Rebuttal to Governor Gibbons

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The governor’s office sent me a form letter back in response to my argument that layoffs are both inevitable and necessary to cure the state’s budget woes. When 50% of the state budget pays for wages and benefits, we are clearly spending too much on manpower alone in the state. I even volunteered to lose my own job if necessary, because I know firsthand several individuals without whom higher education could function just fine.

Recently, Clark County workers voluntarily took unpaid leave as part of a pilot program to determine new ways to save money. Over a 30 day period, this program demonstrated that we could dispense with thousands of man-hours in the county without adverse effects to county operations and services. This program clearly supports my original argument. The time has come to dispense with government workers- they voluntarily took leave, and obviously we don't need them, despite what the governor says.

The NSHE (Nevada System of Higher Education) employs people we do not need. When I came to this institution, a high official was on paid administrative leave pending an indictment for fraud, waste, and abuse. During my tenure here, he has drawn full pay, a six-figure sum, without doing any work. We’ve done without him for over a year; it’s time to cut him loose. Other employees chronically arrive late, leave early, conduct exclusively personal business on company time, or defraud the taxpayer in other ways. Some jobs don’t warrant a full time position; some jobs don’t need to be done at all.

Government never contracts without force. While the economy shrank 3.3% last quarter, another acquaintance of mine informed me that she’d been selected for a position with the state of Nevada. I thought we were in a hiring freeze. I thought we had to tighten our budgets. Why am I to take a 6% pay cut so that another department can hire this person? I am willing to lose my job if they deem it’s best for the organization. They’ll have to deal with the consequences of that. I’ll survive. It’s what Americans do.