Plan for displaced tunnel dwellers not included in flood control project
Hours before Clark County began removing unhoused people from tunnels under the Flamingo Wash, Clark County Commission Chair Tick Segerblom told nearby residents they might see an influx of people experiencing homelessness in their neighborhoods.
Though Segerblom pledged to 'protect you guys and keep them out of your neighborhood,' there are still lingering questions about how many beds and shelter options were available to unhoused people living in the tunnels ahead of the encampment being cleared.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in Southern Nevada, like across the country, has grown in recent years and there aren't enough adequate shelter options or housing to address the underlying crisis.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officials and Segerblom told residents arrests and citations could be an option for those who refuse to move when the encampment is being cleared out.
County officials along with LVMPD and HELP of Southern Nevada homeless outreach workers said on Monday that an unknown number of people living in the tunnels beneath the wash would be evicted this week in order to begin a $15 million Regional Flood Control project.
'We are not sure what is going to happen but the concern is a large number of people in the tunnels are going to be forced out' of the tunnels and into the neighborhood, Segerblom said during a town hall Monday night.
Officials began clearing out the wash at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
In Monday night's contentious hourlong meeting, community residents angrily questioned the county's response to homelessness and worried about an influx of unhoused people coming into neighborhoods.
'Here is the reality,' Segerblom said Monday night. 'We don't have enough manpower. We don't have enough rooms. We don't have enough of anything. But we do have a wash where a lot of people live who come out into the neighborhoods. We are committed to making sure no one can get into that wash and live in that wash. It's not going to happen tomorrow. It's a process.'
Southern Nevada's 2024 Point-in-Time Count, an annual snapshot of homelessness on one particular night, identified 7,906 unhoused people — a number officials and homeless providers agree is an undercount. Data showed that the number of people experiencing homelessness grew 20% from the previous year.
Addressing underlying causes of the rise of homelessness and housing instability in the state was not the focus of Monday's community meeting.
Residents, instead, voiced frustration at the prospect of seeing more unhoused people in their neighborhoods, assuming that once folks are asked to leave the tunnels they will migrate to other areas in town.
Community members also pressed for stronger enforcement by LVMPD and more jail time.
Criminalization has been criticized by social service providers and homeless outreach workers who warn citations and arrests not only don't address the underlying reasons people are homeless but impede unhoused people from getting connected to services, including housing.
Segerbloom said officials will attempt to refer those displaced from tunnels to the noncongregate shelters the county has opened, in particular the Navigation Center, a 70-bed facility that is designed to temporarily house homeless adults without children.
During an interview, Segerblom acknowledged that the Navigation Center is typically at capacity.
'Let's see if there is someone who says they want services and I'll find a place,' Segerblom said.
Despite not having enough beds or adequate programs to refer unhoused people to in general, Segerblom said the county was ready to deploy another tool on Tuesday: arrest and citation.
Clark County's anti-homeless camping ban, which allows a person to be jailed up to 10 days and fined up to $1,000 for camping and sleeping in a public right-of-way, went into effect in February.
The county passed the ordinance in November, months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities could criminalize those experiencing homelessness even if they didn't have enough adequate shelter space.
LVMPD Lt. Erik Perkett told the residents Monday that officers are 'absolutely arresting people and citing' unhoused people for violating the citation.
A night in jail is estimated to cost about $135, according to estimates from Southern Nevada Homelessness Continuum of Care.
'Nobody wants to pay that for 5,000 people,' Segerblom said. One resident quipped, 'don't be so sure.'
Toward the end of the town hall, Lou Lacey, the director of the homeless response teams with HELP of Southern Nevada, tried to explain to the crowd the process of connecting people with services ahead of the county clearing out encampments.
The organization had already been into the wash ahead of Tuesday's scheduled abatement to warn residents to be cleared out and offer to connect them to a variety of services, Lacey said.
He added that despite early interactions, some residents likely wouldn't take assistance until the morning of enforcement.
But if people accept services, Lacey said HELP will 'take them to any substance abuse or mental health service' they request.
'These are still human beings,' Lacey said. 'You can't say 'you're going to go.' We have to reason with them.'
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