North Las Vegas jailers now threatening public safety

North Las Vegas officials are very reluctant to lay off large numbers of city employees to manage plunging tax collections and ever-rising personnel costs.

The city’s unhappy corrections officers might have made that decision a lot easier.

Two weekends ago, an unusually large number of officers called out sick – so many, in fact, that a wing of the jail had to be closed and about 70 nonviolent, misdemeanor offenders were released on a judge’s order. Sgt. Tim Bedwell, a spokesman for the North Las Vegas Police Department, couldn’t say how many officers claimed to be ill between May 18 and May 20, but he revealed the agency would have had to cover 49 shifts at overtime wages.

“We can’t afford that from a monetary standpoint … ” Sgt. Bedwell said. “The only reasonable solution we have is to close a wing.”

Jail employees are experiencing the same stomach-churning job anxiety that private-sector Nevadans have been dealing with for years. Just a few years ago, the jail held up to 900 inmates daily. But the federal government moved its immigration detainees out of that jail and into Pahrump’s, costing the city some $19 million in annual rent. That switch led to the layoffs of 44 city workers. The North Las Vegas jail now holds about 140 inmates.

The city’s budget, meanwhile, never stopped bleeding. Over the past three years, property taxes have declined 37 percent and consolidated tax revenue has plunged 29 percent. Not only does the city want its workforce to give up pay raises and some of their more generous benefits – total compensation would decline, but salaries wouldn’t – Mayor Shari Buck last month met with Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie to discuss contracting for jail beds, a move that could result in the North Las Vegas jail being closed.

So how did corrections officers respond to this wave of bad news? First, they voted with police officers to reject contract concessions. Then they decided to skip work.

Mike Yarter, president of the North Las Vegas Police Officers Association, said he did not call for or support the sick-out. “We would definitely try to sway them away from doing this. It’s silly,” he said.

It’s beyond silly. It’s a potential threat to public safety.

Nevada’s collective bargaining laws have served municipal public employees exceptionally well. They enjoy some of the best local government salaries and benefits in the nation, and in exchange for having an arbitrator settle contract impasses, workers are not allowed to strike. But that’s essentially what these North Las Vegas correction officers did. They went on paid strike to make a point.

They didn’t help their cause. Instead, they made it clear they have no loyalty to the residents who pay their salaries.

City Manager Tim Hacker wants to extract pay concessions by declaring the city a disaster area, a move that would allow the government to suspend union contracts. The council will vote on the plan Friday, and if members support it, a court challenge by unions is likely. The city may not be able to avoid layoffs, after all.

If that ends up being the case, Mr. Hacker should hand out the first pink slips at the jail.