Mobsters would envy how firefighters shake down taxpayers

That rumble you hear is Tough Tony turning over in his grave. Somewhere in the shadowy hereafter, Fat Herbie is cursing his career choice.

They pursued their fortunes the hard way, by becoming mobsters, and in doing so were hounded by the cops every day. They lived fast, died violently and never made that ultimate score.

Had they only known, they could have avoided all that trouble by becoming Clark County firefighters.

Sound a little harsh? I might have thought so too until last week, when it was finally revealed a third of the Clark County Fire Department has abused the sick leave and overtime system for personal gain. The CCFD is already one of the highest paid in the country, but that wasn't good enough. They had to become racketeers with badges and reach for the additional score by shuffling sick leave days in exchange for overtime.

Now comes union president Ryan Beaman offering clear and convincing evidence that he needs to resign his office. He expects taxpayers to believe union officials weren't aware of the unethical and possibly criminal actions of a third of its membership.

Beaman blames a convenient scapegoat, previous Chief Steve Smith, for much of the trouble. Apparently, Beaman doesn't own a mirror.

Union officials negotiated their fat contract and know the rules, because they wrote many of them. Much of the oversight was left to compliant Clark County Commission members who owed part of their political success to the CCFD.

Commissioners have carried the department's water, but they can't put out this fire. They'll be scorched if they try.

In a Jan. 31 letter from Beaman to Commissioner and labor advocate Chris Giunchigliani, the union boss again tried to spread the blame around while marginalizing the issue. His breathless outrage comes just a little late.

Even more laughable is the union's reminder to members that sick leave is not "your time," but is supposed to be used when a firefighter or family member is actually sick.

No kidding. I'll bet that shocked every firefighter in the department.

Here's a knee-slapper: "The abuse of our sick leave benefits detracts from the life saving work that all of us perform every day. It is a reflection on all of us and your union brothers and sisters aren't going to allow a few bad apples to destroy the reputation of all of us."

"A few bad apples?" Beaman's math is as bad as his memory. Memo to the president: One third of the CCFD abusing sick leave isn't "a few bad apples." It's 33 percent of the orchard.

Are those bad apples being tossed from the barrel? Are they being ostracized in any way? Are they being forced to give back the money?

Of course not.

If Beaman doesn't resign, he should be recalled by the membership for misleading the public. That is, if the membership still cares about its reputation in the community.

With the exception of Steve Sisolak, a hero in this mob war, most of the commissioners at best look like lazy labor lackeys and at worst like criminal co-conspirators. And that's no overstatement.

The FBI and U.S. attorney's office are duty-bound to investigate the CCFD for evidence of honest services fraud. Taxpayers were hurt in a time of recession by the firefighters' organized sleight of hand. The federal statute was used several years ago to help nail corrupt members of the County Commission.

Here's the worst part: The department has many highly trained and highly professional firefighters who risk their lives and don't abuse the system. They are well-compensated, but they play by the rules. They are great community assets, deserve our respect, and must live with the stench of impropriety.

As for the rest?

They're the envy of Tough Tonys and Fat Herbies everywhere.

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.