Las Vegas City Council, union reach agreement to save 22 jobs

By Erin Dostal

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 11:41 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday approved a tentative concession offer by the Las Vegas Police Protective Association that would save the jobs of 22 city marshals.

To balance its budget, the city asked the LVPPA to cut $1.1 million from its employees' pay and benefits – 8 percent of its current operation – which would free up that money for the city’s general fund. The group came up with cuts of about $909,000 from pay and benefits.

The $909,000 is 82 percent of what the city asked the union to cut. It isn’t perfect, Mayor Oscar Goodman said Wednesday, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Overall, the city will need to cut 8 percent of its spending during the next two years to deal with a $70 million budget shortfall.

Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell said the goal of the bargaining was to avoid layoffs and to create a more sustainable financial situation for the city.

Fretwell said she was proud of the deal, saying this was a “major step toward a resolution” of the city’s financial woes.

Goodman said talks with the union were among the toughest meetings he had attended.

“These were folks that have become our friends,” he said. “They were told they would no longer work here through no fault of their own.”

In March, Goodman backed a proposal that would have allowed him to fire and rehire all city employees who agreed to the 8 percent cut in their pay and benefits.

After attorneys told the mayor that could lead to legal trouble for the city, Goodman backed down but continued to push for collective bargaining.

Goodman said he was proud of the police association, adding that he hoped other bargaining units in the city would follow its lead.

"You care about Las Vegas," he said, "and you care about each other."