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Officials Applaud Joint
Effort to Preserve Funding
Clark
County
has received notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security that its share of anti-terrorism funding for
the urban area in Southern Nevada
will increase by 20 percent.
Last
year local officials were notified that the area was at
risk for losing terrorism grant funding based on
Homeland Security’s risk assessment of the area.
County, state, federal and local officials rallied to
successfully challenge the risk assessment formula used
to evaluate security threats to the area. In 2006 Clark County
received $7.75 million in funding from urban area
security grants. For 2007 Clark County will receive $9.3 million.
“We
were put on notice last year that we were not among the
top 35 areas in the country determined to be at highest
risk for terrorism, despite the visibility of landmarks
such as the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam,” Clark
County Commission Chairman Rory Reid explained. “This
year’s awards for urban-area grant funding show our
collective efforts were successful to educate Homeland
Security officials about the uniqueness of our
region. This funding is an important resource for
protecting our community.”
“This
increase in funding reflects a joint effort of many
individuals and organizations from throughout Clark County,” stated Sheriff Doug Gillespie. “I want to
personally thank all of those involved, including former
Sheriff Bill Young, for their dedication to the safety
of our community.”
“I'm
pleased with this announcement for two reasons,"
said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman.” “First, Las Vegas
has been maintained in the urban area security program
and should never have been considered for removal in the
first place. Secondly, the increase in the Las Vegas
urban area allocation is consistent with what we've been
saying since the inception of these programs, that is,
protecting the Las Vegas region is not only a top
priority for the local area, but it is also in the best
interest for the economic security of the entire State
of Nevada.”
The
urban area grant program is one source of Homeland
Security funding that communities apply for through
their state governments. In past years, the funding was
used in Clark County to buy heavy rescue vehicles and equipment to respond to
radiation or chemical agents. It also helped purchase
radios and make microwave infrastructure improvements.
Clark
County’s Office of Emergency Management and Metro’s
Homeland Security Bureau was instrumental in
facilitating discussions with federal Homeland Security
officials and organizing local applications for this
year’s funding requests. These efforts included
then Sheriff Bill Young and Undersheriff Doug Gillespie
traveling to Washington to meet directly with Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff.
“Thanks
to the efforts of multiple local and state agencies we
submitted a highly competitive application this year,
and we think our success puts us in a good position for
receiving ongoing urban-area funding for years to
come,” said Carolyn Levering, plans and operations
coordinator for the county’s Office of Emergency
Management.
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