Editorial: Molasses cannot be our guide

Friday, June 14, 2002 | 9:43 a.m.

The time has come for all government agencies -- not just police and fire departments -- to be held accountable for their response times in urgent situations. Police and fire departments keep records of how quickly they respond to urgent calls. The records are a vital gauge of their effectiveness. There should be equivalent records at other government agencies, where timeliness also affects the quality of public service.

A case in point is the federal grant money, announced in early January by Sen. Harry Reid and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, that was approved to help workers laid off in the aftermath of Sept. 11. The money should have been flowing within a few weeks. Southern Nevada's portion was $1.75 million and the need was urgent, as thousands of hotel workers faced dismal prospects and needed immediate assistance in training for new jobs and making mortgage payments.

There should not have been an inordinate delay. Local governments would document the need and spell out how the money would be spent. The U.S. Labor Department would review the plans and release the money. Not a difficult task.

Why is it then that the money is still bound up somewhere in Washington? It's been six months since approval but the U.S. Labor Department won't let the city of Las Vegas even apply for the money until July 1. After that, the application will have to be approved and the Labor Department will have to train city staff members, all of which means that it could be September -- a year after the attacks -- before the money starts flowing locally.

A better example of how government should work in the post-Sept. 11 era was in February, when the Labor Department approved an emergency $1.8 million grant for Las Vegas' displaced workers and released the money immediately to the Southern Nevada Workforce Investment Board. The money approved in January was for the same emergency and the money was needed in the same fashion -- immediately. Government office workers may not be saving a house from burning or be stopping a crime. But if their response times in urgent situations are weeks instead of months or years, they will be saving families from a lot of hardship.