However agencies resolve economic woes, the process must be transparent

When Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid admonished local reporters to be patient, I had to smile.

"I appreciate all your desire to get to the end of the story," Reid said.

Patience is not our strong suit. We're like the public in that regard.

Addressing the county's increasingly troublesome financial woes will take time and understanding, Reid said last week at the Clark County Government Center. It's the start, not the end, of what could be a long and painful process.

Frankly, I think Reid should forgive reporters for being confused. When officialdom calls a news conference in the middle of an economic crisis, reporters arrive expecting some news. What they heard instead was something like a commercial for the news to come. The advertisement featured hard-working county officials and representatives from three public employee unions following an "unprecedented" meeting to address personnel costs.

It's understandable county officials and public employee union bosses want the public to appreciate how hard they're working. With most of the cost of government going toward salaries and benefits, sooner or later taxpayers -- and politicians -- will be faced with some tough questions and difficult decisions. Questions about the use of overtime and high salaries for county firefighters and others are already being asked by the conservative Nevada Policy Research Institute.

But, as far as I could tell, the unprecedented meeting didn't accomplish much -- unless you count drawing a group of reporters on a slow news day as something positive.

(We gather at car accidents and service club lunches. Getting us to materialize isn't exactly an act worthy of David Copperfield.)

The gathering did, however, send a message: Clark County and its public employee unions won't be pushovers at the Legislature when it comes time to slash budgets.

The news conference came during a week that found Gov. Jim Gibbons and state lawmakers gathering to make more than $300 million in cuts, University Chancellor James Rogers fighting to protect the higher education budget, angry parents calling out to save public school programs and county officials announcing cuts at University Medical Center to everything from prenatal care to outpatient oncology.

But it was clear to me that you shouldn't expect representatives of the International Association of Firefighters, Police Protective Association or Service Employees International Union to sit still while their members' wages and benefits are threatened. Not even a little bit.

Officials from all three unions said they were willing to listen to county officials. But they were just as quick to remind those in attendance that they have labor agreements.

IAF President Ryan Beaman talked first about protecting the interests of the county's firefighters. While some firefighter salaries with overtime might seem high, he said, the staffing ratios in Clark County are among the lowest per capita in the nation.

PPA President Chris Collins and SEIU executive director Ed Burke said they were willing to discuss issues, but neither was interested in using the word "concession" in a sentence.

"We sat down and said, 'We're not sure there's a problem,' " Collins said. "We know there are going to be challenges for public employees at the Legislature." Something tells me the PPA will be ready.

In short, I heard nothing in their rhetoric that indicated Metro officers, firefighters or county employees plan on taking pay cuts.

Although county officials said they'd agreed to provide the unions with the latest budget figures and projections, the PPA keeps a close watch over such things. It contracts with a labor consultant who specializes in spreadsheets and big picture projections.

The county had the news conference at the wrong end of the process, but that's the nature of the politics racket. It's hard to tell, but perhaps it says something positive that county officials remain on speaking terms with the public employee union bosses. If the economy continues its slide, that collegiality might change.

The two sides ought to reach agreement quickly on at least this approach: Be upfront with the taxpayers. Break down your finances in plain English. Make your case in the daylight.

"Nobody knows, as I said, how this story will end," Reid said.

True enough, but without straight talk this story could end disastrously for the leading residents of the Clark County Government Center.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith/.