Some to be laid off by city get new jobs — with city

By Joe Schoenmann (contact)

Monday, March 31, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Some of the 31 Las Vegas employees to be laid off in a few weeks already have found new city jobs.

Under a collective bargaining agreement, the Building and Safety Department employees, who work as home and plan inspectors — and whose salaries come from inspection fees, not the city’s $555 million general fund budget — have the right of first refusal for other city jobs for which they qualify.

Finance Director Mark Vincent noted that even if a worker is offered a job, he might not take it because the salary could be lower.

“It’s like a rehire,” he said. “If it’s a job at a lower pay grade, they don’t get their old salary.”

Officials in the city’s Human Resources Department said that of the 31 workers, one executive will retire and another will leave. Of the 29 other employees, four found outside jobs, four were placed in vacant city jobs and 21 will leave “if not placed into vacant positions.”

Vincent will outline more budget details at a special City Council meeting at 1:30 p.m. today in the City Council chambers, 400 Stewart Ave.

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Part of the city’s 2009 budget will include a plan to not fill the equivalent of 186 city jobs for “at least two, maybe three years,” Vincent said.

The unfilled jobs reflect about 6 percent of the city’s workforce.

“And that’s not spread evenly throughout all the departments,” Vincent said. “Some are taking a bigger hit than others. Public safety is not taking anywhere near the hit that some other areas are.”

Because of the cuts, Vincent expects some city services may not be as timely or comprehensive as they are now.

“You’re going to see delays in response times for all sorts of things — making records requests through the clerk, getting a document through planning,” he said.

More transactions that residents normally complete at City Hall ultimately might be available through the Internet.

“We know those are things we need to be doing,” he said of making increased use of the Internet. “They pay back over time. But right now, some of those projects are going to be delayed.”

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Economic slowdowns mean cutbacks, but some projects long in the pipeline will move forward.

The Mob Museum, housed in one of the city’s oldest post offices, on Stewart Avenue downtown next to Frank Wright Plaza, is expected to open in 2009.

On Wednesday, the City Council will consider awarding an extra $321,908.52 for partial demolition and removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials from the old building. With council approval, the total contract for that work, awarded last December to LVI Environmental of Nevada Inc., will reach $1.6 million.

The museum project’s overall price tag is about $39 million.