NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV (FOX5) -
North Las Vegas officials offered some additional details Friday regarding fire department Chief Al Gillespie being placed on administrative leave.
All it took was a little prodding from the firefighters union, which kept up its attacks on the city with a statement claiming Gillespie was placed on leave after he "refused to implement what he determined were dangerous cuts in 911 response."
Gillespie's leave comes just days after Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Brame was released due to budget cuts.
"The reality is you have two top professionals in the fire industry saying, 'I cannot recommend these cuts,'" said IAFF Local 1607 President Jeff Hurley. "(Brame) is later released and (Gillespie) is now on paid administration leave for some silly excuse that they're making up that had nothing to do with the fire chief whatsoever - it's just a convenient excuse."
The city, which earlier downplayed Gillespie's leave as a "personnel matter," fired back with a statement contradicting the union and saying the move was in response to an incident during a January training exercise.
But city spokeswoman Juliet Casey did not elaborate on what happened during the training or how it played into the decision to place Gillespie on leave.
Gillespie has served as the fire chief since 2005.
His total pay and benefits was more than $217,000 last year, according to the website, TransparentNevada.com, which reports public employee salaries.
The city and union have been at odds for months as North Las Vegas struggles to solve its budget crisis. Both sides are pointing fingers over recent closures of city fire stations and attempts to reel in overtime costs.
Brame, who is now speaking out after his ouster, said he had strong reservations about the budget he and Gillespie were forced to offer the city.
"I owe it to myself - to my 37 years in the fire service - to simply say that here's my (budget) plan - however, professionally I have to tell you that this is dangerous."
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Copyright 2012 KVVU (KVVU Broadcasting Corporation). All rights reserved.
Courtesy: North Las Vegas website
