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The votes are in and the verdict is: Get rid of University Medical Center, consolidate where possible and make cuts in the Fire Department, including possibly eliminating the department’s paramedic duties.
Those are the broad-brush results after the Sun tallied votes by the Committee on Community Priorities, which considered almost 200 recommendations to cut costs and improve efficiency in county government.
The committee held 40 hours of hearings that began in August.
Here’s a run down of their top vote-getters by category:
· UMC: Transfer the hospital to a not-for-profit organization.
· Consolidation: Do this with information technology between departments and see if business licensing can be consolidated with other local governments.
· Staffing Reductions: Consider eliminating Park Police and having it absorbed into Metro.
· Program Reductions: Consider eliminating the paramedic duties of the Fire Department, and require private ambulance companies to provide the service.
· Departmental Efficiencies: (3-way tie) Make more services available online; maintain current Department of Family Service levels; consolidate administrative functions across departments.
· Satellite Offices: Put assessor offices in the government center, not at satellite locations.
· Fees/Penalties/Taxes: The county should try to get legislation to “create and change fees.”
· Union Issues: With the firefighters union, address salary and overtime issues within the department.
· Outsourcing: Talk to outside vendors about renegotiate contracts.
· Technology: Get more services online.
· Legislative issues: Initiate legislation to correct disparate revenue distribution within the state.
· Other issues: Create a county-wide committee to strengthen opportunities to secure state and federal grants, as well as private foundation grants.
Numerous more recommendations were voted on, all of which will be presented to the Clark County Commission at it’s next meeting, on Jan. 19.
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