Commissioners to set up panel to look at Strip sidewalk trade

Bumblebee had stinging words Tuesday for the costumed posers she encounters on the Strip.

Real street performers spend a hefty chunk of cash on a costume and treat pedestrians with courtesy, Nona Williams told Clark County commissioners.

But many drug addicts, drunks and homeless people buy cheap cartoon get-ups from Walmart and hassle people for tips, said Williams, who performs as the "Transformers" movie character.

The county should require those who practice this sidewalk trade to obtain business permits because it would screen out street people and sex offenders, she said.

"I know of sex offenders working on the Strip, and it makes me sick," Williams said.

The proliferation of unlawful vendors, costumed performers and card-snapping handbillers in the economic slump has caused visitors and locals to complain to commissioners. Tourism and casino officials fear that the peddlers are disruptive and could dampen visitors' experience on the Strip, discouraging them from returning.

Most commissioners agreed Tuesday that the problem was pressing but held off on taking immediate action.

Instead, they decided to form a committee that will take months to come up with potential solutions.

The panel's size and composition are yet to be determined, but it probably would have representatives from the following:

■ Metropolitan Police Department.

■ District attorney's office.

■ Southern Nevada Health District.

■ County business licensing.

■ Casino industry.

When Commissioner Steve Sisolak visited the Strip recently, he ran across hundreds of "card-flippers," the handbillers who rapidly snap risque fliers and business cards while poking them at passers-by.

A woman in a wheelchair was forced into the street to get around the handbillers, Sisolak said. He also saw scores of costumed performers and vendors adding to sidewalk congestion.

Meanwhile, trash overflowed from cans, and a sticky residue, possibly from spilled beverages, coated the sidewalk, he said.

"Let's just clean it up and make it the Strip we want it to be," Sisolak said.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly agreed that the street peddlers are overrunning the county's entertainment mecca.

"We can't just sit back and allow something like this to happen without addressing it," Weekly said.

A civil rights attorney reminded commissioners that handbillers are allowed under the law to disseminate information on public walkways.

"Some of the hotels think they own the sidewalk and can chase people off of it -- and they can't," said Allen Lichtenstein, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union.

The county can prevent handbillers from impeding foot traffic but can't restrict the number of fliers they dispense, Lichtenstein said.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said the panel should have no more than seven people and focus on a couple of problems, such as trash and unlawful vendors. Otherwise, it could become unwieldy, she added.

One way to handle the overflowing garbage is to require any new business to provide a set number of trash receptacles, Giunchigliani said.

Sisolak suggested that the county either buy steam-powered scrub brushes or make use of the ones it has.

County staff will work with commissioners in the next few weeks putting together the panel, which will spend 30 to 60 days crafting strategies for dealing with sidewalk peddlers.

Richard Yanez, who impersonates Erik Estrada's fictional cop from the 1970s TV series "CHiPs," said he was laid off from his security job more than a year ago and needs the tips to survive.

He would be in favor of requiring costumed performers to obtain permits if they didn't cost too much, he said, estimating that he makes an average of $15 an hour.

"I'm not getting rich," Yanez said.