Counterpunch: Cherchio stings union front group

For months, North Las Vegas City Councilman Richard Cherchio has taken heat from the NLV firefighters union after he dared to criticize public employee contracts.

Now that Cherchio is up for election, he’s being thumped by something called Citizens for Responsible Leadership and Ethics, which is criticizing the councilman for backing a costly new City Hall and Water Reclamation facility.

Trouble is, Cherchio responds, those projects were approved before he became a member of the council.

And that supposed citizen’s group is headed by veteran firefighters Battalion Chief Scott Gorgon and Capt. Jeffrey Buchanan.

Not only that, Cherchio jabs in his latest press missive, both men scored heavy in the overtime department. Like other local governments, North Las Vegas is slashing its budget and calling for fiscal austerity.

Cherchio: “When you look at what these guys are making in overtime pay, close to $50,000 in 2009 alone, it’s no wonder these guys are going after Council members who have asked for salary concessions from employee groups to balance the budget.

“I have been one of the driving forces behind balancing the City’s budget, cutting nearly 150 million from the budget since coming on the Council in 2009. This political stunt hatched by a couple of overtime abusers who don’t have their facts straight is an insult to every hard working North Las Vegan who’s working hard to pay their bills and put food on the table.”

Sounds like those firefighters have a real fighter on their hands.