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By Paul Takahashi (contact) 
Monday, June 13, 2011 | 6:34 p.m.
The City of North Las Vegas began sending pink slips on Thursday to 40 city firefighters, which could lead to browning out certain fire stations and shutting down fire engines.
The 40 firefighter positions were slated for reduction in the fiscal 2012 budget approved May 17 by the City Council. The cash-strapped city could lay off more than 250 city employees as it tries to plug a $30.3 million budget shortfall next year.
In addition to the 40 firefighters, positions being considered for elimination include 154 Teamsters, 43 police officers, five Police Supervisors Association members, nine temporary employees and eight non-union employees.
The final number of layoffs could be reduced if city and union leaders agree on additional union concessions.
Jeff Hurley, the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1607, said the city hasn't accepted firefighters’ concessions, which “equates to a 24 percent reduction in salary and benefits,” he said. The union is in its sixth round of concessions in two years, Hurley said.
“The city’s response was they were still going to lay off firefighters,” he said. “These are drastic numbers. Forty firefighters equates to over 25 percent of our emergency responders in North Las Vegas.”
Hurley said with these reductions, the city might have to close fire stations during certain hours and eliminate the use of certain fire engines. On any given day, the city has 58 firefighters working, he said.
On May 4, the city reached a tentative agreement with the firefighters' union to save the jobs of 33 firefighters in exchange for $4 million in the union’s fifth round of concessions. The 40 firefighter positions being eliminated this month are not part of the 33 firefighter positions saved as part of the agreement, Hurley said.
It does seem that NLV is cutting a lot more than other cities/counties/NV State.
Why?
Is the revenue gone bust more for NVL?
Or they have been doing a more of a rotten job managing the city over the years?
I think they are in the worst shape than any other city in NV.
As a union member, I'd like to see union's protect peoples jobs rather than protecting seniority. It's better for all of us if we earn a little less and keep people employed. These are tough times. When things get better, you will get realistic raises again, but for now, lets bite the bullet and do what's right for once and be part of the solution.
where's the donut shop?
Good for NLV. And I am sure they had to do it without the help of their idiot hero worshiping mayor. Voters, reward those who vote to layoff firefighters! It's the only way to fight the powerful FF union.
They are so overstaffed. I watched these guys put out a trash can fire once. There were 8 trucks and 35 firefighters on the scene. 1 guy holding a hose putting out the trash can. Seriously. The hole hero thing has need milked to death! They could fire 40 more and it would still be just fine.
I'm sorry to hear of anyone losing their job, but the City of North Las Vegas is in deep fiscal crisis. The fire and police unions may need to "give up" a lot more of their unsustainable salaries and benefits before this is all over. They may all lose their jobs if the City goes insolvent and is taken over by the state. This has all been brought on by years of poor management and oversight by the previous city council and city manager. It makes one sick to think of the hundreds of millions of dollars that have been wasted on unnecessary projects like the new City Hall and wastewater treatment plant. It's stunning how far the City has fallen in the past two to three years.
When your house catches on fire, call a politician and see what you get. Are they out of their minds?
Yes maxy, never lay off a frauder. Just keep paying unsustainable wages, benefits and pensions.
Do you not understand that there is only so much money available. if these guys were paid a fair wage there would be no need for layoffs.
If you could only understand the simple economics of the situation, that would help. Instaed of stating the sky is falling scenarios.
It's a good thing only a handful of people read these garbage blogs. So full of hate, inaccuracies and flat out lies (tbvegas).
The only comfort i can take is knowing that anyone unfortunate enough to waste their time reading them, such as myself, is probably intelligent enough to realize it's all nonsensical blather spewed by agenda driven blowhards (such as myself?)
This is a good example of how greedy unions are. I'm sure in the next 30 days the unions will want to give up a little more to save the 40 jobs. This is why we do not need unions in the public sector. They always want more, and more. This is a good lesson for all you union "brothers" to learn.
Greedy? NLV FFs has already made 5 rounds of concessions. NLV is on course to be our version of Watts. I dare you to go into certain NLV neighborhoods after dark. First it's the FFs, next the police. NLV is doomed. Do you really think the NLVPD union will make any further concessions after the FFs union made 5 rounds of concessions and still got layoff notices.
Good they are over paid and take advantage of the system. KARMA'S A BITCH
We are all over taxed... revenue is down and like so many others, I feel for those losing their jobs. Across the board pay/benefit cuts are a way to temper job losses, but greed does not sit well when negotiating with unions, but it dominates their thinking.
Take advantage of the system? NLV did an audit of the FFs, NLV FFs used like 4 shifts of sick time per year. That's about half the national average.
Keep spinning your hater rhetoric BS, but in the end the only people that are getting screwed in this debacle is the citizens. The citizens of NLV have been polled and overwhelmingly responded that public safety was paramount to them.
Good luck retaining residents and businesses when public safety response times exceed what it takes to make any kind of positive difference. In a few minutes a home or business that could have been saved from fire will burn beyond recognition. In a few minutes a small altercation that could have been prevented will turn into a homicide.
On the other hand, your local gang member will rejoice in knowing that delayed response times will provide ample time to commit a crime before police and medical care can be rendered. Like I said... NLV is doomed.
Sevenhills must have NLVFD confused with something else. Councilwoman Wood's sick leave abuse investigation showed that the firefighters are at worst skeaky clean. All the news reports I've read since last year show that NLV firefighters have given back tons and have always been the first at the table. I just don't see how these layoffs are a good idea. The city's public safety is already in dire straights and this new nonsense is only going to make it worse. The council is punching holes in an already sinking ship.
Oh and Jeanie, last night's news reported that they are trying to offer up 5% of their pay. No one is listening.
They have bigger cajones than most of the Las Vegas and Clark County politicians.
the fact that the union is in it's "sixth round of concessions in two years" shows how outlandish, egregious, and bloated firefighter salaries and benefits have become.
collecting average pay and benefits of $150k per year for a job worth maybe half that is close to criminal.
They have twice the cajones and half the brains.
Criminal? Those are harsh words for the people doing what no one else is willing to do.
More Nevada working families unemployed and many want to put them in a colisium and throw rocks at them. Their whole family will suffer. But be happy folks, gold and oil is up. Forbes list grew bigger every year since the recession. All the auto workers received great bonuses. Good news always.
Glad to hear it!
Every time they lay off one of these greedy overpaid goons it frees up over $100K in revenue. Or, in the case of the CCFD slugs, over $200K.
1 FireFrauder fired = 4 Teachers saved
Firemen are anything but 'working class'. They make more than you and I put together, and they do it lounging about cushy fire stations figuring out how they can scam taxpayers out of even more money to pay for their ridiculous pay and benefits.
Fire all of them and you could replace every one of these arrogant morons with ivy league graduates for half the cost.
Ha! Goons. I once saw a handful of those moronic "goons" doing cpr on some poor motorcyclists who'd just been smeared in an intersection up in Aliante. Can you believe the nerve of those "goons"? And what's up with that motorcyclist wasting taxpayer money? We coulda planted a tree in a park instead.
Absurd!
I know a NLV FF who has 3 brand new cars, I mean 4 (he baught one for his mom). Camping every other weekend in the huge RV towing the quads and side by side up to the huge cabin in Duckcreek. Goes to Hawaii for a month every summer. The wife does not work so no income there. This just shows that they are making way too much.
Greedy Extortionists.
They require 150k a year for 10 days of work a month. They threaten the politicians with campaign money if they don't get what they want. They threaten citizens that public safety will be impaired if they don't get what they want. Now they say they will give back a LITTLE for a GUARANTEE that none of there brothers will ever be laid off. Some on the city council have spines, and cannot make such crazy guarantees. It is unbelievable the higher up firefighters are throwing the newer ones under the bus because they won't cut their cushy salaries a little.
My heroes don't require over $1000 a day to do their job. My heroes would help put a house out for free.
Maybe what needs to be done, is to look at the pay scales for other cities, say 10 that are the size of North Las Vegas, take the average of those salaries and benefits, and PAY THAT.
It might put an end to all the bickering. And IF these NLV Fire Fighters and Police Officers don't like it, well, the City of North Las Vegas can certainly begin recruiting in the 10 above mentioned cities and get plenty of applicants for the positions.
Times have changed, and so has housing here in Clark County, and people looking FOR WORK, at a reasonable price.
Time to be reasonable on ALL SIDES.
These public safety extortionists need to be told how much we ca nafford to pay, and if they don't like it, they can go find another job. The time of negotiating against the taxpayers is done.
Buddy, yes when polled people want public safety...how many more people could be hired if the unions didn't run up wages to the unsustainable place they are now. If these guys topped out at $60k we could hire alot more and not need layoffs.
Buru, congratulations, you saw these guys doing the job they are paid to do.
How do you folks who think it's ok to lay off firefighters and police think nlv is going to get out of this situation the city council has put you in by spending 150 million for a new city hall and 300 plus million for a water treatment plant that is illegally dumping water. What new buisness is going to want to locate in nlv if they going to have to pay inflated insurance costs because of lack of fire prevention and a police force now at 1.2 officers per 1000 when the national average is 2.5 per 1000 with more layoffs scheduled.NLV is already the highest crime city in the state and you think it will get better with lower paid and fewer police officers. You get what you pay for. If you needed a heart transplant, would you shop around for the cheapest doctor who is overworked and not happy about it. After the gang bangers get two strikes on them in LA and they move to avoid the third strike, where do you think they're going to go, a place with alot of police?
This question remains and firefighters and all government employees should answer it NOW: would you prefer to keep your job with an overall cut in compensation by 15-25% or would you rather be a 99er with benefits exhausted? All the unions, associations, and non-organized government employees need to take a vote and present the results to the government--city, county, school district... Say, I heard that Carson City School District doesn't have to close any schools or lay off teachers cause they did that LAST year. And Washoe CSD is buying out 251 or so teachers...not sure we should be forced to pay buyouts so a teacher with 30 years in can retire with an extra $24,000 in her back pocket on top of 75% of salary forever and ever.
Nobody should ever wish harm upon another. Why would you want another man with a family and kids to be laid off? Who cares what job they had, do you think its going to be easy for these guys to get another job in this town? They applied for a job and got it, that's it. Many moons ago I learned that bieng a hater gets you no where. Help your fellow man don't push him into the abyss. How would you explain to your family you just got laid off as so many of us have? Take a deeeeeep breath and release, yep your human so act like it.
I find it funny that most people will be the first to comment on how they seem lazy and overpaid. These men and women brave more danger in a shift then most of you will in your life. Yes it may seem that they are lounging around but that is just your view. They are required to be on shift for 24 hours at a time, away from family, available to take a call at any hour of the day or night, most John Q public do not. You can sit here and grand stand all you want but when the time comes YOU have an emergency and there is no one to respond or it takes a while to get there, who are you first to blame, the firefighters. The police are over used as well, they respond to calls from the public about issues all the time, who is going to be there when you call now if they lay off these men and women.
Why not we look at the city council and city government first, make cuts there, there is always talk about cutting public safety and teachers, but never any mention of cutting the fat cats in government, this is why society thinks the way they do and it is sickening to see it.