more than 300
people stay on any given night. It has 220 sleeping mats.
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