Police supervisors union declares impasse

The North Las Vegas Police Supervisors Association has given up on negotiating its contract with the city.

The union's president, Sgt. Leonard Cardinale, said the union declared an impasse last week due to the city's denial of promotions and refusal to fill and backfill vacant positions, which has left one area command without a captain. The union represents about 40 lieutenants and sergeants.

He argues that current staffing levels put the public at risk.

"You have to have a supervisor to make sure all the rules and regulations are followed," Cardinale said. "They won't promote anybody so we have supervisors working on overtime, we have supervisors working on double shifts and they're telling me they are getting worn out."

That perspective isn't shared across the force.

"The lieutenants and the sergeants are the guys in the office," said Mike Yarter, president of the Police Officers Association, which represents roughly 300 front-line officers. "A lot of times they don't respond to the calls. They are not the primary officers being dispatched."

Yarter said the role supervisors play is more about department liability than public safety.

Yarter said he felt levels should be up to the police chief and the city manager and not part of contract negotiations.

But North Las Vegas Police Chief Alex Perez, who became chief in May, won't weigh in on whether or not police staffing levels are dangerous.

Perez referred the Review-Journal to city spokesman Mitch Fox.

Fox advised that he was out of town and referred the Review-Journal to Assistant City Manager Ryann Juden.

Juden did not return a text message, phone call or email.

Cardinale said the union is willing to help the city with its financial struggles but doesn't want its contract gutted.

He said his union offered to scale back pay for newly promoted supervisors, was willing to look at cuts to benefits and whether longevity pay should apply to future employees.

Meanwhile, from the union's perspective the city is saying it's impossible to promote and fill vacant police jobs while promoting people to fill jobs in city administration.

Cardinale pointed to Juden's promotion from chief of staff to assistant city manager, which upped his salary from $131,250 to $137,812.

At that time City Manager Qiong Liu also promoted Capt. David Noahr to assistant police chief, a position created in January.

That police promotion has resulted in the city's Northwest Area Command — a 104-square-mile area — being without a captain, according to Cardinale.

Cardinale, through a union press release, accused City Finance Director Darren Adair of presenting financial forecasts that seem more "slanted than mathematical."

The city has stated that it has a projected $78 million long-term deficit.

"The City Finance staff has provided some very crafty misdirection when they try to justify their structural deficit," Cardinale said in a statement. "But what it really amounts to is just talking in circles, so that no one has any idea where the deficit came from or where it is headed by the time is it explained."

Adair said he wished the deficit was just a "phantom" as Cardinale claimed as it would make his job a lot easier.

"You can look at every department in this city. We're thin everywhere," Adair said. "People are picking and choosing examples. I think from where I'm at, and where I see things, the city is trying to do its best and look across the board and trying and to be as consistent as possible. The concern is we do have a deficit."

Carindale said he has an issue with how the city is making decisions about which positions are crucial and which ones can go unfilled.

He said he was told — though he refused to say by whom — that all hiring decisions are made by a committee that is tasked with determining if a position is critical or not. Cardinale said he was told the committee is made up of Liu, Juden, Adair, City Attorney Sandra Douglass Morgan and Mayor John Lee.

Douglass Morgan said Lee has never been on that committee.

Cardinale contends someone with a law enforcement background should be part of the committee and pointed out that those calling the shots have been in their current positions for about two years or less.

He said it's frustrating to have his supervisors' pay questioned by people who, from the union's perspective, just showed up and make as much as supervisors or more.

Cardinale made $110,296 in 2014, not including benefits, according to Transparent Nevada, a database of public salaries.

Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes