North Las Vegas grants emergency powers; union contracts targeted

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.

RESOLUTION BASED ON OBSCURE STATE LAW

The city manager, Tim Hacker, proposed the resolution last week. It runs 21 pages long, and it lays out a case for using an obscure state law to suspend the union agreements.

The law, NRS 288.150 (4), allows municipal governments to do away with collective bargaining agreements in cases of emergencies; riots, military action, natural disasters and civil disorder are cited specifically.

But Hacker said the alternative, 217 layoffs, mostly within already strapped police and fire departments, would constitute an emergency itself. Those layoffs, which he and city leaders contend are the only other option, would leave the city's 200,000-plus residents at risk, he said.

So, the resolution.

Other states have laws specifically regarding financial emergencies that allow similar actions. But Nevada does not. Short of a takeover of the city by the state government, the "riot" law is all there is.

Municipal bankruptcy, used by more than 600 cities and other local government agencies since its inception during the Great Depression , is not allowed in Nevada.

Hacker said he will exercise the powers granted to him in the resolution immediately. It takes effect July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

It allows him to mandate the concessions that the city has been seeking from the police and fire unions: an end to pay raises, uniform allowances and holiday sell-back programs for the next two years.

The resolution does not directly affect the city's other union, Teamsters Local 14, which represents workers outside the police and fire departments.

There will be 60 layoffs within the Teamsters, which voted Thursday to rejects concessions.

Steve Harney, the union's president, said pink slips have started going out to those 60 people. He expects more next week.

He said the resolution could affect dozens more Teamsters, those who work at the city's jail, or within emergency dispatch.

"We're talking about people with families here," he said, clearly frustrated.

The police and fire unions say they simply do not believe city officials. They say the city has been mismanaged to the brink of financial ruin. They say the numbers the city has put out - the 217 layoffs, the $33 million budget deficit - are fabrications.

Besides, said Yarter, the police officers union president, the city probably would be better off if the state took over, anyway.

STATE TAKEOVER?

That could still happen, despite Buck's stated intention to the contrary.

The state Department of Taxation is already monitoring the city's finances. It could step in and take over, imposing its own rules.

State law would allow the department to raise some taxes, a power the city already has and Hacker said they have dismissed because it would not raise enough money. It is unclear whether the law would allow the state to do much else that the city cannot already do.

Terry Rubald, the taxation department's chief of local government service, said she has asked for an official opinion from the state attorney general's office as to whether the law would allow the department to suspend collective bargaining agreements that are already in place.

The law does clearly outline one more option that has not been much discussed within the City Council chambers: disincorporation.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.