Tensions were high at a state finance committee meeting Thursday over a proposal from Gov. Joe Lombardo to change the funding mechanisms for the relocation of residents of Windsor Park, a North Las Vegas neighborhood that has become dilapidated due to the sinking of the ground.

At a meeting of the Interim Finance Committee (IFC) — a body that makes state funding decisions when the Legislature is out of session — lawmakers, community members and progressive organizations were frustrated about an effort by the governor’s office to work with the Legislature and no longer use coronavirus relief funds to bankroll most of the relocation project because state officials fear that all of the money would not be used before spending deadlines.

The dispute is the latest in a decades-long fight by Windsor Park residents to secure new homes. In the 1980s, the community overlooking the Las Vegas Strip became unsafe because of subsidence — sinking of the ground because of groundwater overuse — and has remained that way ever since, leaving people’s homes blighted and disheveled.

In emotional testimony at the start of the meeting, residents pleaded with state lawmakers to keep the existing funding mechanism in place — describing the proposal as the latest in decades worth of mistreatment that community members have faced from government officials.

“They finally get a glimmer of hope, and it’s trying to be taken away,” said Laquanna Sonnier, a Windsor Park resident and single mother of two.

Last year, Sen. Dina Neal (D-North Las Vegas) led the fight to pass the Windsor Park Environmental Justice Act, which authorized $37 million in funding to build 93 single-family homes in an adjacent area for residents. The funding includes $12 million from the state’s general fund, while the remaining $25 million was through coronavirus relief funding made available through the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

However, ARP funds must be fully expended by the end of 2026, which state officials worry is unattainable given the complex nature of the project that includes purchasing 93 individual lots, furnishing the community with roads and lights and conducting soil testing. In response, Lombardo’s office has proposed using the state’s general fund to cover the entire $37 million cost, a change that would require approval during a legislative session.

The proposal frustrated Democratic lawmakers, who worried that the move would again rely on the Legislature to appropriate funding.

“There's no guarantee to those families or to [the state housing] division that the next legislative body would agree to the replacement of that $25 million,” said Assemblywoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno (D-North Las Vegas), the chair of the IFC.

Elizabeth Ray, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said in a statement Friday that the proposal “secures funding for Windsor Park, instead of leaving it susceptible to change due to federal guidelines.”

“This proposal guarantees the future of the Windsor Park community, and any attempts to portray it otherwise are political and disingenuous,” the statement said.

Ray also provided email exchanges between Ryan Cherry, the governor’s chief of staff, and top Democratic legislators from September that indicated the ARP funds could be re-obligated to offer rental and down payment assistance to homebuyers statewide. 

Additionally, Cherry said initial outreach found 30 lots where landowners had an interest in selling, far less than the 93 homes that developers are looking to build, and Cherry acknowledged that changing the funding plan “is not a place that any of us would like to be at the moment.”

Project details

For more than an hour Thursday, officials from the Nevada Housing Division provided legislators with updates on the project’s progress and emphasized that they are not trying to cancel it.

“At no time has the division ever suggested, nor the governor's office suggested, that the funding be removed and not replaced,” said Christine Hess, the division’s chief financial officer. “We're trying to get them funding that will allow this project to move forward and not put their project at risk. The federal funds, with their timeline and constraints, is the issue.”

To date, the state has put out a request for proposals for the relocation project, selected a developer, met with community members and worked with local and federal officials, said Steve Aichroth, the division administrator. But he also acknowledged that there were concerns about the funding mechanism for the project — which became more apparent in recent months.

While the state has embarked on larger and more expensive housing projects in the past, this one is unique in its difficulty, housing officials said. The land that is being eyed for the relocation is owned by 300 different entities, Hess said, and the state still does not have control of the site and has not received results from the soil testing of the area.

Hess added that the state is about eight to 10 months behind the timeline set forth by the developer, and none of the $37 million has been expended yet because they have not received any requests for money from the developers.

Still, lawmakers were skeptical about the state’s reasons why the money could not be spent in time.

“All of us have been around long enough to know if that's something we really want to get done, we can get it done,” said Assemblywoman Angie Taylor (D-Reno).

‘Bait and switch’

Longtime Windsor Park residents testified on Thursday how the community — once called a “Black Summerlin” — deteriorated over time.

Nancy Johnson described when she moved into the neighborhood in 1976 as “like going to heaven.”

“And then all of a sudden I woke up one day, and it looked like we [were] living like rats,” Johnson said. “The governor passed the bill, the contractors were ready to build, and it seemed like every time we move forward, we end up going backwards.”

Barbara Carter moved into Windsor Park with her husband in 1966 and had hoped that her home could be a place where generations after her could live — a hope that seems like a long shot now.

“I am in hopes that Windsor Park one day soon will start building new homes for us that we will feel safe in,” Carter said.

Members of the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition also testified against the proposed change, specifically calling out Lombardo’s administration.

“The governor is trying to pull a bait and switch on North Las Vegas residents,” said Candese Charles, a communications coordinator for the Sierra Club Toiyabe chapter and a North Las Vegas resident. “It is critical that this environmental injustice be rectified, and that you all protect the residents that have been struggling for decades.”

Matilda Guerrero Miller, the government relations director for Native Voters Alliance Nevada, said Lombardo’s proposal “is an attack on basic decency and justice.”

“It's a betrayal of the people he vowed to protect,” Miller said.

Updated on 10/11/24 at 7:13 p.m. to include information from the governor's office.