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| Union leader says governor was caught off guard on prison |
| By lvrj.com - Ed Vogel |
| Published: 12/07/2011 |
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CARSON CITY -- Gov. Brian Sandoval should have stopped the Department of Corrections from running up a $2.5 million deficit and moving to close the Nevada State Prison three months ahead of a legislative requirement, a union leader said Tuesday. Vishnu Subramaniam, chief of staff for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4041, said it is apparent that Sandoval was caught off guard until a Monday meeting where it was reported that the Corrections Department incurred $2.5 million in unbudgeted overtime in the July-through-September quarter. He also said Sandoval had no idea that Corrections Director Greg Cox was moving to close the 144-year-old prison on Jan. 9 despite a legislative directive to close it April 1. "I would like to know why the governor didn't pay more attention to this," he said. "How could he not know the Nevada State Prison was closing three months ahead of time? How could he not know they were running up the overtime? Cox is his administrator. I wonder why there is no communication between the governor and his administrator." But Dale Erquiaga, Sandoval's policy director, said Tuesday that the governor was aware in advance of the overtime problem and Cox's rationale for closing the prison earlier than scheduled. The governor asked questions of the prison director at Monday's Board of Prison Commissioners meeting to help develop a record, help the other commissioners better understand the need for the early prison closure and create transparency, Erquiaga said. "It's hard to see how he can be faulted for that," he said about the governor, who chairs the commission. By closing the prison early, Sandoval wants to save "as much money as possible" and reduce additional overtime costs, Erquiaga added. The Legislature did not provide enough funding to keep the prison open until April 1, so it should be no surprise to the employee unions that there were overtime costs, Erquiaga said. Until the meeting, the governor did not know the exact amount of overtime, so he asked a lot of questions on that cost, he said. From comments made by Secretary of State Ross Miller, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Sandoval at the prison commissioners meeting, it seemed none of them knew previously of the overtime and Cox's new prison closure plan. Read More. |
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