Las Vegas firefighters won’t back Brown for mayor
Las Vegas firefighters haven't endorsed a candidate for mayor yet, but on Tuesday they made it clear that they won't back Larry Brown.
The city firefighters union announced an ad campaign against the Clark County commissioner and mayoral candidate, saying Brown unfairly grouped them with Clark County firefighters who abuse sick leave and overtime.
"Larry Brown is confused," said Dean Fletcher, president of the Las Vegas Firefighters Local 1285, in a written statement. "He is misleading the public, and we are going to take a stance against his deceptive messages. Larry Brown has a problem in his own backyard at the Clark County government."
The ads also take aim at Brown's self-proclaimed "budget hawk" stance, saying the abuses should have been caught earlier.
The union put up a web page, www.larrybrownisconfused.com, and purchased advertising from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun website, three local television stations and Facebook.
There are no plans to walk neighborhoods to campaign against Brown, but that idea might be revisited, said Thomas Dietz, a spokesman for the union.
Brown took aim at the sick leave and overtime abuses in a recent mailer that says, "Throughout our history, first responders have earned our respect ... but what happens when firefighters violate the public trust?"
It goes on to say that any firefighter caught abusing the system should be fired and prosecuted. The mailer also displays a clipping of a newspaper story that refers specifically to the Clark County Fire Department.
"There is no confusion," says a statement from Brown's campaign. "When the abuses were discovered, a full-blown investigation was launched."
During arbitration over the county firefighters' contract, concerns about sick leave and overtime abuse arose, leading to the Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI examination of whether any laws were broken or if only county rules were broken. The law enforcement agencies say it's not an investigation.
Jim Ferrence, Brown's campaign manager, said Brown is talking about the Clark County firefighters.
"His comments to date have been directed at that particular issue," he said. "We haven't tried to bring in the Las Vegas firefighters."
Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.
