Editorial: state jobs

One way state government can work like a private business is to look hard at every job.

Gov. Kenny Guinn is doing that by leaving 1,359 state jobs vacant because he wants to know if they really need to be filled.

"I'm not going to go out and fill these slots unless staff can tell me they truly need them," the governor said.

It's not as if people are being layed off. Most of the positions are open because people have left and the job hasn't been filled.

Bob Gagnier, executive director of the State of Nevada Employees Association, says he'll have to take a close look at hiring proposals by the governor before he has an opinion.

But he did say, "Those who say government should be run like a private business must have flunked their civics course."

Hmmm. Maybe we were absent the day the teacher talked about guaranteed jobs.