NORTH LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Residents of the sinking Windsor Park community held an emergency meeting Saturday inside the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church after learning Gov. Joe Lombardo's office is considering deobligating funds allocated for their new homes.
"When do we get to live our life our way?" said Webster Davis, who has lived in the community for 40 years.
"The governor has shown us his true colors," said another resident during the meeting.
In a letter addressed to Chair Daniele Monroe- Moreno, Sen. Marilyn Dondero Loop, Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro and Speaker Steve Yeager, the governor's chief of staff Ryan Cherry said they would like to move $25 million of the $37 million for to the project and reallocate them for "housing-related efforts to offer rental assistance and downpayment assistance for homebuyers."
The $25 million would then be replaced with money from the general fund, according to the governor's office.
"This conversation would be contingent on an agreement to backfill the $25M with GF in the next legislative session in a budget bill that would also address the issues we are facing identified above," Cherry wrote in an email. "I know this is not a place that any of us would like to be at the moment, but having an open dialogue is important to determining the best way to navigate this issue moving forward."
"It does not make sense that you now want to swap," one resident said. "Now that the money has been secured and they can use it that they want to swap. What are you swapping it for? There's nothing to swap.
Windsor Park was first built between 1964 - 1966 and exclusively occupied by African American residents. It was later found that the homes were built on a geological fault that, over time, caused the neighborhood's homes and infrastructure to sink as groundwater was extracted from an aquifer beneath the homes.
As a result of the sinking, The Nevada Legislature passed a bill that committed $37 million to the state-funded construction of new homes for Windsor Park's longtime residents.
As part of the agreement, residents have until December 2026 to use the money, or the federal government can take it back.
According to the governor's chief of staff, the project is currently a minimum of eight months behind schedule, and they are concerned the money won't be spent by the December 2026 deadline, which is why they're recommending the deobligation of those funds.
"Soil samples are required to determine if the initial land identified in Cibola Park is suitable (without similar issues to the land in Windsor Park) and those are currently estimated to be analyzed in the first week of October," Cherry said in the letter.
"He [governor] doesn't want the federal government to come in and take your federal dollars, so he is just saying, 'Let's use that $25 million for other projects in the immediate future and then we are going to give you the exact same amount state money so that you can use that no matter how long it takes," said Elizabeth Ray, communication director for Lombardo.
Ray said unlike the money the federal government provided, the money from the general fund doesn't have an expiration date and residents could use it past the December 2026 deadline.
The developer for the Windsor Park community disagrees and said they will be able to expend all the money.
"I am relatively comfortable that we will spend the money," said the developer.
Residents we spoke with said they are concerned they might never see the money if the money is deobligated.
"What guarantees do we have this money will be replaced? They had all the obligations, all the chance in the world to come up with this money, didn't happen. And now we are supposed to sit back and 'oh, the governor is going to do it'...no, no," said Webster Davis, who has lived in the Windsor Park community for 40 years.
Davis tells us his home feels like a roller coaster with how unstable it is.
"You feel like you are going downhill-- it's slanted. everything is cracking moving," he said.
Davis believes the developer is doing everything he can to speed up the process but said the city of North Las Vegas is making it a challenge for him.
"Every corner he turns, they turn two of them," he said.
He said the representatives the governor sent to the meeting were not prepared to answer the residents' questions and said he would like the governor to pay them a visit during their next meeting.
"Give us something that guarantees we have a new home. Not a rushed home, not a box, but a comfortable home that we can pass down to our kids," Davis said.
The Governor's Chief of Staff is expected to meet with the community on October 10.
