Commentary: Attacks on public employees unfair, undeserved

Those who attack public employees hurt themselves and their neighbors. Public employees, and the work they do, are absolutely essential to the quality of life in our communities and our state.

I recently attended a leadership meeting of Retired Public Employees of Nevada and discovered there are 9,300 current members with a potential pool of 36,000 future members. During the meeting there was a strong emphasis on membership recruitment, and with good reason. During the 2009 Legislative session, public employees had been attacked.

The meeting I attended consisted of RPEN chapter leadership, all of whom, along with all current public employees, had sacrificed during our current economic crisis to help balance the budget. They were still targets of anti-government forces. The RPEN leadership was unified in their concerns: expand the membership and educate policy makers and business leadership about the exemplary service contributions of public employees.

Retired public employees had earned promised retirement benefits, had taken cuts to their benefits (along with current public employees), but during the last Legislative session came under brutal attack from the governor, from his Spending and Government Efficiency Commission and from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce argued that public employee retirement benefits were superior to those Las Vegas businesses offered to their employees. They suggested cutting public employee benefits (not increasing the benefits of their employees). Their suggestions were counter to a study they themselves did, which concluded that Nevada state government was one of the smallest and most efficient in the country.

Gov. Gibbons sought to shift more retiree health benefits to Medicare and dramatically cut supplements over a two-year period. The SAGE commission recommended reducing retiree benefits, but neither it, the governor nor the Las Vegas chamber were totally successful in 2009, in part because of dedicated legislators. One can be assured, however, that these anti-government forces will be back.

Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, Speaker Barbara Buckley and Sen. Joyce Woodhouse all attended the RPEN meeting. Each understood the concerns of public employees, support them, and made a strong commitment to support retiree benefits.

Our resident anti-government howler, Chuck Muth, suggested "pink-slipping" all of the 88,000 public employees in our state. His disdain for government is so intense he would risk putting his and our neighbors out on the streets. I doubt that they, current or retired public employees, would appreciate such action. It would also be a disaster for the economy.

Let's support public employees and our government they serve so well.

• Dr. Eugene T. Paslov, former Nevada superintendent of schools, is a board member for Silver State Charter High School in Carson City.