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Wednesday, April 7, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Steve Sisolak
Sun archives
- ‘Boot drive’ OT for individual firefighters is unknown (4-4-2010)
- Practice of on-duty firefighters raising money for charity questioned (3-31-2010)
- Fire union goal: Silence Sisolak (3-19-2010)
- Las Vegas firefighters burn up more sick time than other city employees (3-14-2010)
- Clark County firefighters profit from sick leave policy (3-7-2010)
- Commissioner offers pared Metro budget as example for others (2-25-2010)
- ‘Longevity pay’ costs millions in county (12-10-2009)
- Firefighters feeling budget backlash (5-28-2009)
- County, fire union break ice with heated words (5-7-2009)
- Firefighters have perks to give back, if they wanted to (4-29-2009)
Clark County administrators requested that a Metro Police officer be posted at Tuesday’s County Commission meeting, saying they sought additional security after a commissioner reported receiving threatening phone calls related to his criticism of firefighters’ compensation.
County Manager Virginia Valentine said metal detectors and other security measures for the county building are being studied, the result of a separate security analysis. The commission is to get a report on those measures at a future meeting. More immediately, though, the concern has been irate calls to Commissioner Steve Sisolak, Valentine said.
Sisolak said after the meeting that he has received threatening calls for months from callers claiming to be firefighters. They have grown more frequent and intense in recent weeks, as county administrators and the firefighters union are in closed-door negotiations on a new contract, he said.
“They’re from private numbers or unknown numbers,” he said. “If I don’t answer, they hang up. At night, I’ll turn my phone off. When I answer, they’ll say stuff like, ‘You don’t know what it’s like to be a firefighter’ or ‘You better hope your house doesn’t catch on fire.’ ”
He said he receives the calls each time he is quoted in the media discussing firefighters’ pay and benefits. The last time was in Sunday’s Sun, when he said he would push for an ordinance to prohibit firefighters from doing charity work while on the clock.
Sisolak said he received about a dozen such calls over the past week, and about 20 in the past two weeks.
“I’ve tried reasoning with them a few times, telling them I’ve just got a problem with the way the pay for firefighters has outpaced the county’s ability to pay,” he said. “I really believe it’s a couple of guys sitting around drinking, probably not on duty ... and they bolster each other and make the calls.”
The average salary and benefits for a county firefighter was $181,000 in 2009.
The first-term commissioner has become an enemy of firefighters over the past year.
He criticized their union last year for not offering salary concessions that commissioners or county staff deemed acceptable.
Last month, he criticized the amount of sick leave taken by firefighters relative to other county employees, saying firefighters are “gaming” the system to work more overtime.
Last week, he questioned the practice of allowing county firefighters to collect money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association while on duty, saying they should not be doing charity work for a private organization while being paid by taxpayers.
After each story, Sisolak said, “the phone calls begin.”
“I just think there’s a sense of entitlement here that’s been reaffirmed over many years,” he said. “But it’s got to stop, because we can’t afford it.”
County administrators are close to submitting a budget for the next fiscal year. Because of falling property and sales taxes, the county expects a deficit of as much as $200 million.
You've got to be kidding. If any FF has made threatening calls to Sisolak they should be not only fired but put in jail. I don;t think that FF would do something like that. They can't be that stupid. This does need to be looked into though not only for Mr. Sisolaks safety but to stop negative rhetoric on both sides before it starts
I hope Sisolak doesn't give in to these so called hero fireman.
(Godfather theme playing in the background) The firefighter's want to make us an offer we can't refuse," We must let them draw the water from the well " A refusal is NOT the act of a friend" Don Barzini 1972.
what all these moron threating politician
sorry chuck321 we already have negative rehetoric in washington. what the different in las vegas.
Offer them $60,000 a year to start, topping out at $75,000. Take it or leave it.
fire all the firemen...
start over from scratch...
on taxpayers terms...
salaries range from $50k - $75k...
reagan did it with the air traffic controllers...
we sure as hell can do it with the firemen...
let's be frank...
the best and brightest in school did not become firemen...
you do not need to be a rocket scientist to be a firemen...
these people are easily replaced...
easily replaced...
keep up the good work steve...
don't turn into a coward...
the facts are on your side...
go steve go...
Hang in there, SS. Good luck. You have many citizens behind you. I bet the cowards wouldn't hurt you at a meeting, though. It's elsewhere you need help.
Wow, how will this city ever come out of the toilet with crap like this going on? We all need to get involved however we can.
here we go again.....
Steve cries to his buddy Joe, Joe Schoeman,who sits in a taxpayer paid office in the county building waiting for Steve's phone call to come to his office, job security for Schoeman.
Someone who supposedly calls Sisolak and says they are a fireman, well then Steve, have Metro investigate if someone threatens you.
I think that you create a story to get your name in the Sun newspaper.
You are nothing but a telemarketer that sued the county for millions of dollars and now you somehow are a county commissioner,
If someone truly is afraid they call metro police,not the Sun newspaper.
No threatening emails this time around for this story?
Is Metro investigating?
Militant firefighters?
Uh, shouldn't this be published in the fiction section?
Nothing but more sensationalized reporting from JS. Lots of nice theory, conjecture and innuendo.
"I really believe it's a couple of guys sitting around drinking, probably not on duty ... and they bolster each other and make the calls."
Really? Implying that FF's are now drinking on duty, possibly, maybe not,....Are you f#@*ing kidding me?
I'm no journalism major, but I do recall something about the 5 W's and 1 H. Oh yeah, and reporting the FACTS man! Where are THE FACTS?
Unknown numbers, private numbers, blah, blah, blah. If this was a legitimate complaint, why was it leaked to the media as opposed to being investigated as a crime? Have to keep that firefighter hate train rolling, right.
Sisoloak has my support.
It's time for FF's to initiate damage control and start repairing their image.
They can start by aknowledging that they are not "heroes" simply because they have a job that exposes them to danger. Step down off your pedestals boys and girls...there are heroes down here among us common folk too. Many are more deserving of the title than you. The men and women of Nellis come to mind.
Secondly, graciously accept that you are public servants. You serve the public at a very nice financial return for your services. Because you make 75k a year doesn't mean you're personally worth it. Try being a little humble.
Lastly, if you want to do charitable work, God bless you. But look up the meaning of the word and give of your OWN time. Keep your damn boot out of my face when I go to buy a loaf of bread.
Or you could just quit.
Mr. Sisolak, I have a solution to unmask the "private" phone calls and reveal their numbers. The calling party has no clue. I will try to contact your office today to make them available to you. Keep up the fight against the overpaid, underworked firefighters.
I'm guessing that the ones doing the calling are the thugs employed by the firefighters union--not the individual firefighters.
OK the fire fighters are overpaid. That does not change the fact that Sisoloak a blow hard and kind of a jerk.
As a side note, the firefighters still NEED to be on duty, yes even when there is nothing burning. Why can't they do charity work on their down time, aka on duty with nothing burning? Because you people are lame, is why.
IN ADDITION, if my child or my husband or my mom or my sister was stuck in a burning building, and a firefighter pulled them out, I would surely consider that firefighter a hero. In fact, I consider the firefighters hero's just from their willingness to do that for me.
A hero is a person who is admired for his brave deeds, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model. To me, this is a firefighter.
Just because one person does a heroic act doesnt mean that every one else that does the same job is a hero...That like when some one receives the medal of honor,, everyone in his platoon doesnt receive one also....Anyways why should anyone get paid to do nothing....ooopps sorry commissioners..
Firefighters are paid to do their jobs. A hero is a person who doesn't get PAID to perform a heroic act, but does it anyway.
How dare this Democrat attack the overpaid union benefits of these union brothers in public service. This is unheard of and cannot be tolerated. Someone call Harry Reid. Oh wait, you can't? He's under the bus counting the bodies of Nevadans he threw under there. Tell him to pull the strings on the Obama puppet to call Ron Emanuel and have him strog arm Sisolak to comply in lock step with the program. Throw bailout money at them to save the jobs that would have been lost. It's an outrage!
For years, I've seen FFs at the gym and the supermarket. Recently, though, I've noticed other patrons at these venues giving these FFs some really dirty looks.
Time for FFs to start repairing their images!
Firemen make enormous salaries. This is not right, not fair, not realistic or sustainable. Change is needed.
Contract out for fire protection. Bring in a contractor and find out what you could save and still get the job done.
It's pathetic and cowardly that anyone would threaten a county commissioner for asking legitimate fiscal questions when our local economy is going down the toilet. I hope metro or the FBI finds these scumbag thugs and sticks it to them.
I want to know how many hispanic firefighters there are, I never seen any just wondering
neiman...
Not going to happen.
Negotiating contracts through the media is a BAD IDEA. For both sides.
Ok folks the fire fighters are a swell bunch of guys. There is no doubt this is being done by one or two people. But at the same time any logical person can see that our fire department is grossly over paid. I appreciate the work they do and I am confident that we have one of the best trained departments in the entire country. But the problem is we as a community cannot afford to pay salaries that are out of control. There needs to be a wage freeze in all future contracts for the next ten years at least. Then we can go back to reasonable increases each year.
One other thing is I saw the fire fighters collecting for MDA last weekend on the strip and they were dressed up ready for a fire and had their trucks lined up ready to go at a moments notice. I think the issue is that if they collect for MDA how is that fair to other charities. At the same time I dont hear other charities complaining. I think MDA is a good cause and dont see any problem with the FF helping out.
"I don;t think that FF would do something like that. They can't be that stupid."
just like cops the minimum requirement for firefighters is: High School Diploma or GED.
JerryWayne, point well taken. However for Nevada, a kid getting a HS diploma is quite an academic accomplishment these sorry days.
It is hight time that everyone be given a paycut, not just the "other" employee. The firemen and police/sheriff must share the burden of the less pay. They are not sacred and should be asked to sacrifice and MUST share the burden. The Union has been a pain in the behind when it comes to this. There must also be a cut in Union Dues since we loose part of our pay and it must be proportional to the cut we take.
I am a Union Member with a County Jail. I am willing to share the pain, when it comes to that. We are all in this together and Firemen & Police get more pay than anyone without the advance degree required to start.
I'll bet it was Tundra and his buddy HL9000 they always seem to always have a lot to say.
Steve is a crusader for the little guy. the anonymous threats need to be investigated anonymous threats have gutted the University system and ruined lives
Protect Sisolak at all costs
Unions doing what Unions do best, Thugery. It's time to open the negations to the public.
Require all public positions to be filled with ONLY volunteers ending the robbery-game upon the public that currently funds these positions while allowing public servants to conduct their own fund-raising events upon their own behalf.
Issue resolved.
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It's extremely doubtful that it's any of the firefighters making the threats. More likely and much more believable is that its one of the haters. You know who you are.
Never read a story that sounded this phony in a long time. If someone called and threatened poor SS then that person would have been arrested by now. I am certain we have FFs whom sit around and run down to Wal Mart for a prepaid phone just to threaten this clown. He is just another politician trying to prey on the public's feelings of sympathy to get free campaign publicity.
There is a reason we have unions to protect workers from politicians. Let's do away from the county commision and combine city and county commissioners to save money. Let's combine all county and city government and eliminate a load of wasteful politicians. The CC is a joke, bought and paid for by the few.
Anyone been to the airport lately with the new express exit, which is more like the turtle exit? They want to squeeze every dime from taxpayers for their new terminal, which was needed prior to the recession. Don't need it now as the visitor count is in the toilet and the airlines have cancelled flights. What about DMV? We needed it when we had 8-10k new residents a month, which is now 4-5k. There is another boat load of government money wasted. The joke is on the people; we could automate half the jobs in government and get rid of the rude idiots that work in government offices, instead of squeezing the unions.
The usual lame followers offer their lame comments. Privatize government to run DMV, RED, DB&I, SOS, and many more of the poorly run government money holes. Make them show a profit for their divisions and state shortfalls will fall to the depts that are run poorly. Hold them accountable.
You think that the majority leader of the senate could have got some federal funds for the state through one of the thousand back door deals in Obamacare or the b(f)ailout, instead he was just being O's whipping boy. Bye, Bye, all Dem poilitco's. The people will take back the government that has run amok.
We need public service employees who are there for our safety, 24/7. Compensation should be fair and not bankrupt the community it serves. The whole process of downsizing to meet fiscal realities could be done a lot better. I don't like taking pay cuts either, especially when all the prices we pay for things are going up. Our leadership needs to reach out and ask for everyone to participate and to stop the greed they got us into this mess in the first place.
60 minutes did a piece on how bio-tech firms own the rights to the genes and mutations thereof for many of the diseases that are out there. They are currently the only ones who can do any research regarding these genes. Giving to these charities at this point only supports the charities and not any research that goes with it until the patent issues are resolved.
I personally feel that if you are being paid to be ready to go to a fire, you should be at the fire station. Driving these machines around town costs extra money in fuel and maintainence and reduces the usefull life of the machine. Duh!!!
The county may need to actually mothball a couple of fire stations. Each fire station has to have management, staff and maintainence as well as other operating expenses including all the machines that must be bought maintained. I read in one story that the response time would be increased by 90 seconds.
Competitive bidding on a fire contract may actually be the best way to determine the true market value for the service being provided. It works everywhere else, why not here? Award some contracts to the extra, mothballed fire stations.
"A hero is a person who doesn't get PAID to perform a heroic act, but does it anyway."
Really? Who said?
Actually, what defines a Hero is a matter of opinion. I happen to think that the men and woman who are WILLING to risk their lives for complete strangers (some of whom have very negative things to say about them) are most definitely hero's. You may think your pool boy who makes your pool sparkly blue for the weekend is a hero, or the guy who saves you a couple thousand on your taxes is a hero -- more power to you, to each his own. I want a little more substance in MY hero's.
And yeah... "Require all public positions to be filled with ONLY volunteers" No thanks! lmao... that's the worst idea I've seen yet lol
What were the threats again? ha ha... So let's spend some MORE money for body gaurds and metal detectors... bring in the National Guard, this County Commisioners life is in jeopardy! No metro protection, because you people want them gone too, right? ha ha ha
Sisolak is asking questions that should be asked. That is his job.
I find it impossible to believe that law enforcement cannot identify these callers. I wonder now, are we also unable to get more information on terrorist phone calls, simply because they are made from anonymous numbers?
Something could be done about this if they wanted to do so. I wonder why Metro is not finding out who these callers are.
go_rebels, those are some good money-saving suggestions, but it doesn't take away from the fact that most people (at least that I've talked to) feel that firefighters are drastically overpaid.
From what I understand, there are qualified guys waiting to be hired by the department, so there's a bigger demand for the jobs than there is a supply, so that would suggest that we can lower the pay and balance things out. Guys that want to leave because of the lower pay can be replaced by someone else.
I think too many people get caught up in the emotions of this issue, debating their definition of a "Hero" and everything else, but the reality is that the economics suggest that pay can be lowered. Not a knock on the FF jobs and their contribution to the community, it's simply a budget/economics issue (at least to me).
We need firefighters, we need police, we need schools. Schools are the only ones in that list that have taken a significant hit due to these budget issues, and we're ranked last in the country in quality of education.
Of course the FF are threatening Sisolak. Just go to Facebook and join the group, 'Las Vegas Valley Firefighters against the LVRJ and Sun Newspapers'. These are the people that our tax money pays for, and are using social networking as a means of communication. Not with the taxpayers, but amongst themselves!!!
If he was really threatened, why didn't he just have Metro and phone company find out the origin of said blocked call? You cannot think that in this day and age of technology that they couldn't figure it out. Please. Maybe because, like almost every article in this hag rag, it was totally made up and false. The joke is on anyone who believes anything this newspaper prints.
Firefighters have a history of burning down buildings in the face of budget cuts, why would this be any different?
Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars a Year ? That is close to $5,000.00 a Week .. Something is Wrong .. They CRY they can not Take a Pay Cut...TIME TO FIRE THEM ALL AND LET THEM TRY TO WORK IN THE REAL WORLD...
Now we can imagine what it's like to be the president of the United States; try to do the right thing, and have your life constantly 'on the line' and in danger when you don't give in to pressure to do the WRONG THING.
Sisolak is trying to do the RIGHT THING, and look at how he's being persecuted - this is an outrage!!!
If there are any firefighters or relatives on this board; has the union asked for your opinion or vote regarding the requested cut? Specifically, would you rather take a cut or have layoffs. We read about this topic from all the other angles, but not this one.
Steve: If you're house is on fire give any of us hard-working private industry taxpaying constitutents who support your actions a call. We may not be making 650k a year like some of the firefighters but we'll stand by your side and do whatever we can. I can only hope the CCFD doesn't show up when called. That would give you just the probable cause you need to take some substantive action to curb this nonsense.
We're behind you Steve.
Its nice to see the readers take time to debate an interesting topic. I would like to leave all of you with 2 requests:
1- Before you assume that the unions are wrong, do your homework. Contact the union and get their statement...who knows you might actually be right but do your homework 1st.
2- Track down your tax assessment form, evaluate what you are paying annually for the Clark County Fire District. after that evaluate what a 3-4% concession on the firefighters salaries will do to your end result tax bill.
* Oh 1 more thing, Sisolak said today on John Rolston that the firefighters salaries arent bad its the OT and callbacks...get the commissioners to hire more Firefighters and this will stop the year end salary numbers that are making you guys freak out.
Am I missing something here? How is " you don't know what it's like to be a firefighter', or " you better hope your house doesn't catch on fire", meaning the ff's wouldn't do their best to put the fire out, constitute threats on Sisolak's life? I admire the fact Sisolak is the first commissioner or council member I can remember that has the guts to question some sacred cows, but there just isn't a threat of physical harm here.
I like Mr. Sisolac's accountablity to the Public. Yes, he is an example of our Tax dollars at work. So......
many times these Commissioners throw something out there and suddenly with little to no discussion a vote is taken. 911 made such a hugh impact on how the public views the firefighters as hero's. Yes, they are. As well as police officers, teachers, doctors, nusrses,
and our honorable military personel. In life we all must make concessions at times to help the other guy.
The salary wheather it is O/T or call back money is outragous spending. There is a problem. We the public want the problem fixed. It will not get fixed without
the cooperation of the unions. Mr. Sisolac do not give in to the threats which I beleive are real.
I live with the decisions I make. It's time the Commissioners and firefighters step up to the plate and resolve this issue for the community. Not to fatten someone's wallet.
Mr. Sisolac you can contact me if you need a body guard. I have 25 years of heroric police work under my belt. The time will be dontated. It won't cost the county or you anything.
Gee....$181,000 for what? Give me a break !!Those days are OVER.I say cut the salaries and cut their numbers and bring the county jobs UNDER CONTROL.If the firefighters don't want to help save their jobs along with the other county/state workers...someone else will do it for you.The gravy train has left town people !!
I agree the FF make too much money, but that is where it ends for me.
We do need them. They are preforming a great service. We do NOT need to go to a volunteer fire department. Sisolak is DB.
You're right Chuck, FF can't be that stupid; they are very smart bilking the citizens out of millions for unnecessary salaries; yes they are very smart.
Go Steve!!!!
Maybe Megan Fox can make a video for ff's.
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_14837756?sou...
Destruct_mutt wrote: "Giving to these charities at this point only supports the charities and not any research that goes with it until the patent issues are resolved." Too a very real extent this true but it is not the patent on genes that is the roadblock. It is those who operate businesses under the guise of curing disease. Take our local events for cancer cure: The ribbons, the walks, the large turnout. Our local Cancer Industry touts they are searching for a "Cure" to attract heartfelt funding from those willing to give. This is far from true. What occurs, in fact, are very lucrative treatment trials which are the last hope of many patients. I believe the Nevada Cancer Institute has about 250 of these in progress. In short what is happening is very sick people are being used in experiments to obtain a marginal survival rate over yesterdays treatment. This type of "research" is very profitable for the physicians who do it and the army of administrators and accountants that form the majority of those working at the institute. Yes treatment, and better treatment, is a good endeavor, however it is not at all the type of scientific research that will lead to a cure. It is, to say the least, very sad that those who profit from those with disease are more than willing to advertise that the publics donated money is going towards a "Cure".
As a well seasoned researcher and a Bochemist I have endeavored to find a research lab here to ply my trade. I will work for a "cure" for minimum wage and free overtime. What one finds on the website for the institute is the telling job description posted: Physicians Concierge.
It would seem this is where the money goes.
I guess my earlier post must have had too much truth to it. Did the reporter check facebook for people wanting to have affairs with Mr. Sisolak or just ones against him. The Secret Service would be backlogged years investigating such rubbish on Facebook posted by Republicans and Teaparty people against Obama. For all the grandstanding by Sisolak who has some valid questions, where are the results? We had this kind of yellow journalism and chestbeating politicians back on the East Coast where we moved from. Just like here, some of them ended up in prison.
The time has come to end the 24/7 on duty fire department. We need to give volunteer fireman a stipend and a pager, so they can respond when needed. The savings would be astronomical. The hotels could fund private fire departments to serve their requirements, freeing homeowners from this burden. Other cities use all volunteer fire departments exclusively, and it's time for us to follow suit. This is no longer an affordable luxury.
westnlas - what city our size uses volunteer FD only?
rphamblin - I knew we would hear from you again, and again you are wrong. We only get the salaries /OT from YOUR precious politicians. Everyone, DON'T do what your boss tells you to do....rphamblin will get mad.
As far as this "HERO" business. Obviously from my posts I am a FF. But I am NOT a hero in any way, shape or form. The only people who refer to us this way is the civilian population. I don't think I have ever heard a FF refer to themselves as a HERO.
labdaddy - you seem to refer to FF's as heros more than anyone. Hmmmm. interesting.
Let me tell you once again who I believe a hero is: The man and women fighting for our country, past and present, as well as the mom and dad trying to raise their children in this day and age to be responsible, respectful adults. Of course, that's just my opinion.
Attack the Public employees except soldiers and police-they have guns !!!!
I hope Sisolak gets whatever is coming to him. He is a typical, lying, cheating, greedy politician. Will he take paycut? No of course not. He thinks he is above the law. So does the rest of the Commission.
For Chuck321: How can you trust ANY politician?
Hey Birdiedreamin: I am in the military, I guess the best and brightest don't join the Armed Forces? Go tell that to every man and woman who has graduated from a service academy. How dare you talk down on people who take risks everyday to ensure YOUR safety!!!
Sisolak is just like Dario Herrera, hopefully his day in court on corruption charges happens soon!
croc1 I totally agree with you!