Las Vegas firefighters to get raise, despite economic tsunami and looming budget crisis. Some question both County and Las Vegas officials for weak knee politics and Union infiltration. Read more, see a photo, and a video below.
Las Vegas Fire Department
Thomas Mitchell, Editor of the Review Journal, was keen to pick up on law makers’ plans to meet in private to discuss the raise with union negotiators. There is normally a presumption in the law and in the mind of the electorate that government deliberation should be open to the public. Unfortunately, there probably is not enough public outrage to change this.
The Las Vegas firefighters have reportedly ratified an agreement with the city to cut down the size of their raise, in exchange for more money being contributed to retirement benefits, etc. Lawmakers are attempting to spin this by saying the proposed contracts “save” millions, when in reality it is simply less of an increase than previous raises. No matter how you spin this, firefighters are still getting a raise, when thousands of other employees are being laid off, or having pay or hours cut, and are loosing their retirements and health benefits.
The County is also dealing with the same issue. They too have received a proposal with “concessions” offered. Commissioner Steve Sisolak pointed out one of the problems with the concessions. Two more paid-leave days would cost $1.3 million but only $1.2 million would be saved with the reduced pay raises.
Does the government hold itself to a different standard than the private sector when making important decisions affecting its own viability? It would appear that this epitomizes government bureaucracy. Funny that some people want government bureacracy to take over the health care system.
See video about Nevada economy here.
