Saturday, June 2, 2012

Interesting Times In North Las Vegas

Even Scott Walker is not this extreme:
Well, they did it.
They did it in front of a sparse crowd, with little public comment and no debate.
It was as if everybody already knew what the North Las Vegas City Council's decision was going to be, and they realized there was little point in talking about it anymore.
In a meeting that lasted less than an hour, the council unanimously granted its city manager virtually unheard of powers Friday night, powers that would enable him to discard portions of union collective bargaining agreements that were negotiated long ago.
Mayor Shari Buck, in a speech that included green apples from her childhood and a plea to come together, called the action necessary "to rescue our city from financial ruin."
The unions vowed to fight on, as they have from the beginning.
"All I want is the truth," said Leonard Cardinale, president of the North Las Vegas Police Supervisors Association.
"We're going to hold them accountable," said Mike Yarter, president of the North Las Vegas Police Officer s Association.
This all started long ago. Before the recession. Before the unions negotiated generous contracts. Before it all imploded when the housing market collapsed.
And it did not end with Friday night's vote, either. There will be court papers filed, the unions said, that will aim to stop the city manager from doing anything at all.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/north-las-vegas-council-votes-to-suspend-union-contracts-156520135.html
The unions are not totally to blame in North Las Vegas's financial problems.  The mayor and council critters are also to blame.  The wages of  public safety employees, like fire fighter and police officers, are some of the richest in the country, however the City offered the wages and the unions took them.  Then the City constructed a new city hall and water treatment, just to name a couple of projects that were not needed.  Then the federal government took their business else when they took the prisoners from NLV to Pahrump for confinement.
It clearly seems like the management is having a lot of problems, many are of which are self made.  Yes the contracts should be cut and cut significantly but it is also clear that the mayor and most council critters also need to go as they are the source of most of the problems in North Las Vegas.
Maybe it is time for the State of Nevada to step in or North Las Vegas to go bankrupt.

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