LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — More than two dozen Clark County employees rallied outside the government center on Tuesday morning and demanded county leaders address the "staffing crisis" that workers said caused many to feel burnout.
"Clark County is making it very difficult for us to be successful," said Alexis Esparza, a clerk at the District Attorney's office.
Esparaza has been working as a clerk at the district's attorney's office for nearly six years.
She said the county has not hired additional clerks in roughly 20 years.
"We are working with the same amount of staff we were 15 to 20 years ago, despite the fact that the number of court departments has doubled over that same time," Esparza said. "We currently have one courtroom clerk working six different departments."
According to SEIU Nevada, nearly 20% of all Clark County jobs are unfilled and it’s affecting public services.
Esparza said the shortage has had a negative impact on employees' morale and has also affected how they can help the community.
"We are moving so fast and processing so many cases that it is easy to miss something that could have dire consequences. If we miss one thing, people could be let out of jail when they've [DA's office] picked up new cases and should be kept in. That has happened before," Esparza said. "If we include the wrong information, we could actually be holding people in jail who shouldn't be there. None of this benefits our community."
The rally comes as Clark County commissioners unanimously approved an $86 million dollar settlement with Gypsum Resources.
Demonstrators said the decision will further put a strain on county workers.
"They are taking the ability to fix the crisis that we face," Esparaza said. "We can't continue this way."
"We know that money is coming from the capital funds and what it really means is that they are going to take our money, the community's money, and they are not going to recruit and retain more staff," said Michelle Maese, president of SEIU.
County Manager Kevin Schiller said the money to pay off the settlement comes from capital funds, which he said is money set aside for improvement projects.
"Not eligible for employee salaries or positions as this funding is not recurring," Schiller said.
