No harsh talk from sheriff

Keith Paul

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 11:57 a.m.

Sheriff Jerry Keller, the victor in a recent public battle over deconsolidation of the Metro Police Department, refused to criticize Las Vegas' elected officials in his first comments on a city study that suggested Las Vegas could save $4 million on its share of Metro's police budget.

Keller, speaking hours after Metro released its response to the study Wednesday, instead stressed the need for more communication with city officials, noting that the city's Nov. 2 report relied on "erroneous data."

"What I see is a closer cooperation," Keller said.

The Metro response stated point by point that many of the city's cost saving ideas were based on incorrect information or assumptions. In the end, Keller said, none of the cost saving ideas were valid.

But he refused to chastise city officials for their study, instead letting his data stand.

"There's not one single snide comment in here," he said holding the 2-inch-think response to the city's 150-page report. "We're not sniping at them."

The dueling reports started in September when word the city was conducting an audit of Metro Police led to speculation that the city wanted to pull out of the combined police force. Mayor Oscar Goodman, who was not available for comment Thursday morning, ended that speculation last month when he announced deconsolidation would not be considered.

But the city's report stated there needs to be better communication with Metro, a point -- one of the few in the city's study -- Keller agreed with.

"I'm not sure how we will improve communication, but I meet with the city and county manager every month," he said. "I work two floors down from the mayor and City Council and on the same floor as the city manager. We welcome the opportunity."

Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said sometimes the various agencies just aren't in the habit of sitting down and talking.

"The major part of the problem is that there are talks between the city and Metro and the city and the county and the county and Metro. All three need to sit around the table," she said.

Boggs McDonald pointed out as an example a discussion at Wednesday's City Council meeting on a site for a new police department headquarters. The county decided Wednesday to give Metro first dibs on a 10-acre parcel of land next to the County Government Center, a site some council members would like to see used for a performing arts center. The city had offered Metro a parcel of land on Martin Luther King Boulevard for a new headquarters.

Council members said Wednesday they wanted to meet with the county and Metro to reconsider the location. The city sold the county the 10-acre downtown parcel to keep the county's government buildings downtown.

"I put it on the record that Metro needs to be sitting at the table because they are the experts and they know what their needs are," said Boggs McDonald, who added she had not had time to read Metro's response.

The city will name someone as a liaison to Metro to open more communication, Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said.

"They may not have daily contact, but it will be constant contact," he said. "They are our police force, and we need to have a good working relationship."

Houchens said Metro's response was "generally high road," but some of the responses seemed to be "a little dismissive."

But with everyone agreeing there needs to be more and better communication, Houchens said, "I think we're heading down the right track."

Keller said the city just needed to ask for information that could have avoided the "erroneous data" used in the city's report.

He pointed out some of the cost saving ideas just wouldn't work -- such as the city's recommendation that Metro use crime-related forfeitures to help fund the department's budget.