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Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid outlined a five-point county financial and public services reform plan Monday.
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Rory Reid news conference
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Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid opened the year in politics Monday with a five-point plan to solve Clark County’s fiscal troubles and put government and public services on a path to long-term stability.
The plan, which takes a hard line on public employee unions and the scandal-ridden University Medical Center, also shores up political vulnerabilities that could imperil the Democrat’s run for governor.
Monday’s press conference, staged in the commission chambers, was the latest move by Reid to blunt the criticisms his Republican rivals are already leveling.
Last month, when Reid attacked Gov. Jim Gibbons, saying the governor’s reputation was costing the state new business, Gibbons previewed the likely line of Republican volley. “Is Commissioner Reid going to run the state like how UMC is run?” Gibbons spokesman Dan Burns asked. “If he does, this state will be bankrupt like California in short order.”
UMC, the county’s only public hospital, lost $70 million last fiscal year and has been the scene of several scandals, including, most recently, the systematic leak of private patient information of car accident victims, allegedly to personal injury lawyers looking for clients. On Monday, Reid called for a comprehensive audit of UMC’s quality of care and advocated transferring the hospital to a nonprofit entity.
The county itself faces a deficit of up to $126 million in the coming fiscal year, on top of a $70 million shortfall this year.
For candidate Reid, the larger challenge is building a case for voters that his handling of the county’s troubles shows he would be capable of managing the state’s shrinking budget as governor.
In addition to curbing costs at UMC and in public employee contracts, Reid’s plan calls for restructuring county departments, adopting cost-saving measures recommended by a citizens advisory committee and launching ready-to-go public works projects.
“The politically expedient thing to do would be to bide my time, sit in that chair for a few more months and hope this didn’t fester on my watch,” he told the assembled media. “I just don’t think that’s the responsible thing to do. I got elected to this job and I want to do it right and I want to do it well. I want to finish the job I was elected to do.”
Reid also faces public perception that the County Commission is beholden to special interests. For many, that image was cast in stone in 2006, when four former commissioners were convicted of accepting bribes from a strip club owner. Last month Reid acknowledged the baggage that comes with a seat on the commission when he unveiled an ethics-reform package aimed at closing loopholes in state law and stiffening penalties for unethical behavior.
Political observers pointed to the timing of Monday’s press conference, coming on the heels of publicity over Las Vegas government’s plan to shore up its finances by cutting salaries across the board. The city is considering 8 percent cuts for all employees in each of the next two years, and officials have talked about taking drastic measures such as closing fire stations to stem high firefighter costs.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who is mulling a run for governor as an independent, quickly attacked union criticism of potential cuts as “scare tactics.”
Politically, Reid has room to maneuver. He’s the sole declared Democrat in the governor’s race, so he won’t have to spend much time wooing traditional Democratic allies, including labor.
“It’s significant that he’s willing to take on some Democratic sacred cows,” said David Damore, a political scientist at the UNLV. “It shows he’s trying to chart his own course.”
The battle with the unions could also play well with Republican and independent voters, he said.
More than a year ago, Reid and county staff asked members of the county firefighters union to consider salary concessions to help alleviate the county’s shortfall. (The average salary and benefits for the county’s 700 firefighters have ballooned to just under $200,000 per year.)
County administrators and commissioners said the union’s offer amounted to no concession at all.
While remaining diplomatic in public, Reid has privately expressed anger over the union’s lack of cooperation.
On Monday, Reid stressed the importance of adopting the recommendations of the Committee on Community Priorities, an advisory committee he created. The panel, which called firefighters’ compensation “outrageous” in its report, gives Reid additional cover as he uses the county pulpit to his political advantage.
“Gov. Gibbons is using the governor’s office to burnish his conservative bona fides,” Damore said. “Reid wants to use his platform in the same way.
“He can dust off his credentials, talk about reforming Clark County and say he’ll do the same thing at the state level. Otherwise, he doesn’t have much to hang his hat on, other than he hasn’t gotten in trouble.”
Reid has no plan to fix UMC nor has he had one for these past years as he has led the county. Now his plan is simply to form a new group to run it. Without fixing the problem it just dooms the hospital. Is this how Reid will solve state problems, just cast the duty to someone else with no plans?
If Rory was serious he would have the Unions engaged today to reduce their demands.
Look behind you Rory there is nobody there
So let's get this straight.....he has a plan to fix the mess that he created over years by his own fiscal incompetence.
Plus the Dems are running a Reid empire ticket.
Sounds like a game plan for me......
Thank you God for giving us Dems like this......we need all the help we can get to win in 2010.
I find it humorous that Rory has a plan to rescue what he has been responsible for creating. Rory has been in the saddle of the destruction of the way of life in Clark County, there are so many examples it should be criminal. I think Rory should use Dario's latest comment to label himself and his father, here it is, "I was operating from a sense of arrogance, a sense of entitlement."
3:36 a.m.? Guess pointless vitriol never sleeps. Check your history, haters. UMC had issues long, long before Rory Reid ran for county commission. Thankfully he is willing to bust the sacred cows - like taking on unions - in ways no one else has had the guts to do. There are plenty of sacred cows in Carson that your boy Gibbons would never ever get near, starting with mining, insurance companies, lobbyists and more. I shudder to think of four more months, let alone years, with that bozo at the top
The State needs to get the tax structure reformed to solve the current problems. New taxes suck, but it takes a brave person with fearless political leadership qualities to pull it off. Rory Reid just isn't that person..
Mr. Reid failed in properly supervising the operation of UMC. Remember the CEO of the Hospital was required to report to the commission on a monthly basis, he didn't. Mr. Reid was on the commission when the sweet heart union salary deals were made. Mr. Reid and other commission members over the years made several bad decisions in fighting law suits against the county and not settling, costing us tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars. We already have a Governor who's judgments are questionable, why elect another one.
Rex.....UMC has gotten worse not better under Reid's supervision.
The public hospital in the north part of the state had similar problems and they converted it into a private hospital. It addresses the needs of the poor but does not suck money down the drain.
What about the RJC boondoogle project?
What about the airport land deals scandal?
What about firefighters getting on average over $150k a year in wages and benefits?
What all his buddies going to jail for all those years?
Reid has shown zero leadership.
Is that the type of leadership that you are looking for? Like...oh well...things are bad..but he is swell guy. He did nothing for the county but we want to give him a crack at running the state.
Take UMC and make it something else. Yeah, that's it. That will make it go away. Yeah, that's the ticket. Rory should have thought of this years ago. Of course, that would have required Rory to have an original idea. If he becomes governor, he can just sell Red Rock park! Yeah, that's the ticket.
A democrat with a cost cutting plan is an oxymoron!!!!!!!
This is a no win situation for Rory. If he restructures the way UMC runs then "he hasn't done it soon enough" if he doesn't then he "keeps doing nothing". We can all sit here and call each other names but who's the person actually trying to do something.
Rory Reid 2010
It's a new year. Let's make sure ALL REID'S are voted out of office. And keep it that way. They have done enough damage to us. Let's end that families political career!!!! All they have done is lined their pockets and will continue to do so. Like father like son.
I see Rory Reid in no solution to any problem. He failed us running the County and I'm not about to vote for him to damage the State of Nevada. The whole "screw-up and move-up" is NOT going to fly here Mr. Reid. In bed with the unions, poor leadership, and crooked as your daddy. Your a known entity and a very bad one. The voters will have their say in November.
Like father,like son. You get what you voted for, now suck it up!!!
That's right... We don't need no stinking rescue plan! And where on earth did he get that goofy idea about ethics in politics? HA! Good one, Rory!
well....how about diversification of our tax base?!?!?! make sense....too many here are victims of scare tactics used by Mr. Reid's father.....Utah will be getting an additional $3M in revenues
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14111447
but hey, look at the BILLIONS we have given up because of irrational fears.....we could have the finest standard of living, greatest education system, etc...if we would only allow nuclear waste to be stored at the test site or wherever as other states do, and benefit from.
we're not so smart, eh?
The only job title befitting Rory Reid is Union Representative. Think about this when you go to the polls.
Thank you to The Sun for enlightening us about the fact that Lionel Sawyer & Collins, the law firm in which Democrat Candidate for Nevada Governor Rory J. Reid, Esq. is a shareholder/owner, is now representing Dr. Dipak Desai. See:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jan...
and see:
http://www.lionelsawyer.com/index.cfm?pa......
It's refreshing to see such honesty on the part of a political candidate like Rory J. Reid, who will publicly acknowledge that he is willing to personally profit from the payment of high dollar legal fees paid by scum like Dr. Desai. Every ill-gotten dollar from Dr. Desai used to pay those legal fees going into the pockets of Lionel Sawyer & Collins are dollars that could instead be going into the pockets of the sick and dying victims of Dr. Desai's malpractice.
Lionel Sawyer & Collins' willingness to take Dr. Desai as a client, and/or Rory J. Reid's failure to resign from that law firm if Dr. Desai became a client, speaks volumes about Rory J. Reid's lack of character and lack of forcefulness. A competent lawyer whose career could be blackened by the decisions of his law partners usually forcefully prevents his law firm from taking an embarassing client or resigns. Rory J. Reid has done neither.
Mayor Oscar Goodman, the former mob lawyer, was the only public official in town who had the chutzpah to simply shut down Dr. Desai's clinics.
Clark County Commission Chairman Rory J. Reid just dithered and prevaricated, just like he always does, and Clark County was one of the last to order Dr. Desai's clinics closed. (Was Lionel Sawyer & Collins already secretly representing Dr. Desai at that early date?)
Perhaps Lionel Sawyer & Collins' and its law partner Mr. Reid's willingness to take Dr. Desai's dirty money is another little reason why Oscar rather than Rory is the more worthy candidate for Governor.
I hope that the Republicans are paying attention to this one. It will be a great campaign poster: A photo of Rory J. Reid with "Dr. Desai's Lawyer" printed beneath his smiling face.
The Reids are the original Nevada Grifters. They just love the taxpayers.
Monkey boy reid is the last person we want in the governors office.