November '09 Nevada Government—City of North Las Vegas Column

City Conducts Full-Scale
Emergency Management
Training Exercise

North Las Vegas, Nevada – The City of North Las Vegas will conduct a full-scale emergency management exercise on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at U.S. Foodservice, 1685 W. Cheyenne Ave. The training begins at noon and continues until about 4 p.m.

The purpose of the exercise is to train participants for response to an emergency involving mass casualties due to a chemical release resulting from an earthquake. The exercise fulfills federal training requirements and helps the City obtain grants from the Department of Homeland Security.

Exercise participants include City of North Las Vegas departments, such as police, fire and utilities. Community partners in the exercise include U.S. Foodservice, North Vista Hospital, Medic West, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Las Vegas Fire, Clark County Fire, Clark County Coroner’s Office, Southern Nevada Health District, American Red Cross, the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, the Salvation Army, Clark County School District, NV Energy, ARES/RACES, Citizens Emergency Response Teams and the Volunteer Homeland Reserve Unit.

The scenario will involve an earthquake-triggered breach of the company’s ammonia storage system that requires activation of the City’s Emergency Operation Center, victim decontamination and evacuations.

Theatrical smoke may be seen billowing from the site and emergency vehicles will be present. Radio scanners may intercept messages about the exercise that sound authentic—these are part of the exercise.

TRAFFIC ADVISORY

During the exercise, one eastbound lane along Cheyenne Avenue will be closed from Clayton Street to Martin Luther King Boulevard, and one southbound lane of Martin Luther King will be closed from Cheyenne to Brooks Avenue. Brooks will be closed from Martin Luther King to Clayton. The media staging area will be near the southeast corner of the U.S. Foodservice campus, near the Martin Luther King Road entrance. Media is encouraged to arrive by 11:30 a.m.

For more information, call North Las Vegas Fire Captain Cedric Williams (702) 633-1111.

City’s Budget Presentation
Wins National Award
North Las Vegas, Nevada – The City of North Las Vegas has been awarded the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award by the Government Finance Officers Association for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The award represents the highest form of recognition in government budgeting. This is the sixth consecutive year the City has received this designation.

To receive the award, the City’s budget document had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. The guidelines assess how well an entity’s budget serves as a policy document, financial plan, operations guide and communications device. The City’s budget document was rated as “proficient” in all four categories and the 14 mandatory criteria within those categories.

“This award shows the City has made meeting the highest principles of government budgeting the standard,” City Manager Gregory Rose said. “For six years the City’s Finance Department staff has proven its excellence through dedication and hard work.”

The award was presented to North Las Vegas Finance Director Phil Stoeckinger.

“We are committed to providing the best service and accountability to North Las Vegas residents,” Stoeckinger said.

According to the Government Finance Officers Association, award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example to governments throughout North America.

The Government Finance Officers Association is a nonprofit professional association serving 17,500 government finance professionals throughout North America. The association’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is the only national awards program in governmental budgeting.