LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Clark County elected officials held a town hall meeting on Wednesday to address what many have called an escalating homeless crisis in the central Las Vegas valley.
“I don’t have anything against the homeless,” Matthew Kailimai said. “I do have a problem when they start breaking our property.”
Kailimai, Property Manager of Tamaras Park Apartments, is at his wit’s end.
He told 8 News Now that issues with the homeless near Maryland Parkway and Flamingo Road are truly out of hand.
“We’ve spent tens, maybe easily hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Kailimai explained. “On damages over the years.”
Kailimai was one of many who shared his concerns at a town hall at Flamingo Library Wednesday.
Clark County Commissioner for District E, Tick Segerblom, hosted the event.
“It’s surfacing the issue,” Commissioner Segerblom said of homelessness in his district. “And now we just have to figure out how to address it.”
In January 2024, Clark County recorded 7,906 people as homeless, with 4,202 identified as unsheltered and 3,704 in shelters.
This represents a 20 percent increase from the previous year, with many of those moving into neighborhoods and leading to a rise in crime, according to officials.
“It’s a societal problem, but we can’t allow neighbors to have their life destroyed,” Commissioner Segerblom told 8 News Now. “Because someone else is unhoused.”
He town halls with police, non-profits, and elected officials listening and discussing action as the first step to finding a long-term solution.
“We just want to let people know that we’re serious,” Commissioner Segerblom said. “And that police, Metro, people like that see the problem.”
It’s something Kailimai told 8 News Now he hopes to see sooner rather than later.
“It’s hopeful,” Kailimai concluded. “But we’ll see the results at the end of the day.”
Commissioner Segerblom told 8 News Now he will continue to hold town halls to address homelessness in his district, with the next one scheduled for the end of April.
