STEVE MARCUS I STAFF KAE POHE, foreground, talks about blind vendors' frustration at Hoover Dam as Gene Wilson listens. Blind vendors fighting back ;1-;.>.;.- 9 s: Government wants part of dam action By Rachael Conlin LAS VEGAS SUN Three blind entrepreneurs who have built successful businesses off thirsty and trinket-hungry Hoover Dam tourists are steamed that the government now wants a piece of the action. The businesses and their predecessors have sat for more than two decades in prime spots on either side of Hoover Dam. As the line of vehicles snaked past, the shops flourished. Now, dam caretakers think the businessmen should share their wealth with the gov- ernment, which under federal law provided the blind en- trepreneurs rent-free space at the tourist stop that draws roughly 1 million people a year. SEE VENDORS, 6A COURTESY PHOTO BERT HANSEN'S Snacketeria, shown in 1970s, is now site of parking garage.
Transcript
STEVE MARCUS I STAFF
KAE POHE, foreground, talks about blind vendors' frustration at Hoover Dam as Gene Wilson listens.
Blind vendors fighting back;1-;.>.;.- 9s:
Government wantspart of dam actionBy Rachael ConlinLAS VEGAS SUN
Three blind entrepreneurswho have built successfulbusinesses off thirsty andtrinket-hungry Hoover Damtourists are steamed that thegovernment now wants a pieceof the action.
The businesses and theirpredecessors have sat for morethan two decades in prime spotson either side of Hoover Dam.As the line of vehicles snakedpast, the shops flourished.
Now, dam caretakers thinkthe businessmen should sharetheir wealth with the gov-ernment, which under federallaw provided the blind en-trepreneurs rent-free space atthe tourist stop that drawsroughly 1 million people a year.
SEE VENDORS, 6ACOURTESY PHOTO
BERT HANSEN'S Snacketeria, shown in 1970s, is now site of parking garage.
II VendorsCONTINUED FROM lA
"The government said in ameeting that we were exploitinga public resource," said BertHansen, owner of the HooverDam Snacketeria. "Now thatwe're successful, they want apiece of it."
The U.S. Bureau of Reclama-tion, which maintains HooverDam, thinks the businesses' rev-enue could help replace money ithas lost as a result of a shrinkingcongressional appropriation.
Bureau officials, publiclychastised for building a $120million visitor center andparking garage, are underpressure to follow the privatesector's penny-pinching lead.Financed over 50 years, thevisitor center project will cost$435.5 million, to be paid byArizona, Nevada and California
- power users."Like the people who come
and take the tour, the vendorsare beneficiaries of that publicfacility and they should help payfor the operations, maintenanceand upkeep," bureau spokesmanBob Walsh said, adding thatthe government provides freewater, garbage and power to thebusinesses.
But the bureau's plan to.be more self-sufficient bycapitalizing on Hoover Dam'sstatus as one of the sevenengineering wonders of theworld has run smack intoanother role of government:helping people with disabilitiesbecome self-sufficient.
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Mounting defenseThe businessmen were ex-
pected to file a lawsuit todayin federal court in an attemptto tie bureau officialshands' un- •til the conflict is resolved. They i
wony the bureau will boot them.from the dam and bring in aprivate, commercial vendor. I
The state attorney general's!office, which also opposes thebureau's attempt to get 10percent of the businessmen'sgross revenue, last week filed'a complaint calling for binding;arbitration with the bureau. !
"I think they (bureau officials) Iare looking for any source of:revenue they can," said Kae]Pohe, Hoover Dam Store owner. :"I think it's pressure from the ... !bureau's boondoggle, the visitor:center." i
This is the second time Iin a month that the statehas intervened on behalf ofblind vendors. In January, the Iattorney general's office sued'the Clark County Commissionfor allegedly discriminatingagainst blind businessmen ina concession contract for theFamily Court building openingnext month. A settlement isexpected soon.
As in the county case,the Hoover Dam businessmen's
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As in the county case,the Hoover Dam businessmen'sinterests are protected underlaw. In the dam case, theRandolph-Sheppard Act requiresthat legally blind vendors be. given first dibs at operatingbusinesses in public buildings.In return, vendors agree thatwhen they retire or die, theirbusinesses are passed on toanother blind vendor ratherthan stay within their respective,~ 'li 'rami es. iThe law was enacted to help i
legally blind individuals get off,public assistance and into the;work force. Today, an estimated70 percent of blind people areunemployed.The Bureau of Reclamation,
contends it is exempt from the'federal act because it does not!meet the requirement that a!public building must be used by r
at least 100 federal employees.'The bureau also claims the:blind vendors' operations are:no longer in the public's best Iinterest. !
But the businessmen, their!attorney Jeff Whitehead and'Nevada officials argue thebureau's claims do not holdwater. "They can't just throw:away a pattern of conduct," saidMervin Flander, chief of the;Nevada Services for the Blind. t
Whitehead believes the busi-nessmen's position has beenstrengthened by a recent rul-ing involving Grand CouleeDamin Washington state. Bureau of-ficials there kicked out blindvendors, replacing them withbusinesses owned by AmericanIndians. Although the Novemberruling favored the blind vendors,they have not been allowed toreturn to Grand Coulee Dam,Whitehead said.
Bum dealUnder a proposed 10-year
contract between the state anda federal governments, owners.g Hansen and Pohe would give the1; government 10 percent of their!r gross revenue, plus rent. TheIt two men are expected to sharea space on the parking garage's
bottom floor when it opens thissummer.l-
{- The third owner, Gene Wilson,it would remain in his small trailer.g at the Arizona Look-Out Point
and not pay a percentage ofhis revenue, bureau spokesmanWalsh said.
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The three owners alreadypay 50 percent of their netincome to Nevada Services to theBlind, which provides supportand training to them and 19other legally blind vendors.
The businessmen contend theadditional burden would breakthem and the state's blindvendor program. They haverefused, however; to open theirfinancial books to the public.
"To sacrifice the businessenterprise program in Nevada,which doesn't cost the taxpayersa nickel, for the misfeasanceof the people directing andmanagingthe development down
there -at Hoover Dam is justreprehensible," said MervinFlander, chief of the NevadaServices to the Blind.
Blind vendors participating inthe state program employ 108people, of whom one-third aredisabled. Last year, the businessowners paid $400,000 in statesales tax, Flander said. Besidespaying taxes, the blind vendorssupport the Nevada programwithout any public assistance,making it one of only two inthe nation to be self-sufficient.Montana is the other.
"Weare no longer those peopleon the corner with the tin
cup raising money so we canfeed our guide dogs," said GeneWilson, owner of Arizona Look-Out Point store. "The state
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didn't make these businessessuccessful, the feds didn't makethese businesses successful ...webuilt these things."
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