Gail Sacco, second from left, provides pasta to people across the street from Huntridge Circle Park on Monday afternoon. She stayed just outside of the park to avoid being cited under a new Las Vegas ordinance that bans feeding the homeless in city parks. Photo by Samantha Clemens.

The argument over the city's ban on feeding the homeless in parks is no longer just academic.

Las Vegas city marshals on Monday cited a radio station traffic reporter and her on-air sidekick for passing out donuts at a park, marking the first enforcement of the ordinance since it went into effect.

The citation was one of a number of legal actions by the city Monday morning at Frank Wright Plaza. Marshals also cited a television reporter and cameraman for being inside the park before it opened at 7 a.m.

Mayor Oscar Goodman blasted the radio station's actions as a publicity stunt.

"They should be using their trucks to get homeless over to a mission, where they can get them some counseling, instead of playing games with donuts," he said.

Four apparently homeless people were cited for being in the park before it opened; another, who did not have identification, was arrested for the same infraction, according to a city spokesman.

Beth Monk, known on the air as "Backseat Beth," was cited about 8 a.m. after going down to the park with 15 dozen donuts and donated cases of water, juice, apples and oranges.

"We have long been homeless advocates on our morning show," said Jim Tofte, one of the morning hosts with morning radio program Kahuna and Company on KKLZ-FM. "If this had been a 'publicity stunt' like the mayor accused us of, then we would have been down at Frank Wright Park ourselves mugging for the cameras."

Monk was cited for feeding indigents in the park, as well as driving the wrong way on a one way road and driving without a license, she said.

The station had also been at the park on Wednesday, though that was before the ordinance went into effect.

"We had a lot of contributions from the community who wanted us to go back out there and help the homeless," Monk said. She added that she strongly believes that the ordinance is wrong, and said she plans to volunteer at a soup kitchen once or twice a week from now on.

She has a court date on Aug. 31.

The ordinance passed the City Council unanimously on July 19 and became effective Friday. It was targeted at so-called "mobile soup kitchens," cases in which people regularly bring large amounts of food to parks.

Residents around parks where the feedings were taking place, in particular Huntridge Circle Park, said food was attracting the homeless. The city passed the ordinance arguing that homeless would be better served getting fed by charities like the Salvation Army, where other services were available.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, said his organization was preparing a legal challenge to the city's ordinance, which he called unconstitutional. He said his organization would be contacting the radio station to see if they want to join the lawsuit.

The ACLU also will seek a temporary restraining order or injunction against the city enforcing this law until the issue is settled, Peck said.

Some of those who feed homeless in and around parks have already stopped because they fear citation, arrest or prosecution, Peck said.

Gail Sacco, who was cited twice for holding a gathering of more than 25 people at Circle Park without a permit, has continued to feed the homeless. On Monday, she was on a side street just outside of Circle Park, with a bucket of beans and pasta in the hatchback of her car. She was feeling ill, she explained, and didn't "feel like going to jail sick."

In roughly 15 minutes, a half dozen people came up to the trunk of her car to get a plate of food. She promised that when she felt better, she would be back to sharing her food inside the park.

Some people who live near Circle Park complain that families can no longer use it due to the homeless who congregate there and the condoms, needles and broken glass left strewn around the park.

In response to national media attention and increased criticism, City Manager Doug Selby prepared a memorandum about the city's initiatives on the homeless beyond the ordinance.

The city has spent $14 million since 1999 in federal and general funds on housing, services, shelters and construction of new projects, according to the city's estimates.

The city spends about $275,000 a year on the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition's Committee on Homelessness, which provides an inclement weather shelter. The city has also spent $175,000 on its Emergency Housing Assistance Program since 2004, in which 400 people have been provided rent, utility, counseling and a substance abuse program to get them off the streets.

Goodman criticized the media's coverage of his stance on homelessness at Thursday's Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition meeting.

People "like to say that Las Vegas is a mean place as far as the homeless is concerned," Goodman said. "I think, in all sincerity, we're probably doing more ... than just about any city in the country" to address homelessness.

On Monday, he was again critical of the media coverage of the issue.

"All the stupid media that followed (the radio station) was stupid," he said.

KLAS-TV, Channel 8 reporter Kyla Grogan and photojournalist Jorge Montes were among the camera crews at the park early Monday. She was there at 4:30 a.m. to cover the radio station feeding the homeless for the CBS-affiliate's morning newscast, according to Ron Comings, the channel's news director.

At 6:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the park opened, Grogan and Montes were asked to move to an adjacent parking lot as marshals began citing people for being in the park.

While other stations complied, the Channel 8 crew did not, according to city spokeswoman Diana Paul.

"They didn't comply because they were there to cover the story," Comings said. "They were not interfering with the marshals in any way. The parking lot was open, and there was no sign saying they couldn't be there."

He said that the adjacent parking lot, at the historic former post office and courthouse, "did not allow you a vantage point to see what was going on."

He said the station plans to fight the citations.

Monk said that the officers were trying to prevent her from bringing the food to the homeless, and trying to clear them from the park.

"We wouldn't care if our name was out there," she said. "We want people to know that this isn't right, this ordinance. How else is something like this going to be overturned if not publicity?"

Shannon West, the valley governments' regional homeless coordinator, expressed frustration that the citations would be a distraction to more substantial issues of homelessness.

"It seems like this really isn't about the homeless anymore," she said. "As a community, we really need to focus on helping people end their own homelessness, not on other interests."

West wouldn't say whether she agrees with citing or arresting those who feed the homeless. But she said "large-scale mobile soup kitchens in parks" are a bad idea because of "general health safety issues."

Linda Lera-Randle El, director of the nonprofit Straight from the Streets program that works with the homeless, criticized the new city ordinance and Monday's citations.

"We have murderers and drug dealers on the streets, but we're going to target the bologna sandwich givers," she said.

Lera-Randle El was at the park when marshals showed up Monday morning.

She said she was also there to feed the homeless.

"I picked up some of the homeless and took them shopping," she said. "I bought them two boxes of food, then took them back to the park. I'm not feeding the homeless. I'm letting them have a picnic with their friends if they want. If they keep coming up with ordinances, we'll come up with ways to get around it."

She also was angry about the practice of citing or arresting homeless people who show up at parks before opening time.

"We have major, major crime in this town," she said. "I don't think anyone's really losing sleep thinking about whether someone is in the park too early."

Lera-Randle El agreed that feeding the homeless in public parks may not be the best way to help them. But, she said, neither is citing those who feed the homeless.

"The truth lies somewhere in the middle," she said. "I'm not saying every day someone should be out there handing out plates of spaghetti. But not feeding them isn't going to end the homeless hanging out in the park. We're just going to have a lot more hungry people in the park."