Assemblyman/firefighter did it by the book

My fire department and my assistant fire chief, John Oceguera, have recently come under fire from Review- Journal columnist Glenn Cook and a right-wing blog. I want to set the record straight, something I would have been glad to do had Mr. Cook contacted me before he published his column, and something I tried to do when I was contacted by that conservative blog.

John Oceguera has dedicated his life to public safety as a firefighter, and didn’t stop there, choosing to add more public service by running for public office. We should be encouraging more firefighters and public safety officers to lead our community, not less. It is exactly the type of real-world experience that we desperately need in our public officials.

John has risen through the ranks at the fire department over the past 20 years because of his leadership qualities, years of experience at every level of fire service and his extensive education — which includes an AS degree in fire science, a BS degree in fire administration, a masters public administration, a law degree from the William Boyd School of Law, and numerous fire safety certifications and qualifications.

Just as he has done throughout his service as a legislator, John Oceguera has worked hard and played by the rules. John has done it by the book — he’s been a firefighter first, and a part-time legislator, second.

Contrary to what was reported, during the legislative session, Oceguera was paid for only nine hours of work a week, and for the rest of the time he was on either unpaid leave or used accrued vacation time. In return for these nine hours of pay a week, Oceguera participated in weekly early morning executive video conferences, early morning full-staff video conferences, and composed a weekly operations report for me which showed he processed more than 1,900 emails (about 120 a week) to do his job.

But Oceguera didn’t stop there. Throughout the legislative session, Oceguera came into the office virtually every weekend. In addition, Oceguera was on call every weekend until early May, from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, which means he was on the clock for more than 240 hours a month while serving in the Legislature. By comparison, my other chiefs are required to be on call for only 118 hours per month.

This was something he and I agreed to before the legislative session began because we needed his valuable help at the department. What many have done, but Oceguera chose not to, was take a standard leave, which would have left us with a void to fill.

Instead, Oceguera found the time to fulfill his most critical responsibilities by working early in the morning and on weekends — providing far more time to us than he was compensated for, a great deal for the fire department.

The right-wing blog criticized Oceguera for being a firefighter who is a part-time legislator. Understanding the importance of operating under proper procedures and guidelines, we long ago requested the opinion of President Bush’s office of special counsel and they concluded that this agreement is in full accordance with proper procedures, laws and regulations. Whatever the opinion of this blog, Oceguera may serve in the Legislature as an assistant fire chief.

My assistant fire chief did everything by the book. In fact, he went above and beyond to fulfill his duties to the people of Nevada and help my fire department avoid the catastrophe that would have come from being left short-handed.

To do it, he went 120 days, seven days a week, on very little sleep. To do it, Oceguera was only paid nine hours a week (one day of work) by the fire department, but used up two valuable vacation days a week and ended up working far more than he was compensated for.

In my view, John should be getting awards for his sacrifices, not accusations. John Oceguera is one of my most qualified, dedicated and honorable firefighters. He has earned the respect of every firefighter under my command, and the city of North Las Vegas is lucky to have him in their employ.

Al Gillespie

North Las Vegas

The writer is chief of the North Las Vegas Fire Department.