LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Anthony Snowden said his campaign for Nevada’s 4th Congressional District centers on community development in historic West Las Vegas, where he was born and raised.
Snowden, a fourth-generation Nevada resident, said he became involved in politics in 1973, influenced by his grandmother, a post-Reconstruction Republican from Greenville, Mississippi.
“I’ve been involved with the city, the county, the state, the housing authority, just trying to be advocates for different issues that come for the community,” Snowden said.
He said West Las Vegas was once booming with businesses, jobs and community activity but has deteriorated over the years.
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Community development funding concerns
Snowden said his biggest concern is waste, fraud and abuse of community development block grant funds. He said funds from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act under the Obama administration excluded residents from the West Las Vegas area.
He said Symphony Park is located in the 89106 area code but community development block grant money has been directed there instead of to the historic West Side.
“They’ve taken all that money and put it over there in Symphony Park,” Snowden said. “What I think is what needs to happen is that we need to evaluate that.”
Snowden said Symphony Park had no residents living there, and community development block grant money is based on census tracts. He said he wants to find out the justification for directing money to an area where no one lived.
“We had a whole community over there that had a whole bunch of needs that needs to be addressed,” he said.
Snowden said he has found distrust of government in the community. He said city officials set the tone for meetings and tell people what they can do instead of listening to what residents want.
He said if elected, he would investigate how much money has been spent, where it has gone and why it has not been directed to the community it was supposed to benefit.
West Las Vegas redevelopment priorities
Snowden said the most logical place for development dollars would be old Jackson Street, once the downtown of West Las Vegas.
“No businesses there. We need to restore businesses,” he said.
He said the area was once zoned as a mixed-use community, but city changes no longer allow businesses selling liquor to operate within 500 feet of a church or school, putting many out of business.
Snowden said the city tore down New Jerusalem Baptist Church and is making a facility there that will sell alcohol.
“That seems like a slap in the face to the people in that community, because you allow so many people to go out of business,” he said.
He said the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority held a meeting on May 7 at $150 per person but did not extend invitations to residents. He said the housing authority is tearing down project housing and putting nothing there.
Snowden said summer youth employment programs that once hired approximately 2,000 youth have been eliminated. He said eliminating opportunities for youth will lead to homelessness, drug use and other problems.
Housing and childcare affordability
Snowden said affordable housing is limited in the city of Las Vegas. He said from Washington to Harrison streets, older houses have been torn down and properties acquired by the city remain vacant lots.
For families struggling with housing costs, Snowden said nonprofit organizations receiving funds to help people require too many restrictions. He said requirements should be reduced to allow flexibility so people who make slightly more than eligibility limits can still receive assistance.
On childcare, Snowden said there is no lack of locations for daycare centers but a lack of funding. He said stipends, scholarships or other mechanisms could provide daycare at substantially reduced or no cost.
“When you’re going on a job and you’re making ten bucks an hour, and you’re spending the majority of that money providing daycare services, that’s like a no-win situation,” he said.
He said the Economic Opportunity Board once facilitated daycare but is now gone. He said older programs like CETA need to be regenerated.
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