North Las Vegas will audit firefighter sick leave and overtime pay

The North Las Vegas City Council did not approve a contract concessions agreement with the firefighters union that would have saved the jobs of 33 firefighters.

Instead, the council voted Wednesday evening to postpone the matter 60 days so city officials can audit the Fire Department personnel's use of sick leave and overtime to ensure neither is being abused. The decision was motivated by allegations that Clark County firefighters have misused their sick leave, Councilwoman Anita Wood said.

"If timing is everything, this is probably not the greatest time for this to be coming through," she said. "I don't think we can look at this in a vacuum."

Wood said an audit is necessary to assure taxpayers that such abuse "is not going on in North Las Vegas and that they as taxpayers are not being held accountable for any kind of sick leave abuse."

She also said the department has overspent its overtime budget for fiscal year 2010-2011, which ends June 30. City departments had been directed to reduce overtime spending by 25 percent.

"That difference is going to have to come out of the general fund," Wood said. "We have to have this figured out before we commit ourselves to no layoffs."

Without an agreement, layoffs could come as soon as July.

Only Mayor Shari Buck, who opposes any cuts to public safety budgets, voted against the postponement. She said council members knew they "were going to run into this" overtime problem because the city froze positions and some firefighters have retired.

"We knew we were going to have to pay more overtime to be staffed at the levels we needed them to be staffed at," she said.

After the meeting, Fire Chief Al Gillespie acknowledged his department has "been burning through overtime pretty quickly" but said it was necessary to maintain services.

"We have a certain number of fire stations with a certain number of staffers we need to keep service levels consistent," he said. "Any lessening would affect service levels."

Sick leave is not being abused, Gillespie said.

"We keep a close eye on those things on a regular basis," he said. "Our sick leave is well within bounds, unlike others we've heard about."

Jeff Hurley, president of the firefighters union, IAFF Local 1607, said he was confident the audit will show no sick leave abuse and that the agreement will go forward.

"When she (Wood) sees the true sick leave numbers, she's going to thank us," he said.

Hurley also defended firefighters' use of overtime in the city.

"You can't offer buyouts and not replace people and think your overtime is going to go down," he said. "They made an arbitrary decision to cut the overtime budget without providing a solution."

North Las Vegas, which has been dealing with decreased revenue because of the economic slump, has had several rounds of budget cuts, buyouts and concession talks with its unions in recent years.

City officials are dealing with a $35 million shortfall through fiscal year 2011-12. The city laid off 188 workers in June. Another 44, all North Las Vegas Detention Center workers, were let go in October after about a third of the inmates were moved to a lockup for federal prisoners in Pahrump.

The city's proposed $3 million concessions agreement with the firefighters includes suspension of cost-of-living raises for 2011. In exchange, the city would agree in part not to lay off firefighters in the union through the end of the fiscal year. The union represents 190 firefighters and support staff, Hurley said.

North Las Vegas employs 103 firefighters and firefighter-paramedics and 34 fire engineers, city officials said. Firefighters in the city average $162,000 a year in salaries and benefits, according to a committee formed last year to study the city's budget.

Police and Teamsters union representatives came to concession agreements with the city in recent months.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@review journal.com or 702-383-0285.

Trending topics:

• Anita Wood
• firefighters
• Jeff Hurley
• Shari Buck
• Al Gillespie
• Las Vegas
• Lynnette Curtis

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Sweetcndy May 26, 2011 | 9:13 p.m. Report Abuse

   I don't see any apologize about calling them crooks and losers, or telling them to stay away from your kids now that we all know NLVFD has the lowest sick leave usage in Nevada! This was all Cherchio and Wood trying to make firefighters look bad before the election! Too bad it didn't work! Their ass is grass! These guys go to work everyday and do their best for the citizens and here we have cherchio and Wood making them look like bad guys! And with all these comments, it shows your quick judgement and lack of knowledge.

2. Max Feb. 5, 2011 | 9:44 a.m. Report Abuse

   You hear that sound NLV Firemen? That is the sound of inevitability. That is the sound of your impending doom. That is the sound of the gravy train getting ready to slide off the tracks. Fasten your seatbelts boys.

3. bghs1986 Feb. 4, 2011 | 9:39 p.m. Report Abuse

   Joe Citizen...Exactly how will my doing a ride along change the Bureau of Labor's statistics? No matter how many time I ride in a police car, the fact that more garbage collectors, fishermen, lumberjacks, truck drivers and electricians will be killed at work than police will not change. True ignorance is your blind acceptance otherwise. Still, I have been on ride a longs, not only with Metro, but wit other agencies across the nation as well. I have had the honor of working closely with many fine members of law enforcement and have always had the greatest respect for every officer the had respect for their position and authority. And as far as the "most dangerous job in Las Vegas" goes. Only 16 Metro officers have lost their lives while on-duty since 1933. Compare that to the 15 construction workers that have died at work since 2000. Talk about ignorance. Don't you wonder why, despite the obvious facts, Metro officers have this need to believe their job is more dangerous that it is?

4. Common Sense Feb. 4, 2011 | 9:38 p.m. Report Abuse

   Those who stole taxpayer money should be terminated and prosecuted. We need to make an example of these crooks. So much for the heroic fireman image... Greedy, filthy pigs. Keep them the hell away from schools and especially the children.

5. Joe Citizen Feb. 3, 2011 | 5:51 p.m. Report Abuse

   I see that bghs is at it once again. Garbage collectors have a more dangerous job than police officers? I suppose our soldiers in Iraq are not in harms way either, right? Talk about ignorance! Do a ride along with any law enforcement agency and see if you can last the whole shift without soiling your diaper. I signed up for one and have a whole new respect for our police officers. They deal with the scum of society and probably have the most dangerous job in Las Vegas.

6. MIKE VEGAS Feb. 3, 2011 | 5:05 p.m. Report Abuse

   JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME.

7. JG Feb. 3, 2011 | 4:23 p.m. Report Abuse

   and pray tell...what do you do for a living with the outstanding high school education you were provided?

8. JG Feb. 3, 2011 | 4:23 p.m. Report Abuse

   Again BGHS....where do you get that info?....please provide the link. Seems to me that a dozen police officers were shot and/or killed in one week in the US recently. Do you think that many garbage men were shot or killed during the same time?

9. fedup Feb. 3, 2011 | 3:58 p.m. Report Abuse

   The only way they will look into anything is if we stay on top of them. Call these city leaders, and let them know we are tired of these outrageous wages and demand something be done.
   
   Buck should be ashamed for her actions. She obviously does not care about the people she serves.

10. jim.browning Feb. 3, 2011 | 1:24 p.m. Report Abuse

    It is a shame, these people are supposed to be serving the public, not screwing us

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