County takes no action on priority panel’s suggestions

By Kyle B. Hansen

Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 | 11:44 a.m.

Clark County commissioners today officially accepted a final report from the high-profile Citizens Committee on Community Priorities, but took no action on the group’s recommendations.

The 15-member committee was convened to develop recommendations on how the county could save money and returned with about 200 suggestions, some of which contradicted others.

Commissioners said they appreciated the work of the committee, but needed more time to review the suggestions before taking any action.

“We have an obligation to take this seriously and have a public discussion of what’s been proposed,” commission Chairman Rory Reid said.

Reid directed county staff to review the recommendations and vet each item to assess the financial and legal effects of each.

Many of the items might be good ideas, Reid said, but the county lacks the legal authority to carry them out.

Board members also said they wanted to get more input from the community and employees before taking action.

The committee’s recommendations have drawn controversy and members of the county firefighters’ union wearing bright yellow shirts filled every empty seat in the board’s meeting room and lined the back and side walls.

The fire department was the subject of many of the recommendations of the committee, including reducing firefighters' overtime and closing the department’s paramedic services.

The committee also recommended that the county consolidate some services across departments, such as IT, human resources and finances.

It also recommended considering changing the controversy-plagued University Medical Center into a private or teaching hospital. Commissioners began acting on that recommendation in their last meeting under the direction of Reid.

The committee also recommended consolidating the Park Police with Metro.

The committee wasn't required to reach a consensus on the recommendations of members, which led to the contradicting suggestions.

In addition, two members of the committee, both representatives of the SEIU, did not vote on the final recommendations because they felt the committee was interfering in the collective bargaining process.