Sandoval voices concern over homeland security funds

“It seems we have to make this case over and over again,” Sandoval said at a meeting of the Commission on Homeland Security. “I don’t understand.”

Sandoval has sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson expressing concern that Las Vegas might miss the cutoff for the funding. Sandoval is chairman of the state commission.

With more than 40 million visitors a year, Hoover Dam and Nellis Air Force Base, the Las Vegas metropolitan area is deserving of the funding, he said.

“New Year’s Eve alone we had 300,000 additional people in our city,” Sandoval said. “Las Vegas as we all know is very different than any other metropolitan area in the United States. We’re not just a city of 2 million. We’re much more than that.”

Las Vegas ranked 27th of 28 cities that split $587 million in grants under the 2015 Urban Area Security Initiative program, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Las Vegas received $3 million. The so-called UASI grants are watched closely as they are based on an assessment of the relative terror risk facing individual cities.

This year Las Vegas came in at 29th of the 100 largest metropolitan statistical areas, falling two spots.

Caleb Cage, chief of the state Division of Emergency Management and Sandoval’s homeland security adviser, said the statistical area ranking does appear to correlate to UASI funding eligibility. It is not certain yet that Las Vegas will miss out on the funding, but the process is convoluted and it is classified, he said.

Sandoval said he will also speak to Johnson about his concerns when he attends the upcoming National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.

Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, also a member of the commission, said he too sent a letter expressing concern about the city’s ranking for funding to Homeland Security and the state’s congressional delegation.

The commission will discuss further how to approach the issue at its next meeting.

In 2013 the city was left off the UASI funding list. Las Vegas received $1 million in 2014.

Nevada officials and the Las Vegas resort industry argue the agency perennially underestimates the potential terrorism risk to Las Vegas, whose economy is highly dependent on its ability to attract millions of visitors annually.

Last year’s announcement of the rankings and funding set off a scramble since the number of cities receiving money was cut from 39 the year before. Among those dropped last year were Sacramento, Calif.; Indianapolis; New Orleans and Kansas City, Mo.

Counting the 2015 allocation, Las Vegas has received $72.8 million in urban security grants since the program was established in 2003 following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Among other projects, the money helped establish the Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center, a one-stop shop at the Metropolitan Police Department for the region’s preparedness.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Find him on Twitter: @seanw801