Plenty of room on the firefighter sick leave abuse critic bandwagon

Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011 | 1:10 p.m.

As you see the firefighters' sick leave scandal causing hemorrhaging in their political clout and support -- and near-orgasmic reaction by anti-union editorialists and broad-brush-painting opportunists-- we will have the first crucible to judge the fallout in the Las Vegas mayor's race. Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak was a lone, critical voice for many months, but now that the evidence of abuse has become overwhelming and the public outcry palpable (just look at what columns, stories and blog posts in the newspapers garner the most comments), others are on board.

For instance, consider this request circulating at Clark County last week:

Commissioners:

Pursuant to the Board's Rules of Procedures, I am hereby requesting an item on the March 1 agenda to receive a report from staff on sick leave use, callback pay, and PERS benefits for Fire Department employees.

and

Pursuant to the Board's Rules of Procedures, I am hereby requesting an item on the March 1 agenda to receive a report on the status of the County's cost reduction efforts and discuss matters related thereto.

Thank you.

Commissioner Larry Brown

Oh, by coincidence, Brown also is running for mayor.

His colleague and fellow mayoral hopeful, Chris Giunchigliani, has long been seen as a labor supporter, so it will be interesting to see what she says during that meeting. (She was absent for the last discussion.)