LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A neighborhood in North Las Vegas has been slowly sinking for decades. They’ve been waiting for help to get out of their failing homes and millions of dollars were allocated last year to help them do so but now residents are speaking out against a proposal that would redirect federal money meant to rebuild their sinking homes.
“We matter, we deserve to have new homes,” contended Nancy Johnson.
“The streets and sidewalks, horrible, horrible,” Diane Bradford shared.
“The house has actually shifted to the left,” Eli Valdez explained.
“My home insurance, they cancelled on me,” Laquanna Sonnier revealed.
“God please don’t have this house fall on us and kill us,” Nasir Abed said recounting what his son prays on a daily basis.
Resident after resident of Windsor Park shared their stories with before an Interim Finance Committee Thursday morning of how they feel unsafe in their own sinking homes. The neighborhood showed up to present a unified front and to express their anger with a proposal from Governor Joe Lombardo.
“The governor gave us the money now he wants $25 million of it back to build low income homes for someone else,” Webster Davis argued.
The governor wants the state legislature to look into changing the funding streams to build new homes for the people of Windsor Park near the failing neighborhood.
Governor Lombardo signed a bill last year that set aside $37 million to build about 90 new homes nearby, but some of that money comes from the federal government and expires December 2026 if the homes aren’t built by then.
The governor wants $25 million in federal funds replaced with money from the state general fund money that doesn’t come with an expiration date, but with the build of new homes on track for the first time in decades, residents are opposed to any funding changes worrying it could further delay the new builds.
“The contractor is ready to build and it seems like every time we move forward, we end up going backwards,” Johnson asserted.
“I do not want my children to grow up having to fight this fight,” stated Sonnier.
“I am tired. I want this resolved,” added Valdez.
The governor’s office tells FOX5 quote:
“The proposal to change funding streams for the project secures funding for Windsor Park, instead of leaving it susceptible. This proposal guarantees the future of the Windsor Park community, and any attempts to portray it otherwise are political and disingenuous.”
Thursday’s meeting was informational only for lawmakers, a chance to get an update on the progress of Windsor Park. It’s unclear if the legislature will take up the funding issue during next year’s legislative session which would be necessary to change funding sources.
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