Vegas rated nation's 'meanest city' for homeless

Las Vegas SUN ^ | August 05, 2003 | Las Vegas SUN

[jgrubbs]

Vegas rated nation's 'meanest city' for homeless

ASSOCIATED PRESS

LAS VEGAS (AP) - It's been called sinful and decadent. Now the city of Las Vegas has been dubbed the meanest in America for homeless people.

A report issued Tuesday by the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless ranked the city at the top of its list of "Meanest Cities" based largely on "dozens of downtown `sweeps' in which jaywalking, pedestrian obstruction, and other quality-of-life ordinances were used as an excuse to stop people and 'clean up' the area."

But city officials discounted the report, saying it includes factual errors and relies too heavily on media reports instead of law enforcement statistics.

Titled "Illegal to Be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States," the report looked at "anti-homeless laws" in 147 cities, enforcement and penalties and whether the political climate was hostile to the homeless.

The rankings also took into account whether local activists or organizations supported the "mean" designation and whether additional legislation to criminalize the homeless was pending in each city, the report said.

"(Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman) has been cited on a number of occasions as mean-spirited and the source of the mischaracterization of homeless people that leads to the sweeps," said Donald Whitehead, the coalition's executive director.

The report points to Goodman's remarks in his 2002 State of the City address, when he said the homeless were "robbing people, raping people and killing their own."

The coalition has cited the remark before, and the mayor has said his remarks weren't directed at all homeless people.

Goodman said the report failed to mention the city's programs to help the homeless, which have cost more than $7 million in the five years he has been in office.

"The report has factual errors and misrepresents the support the city has provided to homeless persons," Goodman said in a statement. "The city of Las Vegas is the only place in the valley where a homeless person can find shelter. We are committed to improving the lives of every resident."

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said the city's top ranking was not a surprise.

"Anybody who has been paying attention to what has been going on with regard to civil liberties in the last couple of years can understand why we haven't come out favorably in this report," Peck said. "The city has a pattern of aggressively enforcing quality of life ordinances in a discriminatory way."

But Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the nonprofit Straight from the Streets, said she is unsure Las Vegas is the meanest city.

"It falls in line with all the cities all over the country that are frustrated with the issue," she said.

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[jgrubbs]

http://www.nationalhomeless.org/criminalizationrelease.html

[sticker]

Vegas must be doing something right

[myprecious]

But I don't understand. With all the tax money from gambling, there should be no homeless.

[Orangedog]

"(Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman) has been cited on a number of occasions as mean-spirited...

It's a title that should be cherished and worn as a badge of honor. ANY Republican who even flinches when called "mean names" needs to resign his or her office immediately. This guy had better stand his ground and tell the marxists to stuff it!

[Kozak]

There is no such thing as "spare change" in Vegas, it's all investment capital....

[anniegetyourgun]

In liberal lingo getting the homeless off the streets and into shelters is "mean-spirited." By their twisted logic, I guess letting them prey on each other, sleep in their own vomit and filth, and go hungry is "good natured."

[basil]

It does sound like it. I'd be willing to bet that the "homeless" aren't flocking to Vegas--LOL!

[ICX]

Jim Norton was absolutely right when he remarked about the irrelevance of the ACLU. An organization that once led the way in the civil rights movement is now reduced to defending terrorists, kid-touchers, and vagrants.

[Ronin]

I would adopt the Las Vegas model in every major city.

[DPB101]

The ACLU did defend terrorists back in the 1920s. It was founded to stop the government from deporting bolsheviks who were blowing buildings and who tried to assassinate the U.S. Attorney General A. Palmer.

[Cultural Jihad]

The cities need to start cracking down on these leftist advocacy groups for personal irresponsibility, such as the National Coalition for the Homeless.

[jjm2111]

Homeless is just PC for "bum".

[sticker]

We could only hope. I wish Nashville would, we have problems with the street trash at my office a few times a month. Of course, I don't remember anybody talking about the "homeless" when clinton was in office.

[theDentist]

The homeless were re-discovered moments after Bush was sworn in as President.

[The South Texan]

I went to Vegas a few weeks ago and the homeless that I saw did not ask you for anything. They just stood there and looked at you as you walked by.

[FITZ]

the Washington-based National Coalition for the Homeless

This is cruel --- Vegas needs to not only sweep the streets of bums but also should make sure the bums have somewhere to go. They could load them up on buses and drop them off in Washington ---or San Francisco or some bum-friendly town.

[SauronOfMordor]

The ACLU did defend terrorists back in the 1920s. It was founded to stop the government from deporting bolsheviks who were blowing buildings and who tried to assassinate the U.S. Attorney General A. Palmer.

So it was founded as a Communist front group, and remains one

[Mr. Jeeves]

By their twisted logic, I guess letting them prey on each other, sleep in their own vomit and filth, and go hungry is "good natured."

Sure. They are trying to make a statement about the evils of capitalism, and unless they have hordes of shambling, drunken victims to point to, it's harder to make that case - and harder to get their friends on the city payroll as "homeless advocates". Leftists LIKE homeless people, and want to make sure they are as visible and irritating as possible. It's one of their most reliable ways of sucking money out of a city's coffers.

Good for Las Vegas for not falling for this San Francisco-style leftist scam.

[Cultural Jihad]

You called it right. It is a scam. About 90% of the able-bodied homeless are there by choice, and do not require any assistance at all. The 10% who are truly destitute and borderline mentally ill need to be sought out and removed from the streets by force.

[dsc]

A few years ago the Boulder Colorado city council resolved that they didn't have enough bums, and said they were going to do something to attract more.

No, really.