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Pahrump Valley Gazette, Thursday, March 20, 1997 U
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Nye Commission has no00fear, no shame
On Marc, 4. 1997 the Gazette received a copy of the agenda
for the March 18, 1997 meeting of the Nye County Commission.
Item 17-A, an action item up for consideration by the commis-
sion, stuck out like a sore thumb and reads as follows:
Action - presentation by Pre-Paid Legal Services for no-cost
services to Nye County employees - Shannon Himes.
The backup material in the agenda packet included a letter dated
March 11, 1997 to the special assistant to the Nye County Man-
ager, Rachel Nicholson, and states, "Pre-Paid Legal Services is to
attorney fees what major medical is to doctor and hospital bills.
By offering our services to the employees of Nye County, every
covered individual will have access to convenient, affordable le-
gal help and advise." Services in the proposed include: phone
calls and letters, document re-
i
view, will preparation, traffic de-
fense, tragic accident and dam- This Man's Opinion
age recovery, trial defense and by Brent Mathewson
IRS autservices.
I
Information regarding the fis-
cal impact to Nye County if the proposal is approved by commis-
sion - supposedly a prerequisite for any newly agendized item -
was not made available in the agenda packet.
It would appear that the proposal, if aptxoved, would be quite a,
benefit to Nye County employees and constitute an additional
unfunded expense to all Nye County taxpayers. And who would
benefit the most? Could the answer to that pregnant question pos-
sible by, three of the sitting Nye County Commissioners plus the
county manager and his special assistant? Through actions alleg-
edly taken and not taken by Ny'e County hierarchy these people
have manned, or mismanaged if you prefer, to embroil them-
selves in lawsuits of some magnitude and are being sued sepa-
rately as individuals along with Nye County for alleged impropri-
eties that have the full potential to bring Nye County fiscally to its
knees. Although not an attorney, it is believed that the impropri-
eties addressed in these matters place these individuals outside
the legal umbrella and protection offered by the district attorney's
office if their activities had been valid and not improper.
In addition to the numerous lawsuits that I am referring to are
the legal difficulties that at least sole of the Nye County Commis-
sioners will be faced with if the Nevada State Commission on
, Ethics takes jurisdiction on a re-
quest for a opinion against the
Nye County Commission filed re-
cently by the Amargosa Town
Advisory Board. The advisory
board's complaint is 5 pages long,
backed by 22 pages of documen-
tation and states in pertinent part.
"Reasonable people in Nye
County are coming to helieve and
understand that Nye County is run by a government that could
accurately he described as lawless in some sense of the word."
The advisory board's request for an opinion cites as an ex-
ample that on December 2, 1997 the Nye County District Attor-
ney issued a formal written opinion to the Nye County Commis-
sion that multiple class C felony violations were taking place by
action of the cormnission and county staff. The Nye County
Cormnission's response to these charges was the same as if"a fly
might have landed somewhere" according to the Amargosa Town
Advisory Board's letter to the Nevada Ethics Commission which
was also sent tot he governor's office, the Nevada Department of
Taxation and the NevadaAttomey General.
The Ethics Commission will decide on March 21, 1997, whether
or not it will take jurisdiction on the issues involved.
In an attempt to determine if the Pre-Paid Legal Services pro-
posal would cover legal expenses incurred by the Nye County
Commission and staff that fall outside the purview available to
them by the district attorneys office telephone contact was made
to their law office in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Gazette was told
that an attorney would call back and address whatever questions
we might have. The call back has never been received as of 3
days later.
If the concerns addressed in this article are valid and personal
legal expenses incurred by the Nye County hierarchy through
improper government action would be covered should this pro-
posal be approved it perhaps answers the question as to how the
commission and staff can act as they do without fear of reprisal.
As for whatever shame is involved that's another matter en-
tirely.
That is this man's opinion.
A Needed Addition to Campaign Finance Reform
By Erica Olsen
Campaign finance reform has been needed in Nevada for a
long time. Instead of waiting to see if legislators would kill
reform measures again this session, voters mandated, for the
second time, that current campaign finance laws be changed
by passing ballot question Number 10. This amends the Ne-
vada Constitution and requires legislators to change current
statutes. The reporting threshold will be lowered. (How low
remains to be seen). Party caucuses and political action com-
mittees (PACs) will be limited in the amounts they can con-
tribute and also will have to disclose who donated money and
how much. Reporting dates will be moved closer to Election
Day and contributions made in the name of another person
will be made illegal. Varitms bills have been introduced, named
and renamed, in hopes of putting an end to this longstanding
debate. The proposed reform is fairly comprehensive, cover-
ing the areas where abuses run rampant. However, some loop-
holes will still exist, especially in labor union political activ-
ity. Some unions spend over 90 percent of total dues on po-
litical activities and union members should have the right to
know which candidates they are supporting.
What Nevada's Right to Work
Status Really Means
that oanized labor's unreported expenditures totaled between
$300 million and $500 million, which includes "volunteer"
time, mailings, phone banks and get-out-the-vote drivers.
The following are two examples of the biggest labor orga-
nization in the nation and where their money goes.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney publicly announced "the
newly militant labor movement will pour $35 million into
political campaigning this year (1996). We're going to mount
a political action effort of unprecedented scale with every
union doing its share by contributing ideas, money, staff, media
and materials." To finance this effort, the union bosses de-
cided to raise union dues 36 percent. This unusual move re-
quired a superficial convention to pass the assessment. It is
no secret that the majority of the political action taken was to
endorse Democratic candidates and Clinton's last cmnpaign.
even though 40 percent of union members voted Republican
in the last election.
The National Education Association (NEA) political ac-
tion committee reported spending about $2.25 million in 1994.
Of that, $2.23 million went to Democrats. According to its
1996-97 operating budget, the NEA earmarked $20.7 nfillion
to "build a broad-based support for a quality public education
system." Specifically to "build bipartisan constituencies
among those to support education." The NEA's supposed bi-
partisan support is non-existent when it comes to money and
volunteer hours. One in 10 delegate to the 1996 National
Democratic Convention were members of the NEA. In Ne-
vada, over 80 percent of the state NEA reported PAC money
went to Democrats, according to NPRI research.
Making Unions Accountable
Under current campaign finance laws, PAC's do not have
to report how much money is used for campaigning and given
to candidates. If the proposed reform package passes. PAC's
will have to disclose to the Secretary of State how much was
spent each election. With this law in place Nevada's will fi-
nally know how much money unions are funneling into poli-
Because Nevada is a Right to Work state, workers cannot
be forced to join or pay dues to any labor union. Only 21
states have adopted Right to Work statues. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 21 Right to Work states in-
creased their manufacturing payrolls by 2.68 million between
1960 and 1993. On the other hand, those states subject to
federally-imposes unionism lost i.36 million manufacturing
jobs. Although Nevada's workers voluntarily join unions and
pay union dues, they often have no idea how much of their
money is used for political activity or if they agree with the
political activity their dues are financing. Last election, Rutgers
University economist and union specialist Leo Troy estimated
Become a volunteer EMT
tics. But union members still will bot know how much they
are paying out of each paycheck. Four states, including Utah,
have closed this loophole. These states have passed laws re-
quiting labor organizations to establish separate funds for
political purposes.
Under this law, referred to as the Labor Organizations De-
ductions Act. unions may only expend money t'br lobbying,
electoral, and political activities not beating upon the ratifi-
cation of a collective bargaining agreement if the organiza-
tion establishes a separate political fund. Contributions to the
fund must be solicited independently from any other solicita-
tions by the organization. Membership dues may not be used
or intermingled with this separate fund. And the cost of ad-
ministering the fund is paid from fund co,mibutions and not
flom membership dues. The PAC fund must be registered
with the Secretary of State.
CONCLUSION
The intent of the Labor Organizations Deductions Act is to
prevent unions from collecting funds for political purposes
unless members expressly give their employers permission
to deduct such tees from their wages. Such an act is neces-
sary because most union members have no idea a large per-
centage of their union dues are used for political activity. Ac-
cording to a 1996 Luntz Research Survey, 58 percent of AFL-
CIO members did not know of the organization's political
involvement in the last election. Further, 62 percent of the
members surveyed opposed the use of their dues for this cam-
paign. As one member, who wished to remain anonymous,
bluntly said, "I want to know where the money goes and I
want to know where my money is spent." This piece of legis-
lation does not prohibit labor organization activity: it simply
requires the oanizations to be more accountable to their
members - an understandable request.
For specific information about this law, please call Nevada
Policy Research Institute.
Erica Olsen is a research attal.vst. Sire n'ill be examining
impotIant legislative issues this session in an attempt to offer
a new perspective on public policy decisions
By Bruce Stevenson
Reading the "attacks" on volunteer EMT's in letters
to the editor and the local media. I propose that the "at-
tackers" take the Emergency Medical Technician-Basic
Class or volunteer in the Emergency Department of a
hospital. Hopefully you will gain a feel of what a volun-
teer EMT gets from assisting people who ask them for
help.
Feel the frustrations that you cannot help a person who
is dying, whether in the home, the back of an ambulance.
or the Emergency Department. YES! Pat people do die
in the Emergency Department with all their knowledge
and fancy equipment. Or get that tingle all over from the
pat on the back from a patient-victim that you brought
back from the brink. Or just assured someone that ev-
erything is going to be OK> Or the smile from a child as
you bandage their favorite-stuffed animal while attend-
ing to their injuries. Or the note from a family saying
that you did all you could for a critical ill or dying loved
One.
Many 911 calls for Emergency Medical Service are
made too late. That patient-victiln could be your spouse
or friend who is already debilitated to a point they have
one toot in the grave and the other on a banana peel from
poor health or disease. They also might be victims of an
acute sudden onset of an unknown or undiagnosed medi-
cal problem or accident. Numerous times the 911 callers
expect the EMT's to be a miracle worker or performer
of magic, while in the hospital that same patient-victim
would not survive the same incident.
When an EMT arrives on a scene, they must decide
the correct course of treatment or action from observa-
tions, information from bystanders, signs and symptoms
obtained from the patient-victim when possible. All this
must be done in seconds, try it sometime with a total
stranger stressed too maximally from an incident.
Southern Amargosa Valley Emergency Service had to
transport patients numerous times in the last months to
Mercy Ambulance Service fi'om Las Vegas as Pahrump
Medical Center was closed when our patients needed
emergency room or urgent care assistance. Sudden ill-
nesses or accidents are not scheduled to the convenience
of business hours.
I agree that the Pahrump EMT's. under the direction
of Bill Pyzyma. acted professionally for an unfortunate
incident. When a patient-victim is lost an unknown
amount of stress is placed on EMT's. and this is taken
home to the family. I know from experience that stress,
I'm retired from twenty six years of rural resident law
enforcement. I've been involved in Emergency Medical
Services for over twenty years as a professional "Rural
Medic" and volunteer EMT in the city and rural envi-
ronlnent,
Any service needs appropriate criticism to keep that
business or service operating at an expected level of com-
petence. The media is not that appropriate place to make
inaccurate accusation or criticism, unless other avenues
have not activated the desired out come for both parties.
Ambulance services have laws and protocols that must
be adhere to or that service and EMT will lose certifica-
tion to provide service.
Again I say BECOME A VOLUNTEER EMT to get
the feel for their job before you criticize about some-
thing you know nothing about.
