DA investigators’ contract dispute drags on

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, March 27, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

Clark County district attorney investigators embroiled in a yearlong contract dispute with administrators say the two sides are about $40,000 apart on a two-year contract agreement.

In the meantime, investigators estimate, the county has spent nearly double that amount battling the District Attorney's Investigators Association over an 18 percent pay hike and a subsequent 3.5 percent cost-of-living increase.

The investigators, who began negotiations in January 2000 and whose contract expired July 1, said they simply want to be in line with the salaries of Metro Police detectives and Clark County Fire investigators.

"It's been a very frustrating experience," said Joel Moskowitz, chairman of the investigators association.

"To characterize it, it's truly David and Goliath. We're a small group of men with limited funds available to us. Utilizing the law to equal the playing field has cost us a substantial part of our treasury."

According to a report detailing snags in the negotiations, the county has spent nearly $72,000 on attorneys, stenographers, daily transcripts, lost productivity and an arbitrator.

Although the Clark County Commission has wondered publicly why negotiations with investigators have been dragged out so long, it is now reluctant to discuss the dispute.

"I no longer think it's appropriate to comment on the status of the DA investigators because of the litigation process," Chairman Dario Herrera said.

Commissioners quickly learned their comments could land them in the middle of the controversy.

On Monday District Judge Stephen Huffaker denied the investigators' request to subpoena Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, but said the commissioner must respond to written questions submitted by the labor union.

When Woodbury was chairman of the commission in September he reportedly said county employees "should not be paid a substandard wage" compared to others working in similar positions, according to the report.

The report also suggests the county has been uncooperative and meetings have been marked by tension.

The investigators' negotiating team immediately upset the county when it hired Cheryl Miller -- the county's former Human Resources director -- as its consultant.

Miller was initially told she could not legally represent the investigators, a claim that turned out to be false. The ruling pitted Miller against the county's primary negotiator, current Human Resources Director Beverly Glode.

The investigators team also claims the county has been less than genuine in its attempts to resolve the dispute.

"The county canceled no less than seven negotiating sessions," the report says. "The (investigators) canceled none. When meetings did occur on the days where the entire day had been set aside for that purpose, the county ended the discussions early."

County Administrative Services Director Don Burnette said Monday that county officials do not want to talk about the details of the negotiations because it violates their agreement with investigators.

He did, however, respond in writing to a handful of the investigators' claims.

Burnette said the county never asked Miller to leave the bargaining table, has turned over all the records requested and that meetings were shifted because of work schedules.

"During the course of negotiations, often planned meetings are postponed by both sides due to scheduling conflicts," Burnette wrote. "The meetings are then rescheduled based on participants' schedules."

The report says the county has turned over erroneous and incomplete documents related to grant-funded employees and once refused to meet in the same room as investigators, instead sending a mediator back and forth to conduct discussions.

Moskowitz said the 27-member division wants parity between what they're paid and what Metro detectives earn. He said district attorney investigators' pay tops out at $54,990, and Metro detectives' highest salaries run in the $65,000 range.

Investigators, who assist the district attorney with criminal prosecutions, also want a $19,000 a year increase in clothing allowance to cover the entire department, an amount Moskovitz said is less than Metro officers receive.

Moskowitz said investigators' street clothes, which they wear when they're working undercover, are torn and tattered by handcuffs, weapons and their daily work.

In 1990 the district attorney investigators made 3 percent more than Metro detectives. Now they make 17 percent less.

"Metro detectives, because of the public's appreciation for their services, have gotten good contracts," Moskowitz said. "We haven't gotten such good contracts."