County’s pull in firefighter talks may be compromised by city deal

By Joe Schoenmann

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 | 2 a.m.

The tentative deal between the city of Las Vegas and its firefighters union might hurt efforts by Clark County to impose deep cuts to its firefighters’ contract.

For months, Mayor Oscar Goodman was a reliable ally to Clark County officials pushing for concessions from firefighters. Both governments faced growing budget shortfalls. Untouchable for years, firefighters would not go unscathed this time, vowed Goodman, who asked for 8 percent cuts in each of the next two years from all city employee unions.

Last week, the firefighters union and city negotiators reached a tentative agreement. Instead of cutting the city’s requested $8.8 million, the proposed deal would reduce costs by $2.7 million. And though cost-of-living raises were eliminated for one year, many more firefighter pay-perks weren’t touched.

Goodman called it a “step in the right direction.”

Reaction at the county was less enthusiastic.

County sources said this week that the city’s modest cuts reflect unwillingness to anger firefighters, long viewed as politically powerful. This tentative attitude could spread to the county, which is negotiating a contract with its firefighters union and considering radical cuts proposed by the Fire Department, a source close to the process said.

The fear stems from the fact that county administrators serve at the pleasure of the commission and are hesitant to challenge commissioners, especially in a public forum, the source said.

Every county department has been ordered to outline 8 percent cuts. Some of the proposed Fire Department cuts, though, could be jeopardized, the source said. They include:

• Brownouts that sources say would cut overtime costs but not result in substantial increases in response times. The county would coordinate with Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to close a neighboring station and share services.

• Triaging ambulance calls. The department now answers every call, no matter the severity, which is why the annual number of calls is around 120,000. By not answering every call, the brownout scenario would be more likely to work because more ambulances would be available. An added benefit would be a reduction in equipment and maintenance costs.

Other Fire Department expenses are being examined during the ongoing contract negotiations. The talks are held in secret, but the issues could include longevity pay, which cost the county $44 million last fiscal year, uniform allowances, callback pay, step increases, cost-of-living increases and more.

When negotiations end, commissioners will be obligated by a new state law to vote to approve or deny the contract in public.

Commissioner Steve Sisolak said administrators shouldn’t be worried about angering county commissioners. Not only is it county staff’s job to look at tough cuts, but Sisolak believes at least four of the seven members of the commission support cutting the Fire Department’s budget at least as much as they cut other departments.

“Maybe the city has more money than us, I don’t know,” Sisolak said. “But I know we simply cannot afford to continue on as we have been. We just don’t have the money.”

Commission Chairman Rory Reid, who began talking with county employee unions about concessions in the fall of 2008, vowed to support new ideas.

“I’m tired of waiting for cooperation from the firefighters,” he said. “We’ve given them every opportunity to collaborate and do the right thing, and now it’s time to explore whatever options exist to bring their budget in line.”

County staff will go over the latest budget proposal at a public meeting Monday morning in the commission chambers.

The cuts are meant to fill a $57 million gap in the coming fiscal year. To reach that number, the county said it would need to lay off 530 people and/or cut pay packages 14 percent. Sources said some department proposals didn’t reach 8 percent, so County Manager Virginia Valentine sent them back with orders to propose more cuts.