NLV city manager calls CARES allocation ‘institutional racism’
The city manager of North Las Vegas on Wednesday said the allocation of CARES Act funding was “institutional racism,” since his city didn’t receive a direct allocation of funds and Reno got more money.
His comments came as the city also adopted a resolution condemning historic discrimination and urged action to address the public health crisis caused by systematic racism that’s been magnified by the coronavirus pandemic.
“(The pandemic) was exacerbated whenever the decision was made by the governor’s office to not give us our CARES dollars in allocation that came from the federal government,” said City Manager Ryann Juden. “It’s something that we’ve been working to really help people understand that is the very definition of institutional racism, by not taking the community of color and not providing them direct allocations from the federal government.”
Reno, for example, is 80 percent Caucasian, about the same size of North Las Vegas, and directly received $47 million in CARES dollars, Juden continued. So far, North Las Vegas, which is a minority-majority city, has received $23.8 million in CARES Act funds from Clark County.
In June, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Mesquite would not receive any of a pot of $148 million in CARES Act funds because Clark County had received a direct allocation from the federal government. Later, the county allocated nearly $30 million to North Las Vegas from its share of the money, meant for coronavirus relief.
Sisolak’s office said the allegation was untrue.
“To accuse the State of systematically excluding communities of color from federal funding is not only false, it is offensive,” the office said in a statement. “If North Las Vegas does not feel as though they received an adequate disbursement of CARES funding, that is a conversation that should be had with Clark County since they received the City’s portion of funding from the federal government.
“When federal CARES funding became available, Clark County qualified to receive a direct allocation because they have a population over 500,000,” the statement continued. “They elected to receive the funds directly, and that funding allocation was based on their share of the State’s population, which included North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and Mesquite. How they disbursed their funding was a decision made at the county level.”
To further address the issue, North Las Vegas city officials are planning on asking for more funds from the state and advocating Clark County be given a refund for CARES Act funds it gave to North Las Vegas.
“We will fight whenever there is this kind of systemic historical discrimination against our residents,” Juden said.
Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown said the issue of systemic racism greatly affects North Las Vegas and she has had to face it head on.
She said she didn’t feel comfortable letting her youngest son, who is Black, rent a U-Haul to drive furniture to Los Angeles when the riots following the death of George Floyd began.
“I said ‘You’re not allowed to do that; if you get pulled over on the highway, I don’t know what could happen because you are a young Black man,’” she said.
Sidewalk bike riding OK’d
Bicyclists will be allowed to ride on some sidewalks, following a unanimous vote by the North Las Vegas City Council. The new ordinance allows bicyclists to ride on sidewalks except in areas designated as priority pedestrian zones. Previously, the city’s municipal code prohibits riding bikes on sidewalks anywhere.
The move would help bicyclists, especially those who are children, ride a safe distance away from cars, according to city documents.
Rick Skipton from the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition said he supported to move and hopes the city will do more in the future to ensure bicyclists are safe.
“Changing this ordinance is a great step in the right direction for the community,” he said, during the meeting.
