By Selwyn Harris
After local residents voted to dissolve the Pahrump Town Board into an essentially powerless advisory board this week, it remains to be seen how the action will affect the future of Pahrump town government.
In July, Nye County District 4 Commissioner Butch Borasky convinced fellow commissioners to put the question on the ballot.
His decision was based on what he thought was an air of arrogance among unnamed board members as well as their apparent lack of concern for public interests.
Though the ballot question was passed by a very slim margin, 7,294 voters in favor versus 7,063 opposed, the legality of the question itself is in litigation following the town board’s suggestion that the county failed to follow state law by virtue of placing the question on the ballot.
Board member Dr. Tom Waters said the entire affair is in a holding pattern.
“We are waiting for Judge Robert Lane to make a ruling. If he makes a decision that the county acted within their authority by putting it on the ballot, then everything stands just as it is. If he finds that the county acted beyond their authority, he could have it removed and not counted. He’s the judge and I wouldn’t try to predict which way it is going to go, but I’ll support it either way,” he said.
Waters also said that when and if the board is dismantled, county commissioners may be in over their collective heads as far as performing the business of both entities.
“They have a big county to run and they already have their hands full. They have an awesome responsibility and I say that over and over. I don’t want to take anything away from the commissioners because they’ve got a tough job. To handle the town of Pahrump is not something they signed up for and it is not in their charter,” he said.
The action, Waters noted, would indeed put some town jobs on the chopping block, starting with the town manager.
“They won’t need both a town manager and a county manager to run things, so they would not have a town manager and Bill Kohbarger’s job would go away. Some of the other jobs could also go away. According to Commissioner Dan Schinhofen, all of the jobs in Pahrump would stay but I don’t buy that and I don’t believe that,” he said.
At present, the town oversees area parks, the town cemetery, the swimming pool, and the Pahrump fire department.
Waters suggested that the latter may also be adversely affected in terms of providing professional and efficient public safety.
“I don’t think it will become a volunteer fire department, but I guess the county could cancel the union and then get rid of the fire department and tell the people that we are going to have a volunteer department. I think all of the professional firefighters as well as the ambulance service would probably go to Las Vegas or someplace else where they will get paid. As far as experience, I think it will go way down. We are talking about a volunteer fire department for 37,000 residents; I just don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Waters, who wrote the opposition portion of the ballot question, said he believes the question was intentionally worded in a way that would possibly confuse voters into voting for disbanding the board rather than retaining the body.
“I had several people coming out of the polling area excited that they have supported the town board by voting yes to keep the town board. I explained that they needed to vote no to keep the town board and they were really devastated. If that happened 116 times, that is the margin of passing or failing. If 116 people voted the other way, it would have kept the town board by one vote. It failed by 231 votes and if 116 voters were confused, then who knows what would have happened.
“If it had gone the other way, that would have been 232 and the town board would have been saved by one vote. It never dawned on me that the question could be confusing because I clearly understood it, but a number of people were telling me about how confusing it was for them. I don’t believe in complaining after the fact so we will just have to live with the results,” he said.
The county commissioners worded the question and forwarded it to the district attorney’s office.
Waters said Nye County District Attorney Brian Kunzi used the Nevada Revised Statute NRS language for the ballot question.
Attempts to reach Kunzi for comment on the issue were unsuccessful.
Bill Carns, who is the chairman of the Nye County Republican Central Committee was a big supporter of the ballot question.
He maintains that there is no truth to Waters’ assertion.
“Tom Waters is grasping at straws because he doesn’t want the town board to go away. The question was very simple and completely unambiguous. The county question number two was one simple question: ‘should the elected form of town board government in the town of Pahrump be abolished; yes or no.’ It’s a very simple question and you don’t need to have an English degree and you certainly don’t need to have a Tom Waters English Ph.D to understand it,” he said.
He said according to state law, it will take several years before the town board becomes an advisory board.
“There’s a couple of little points within the law that’s a little ambiguous as I read it. They will continue the town board for two years and then it will revert to an advisory panel because the law says that the seated members at the time of the election will carry on in their elected capacity. The seated members are Tom Waters and Harley Kulkin. The other people are not seated, they were just elected the same night.
“That’s what I have been told by a couple of the county commissioners and Brian Kunzi evidently reads it the same way. I am very proud of the citizens of the town of Pahrump to see the town board for what it is and what it has become and they no longer need to have that extra layer of government, which is going to do things such as double their property taxes in two years in such difficult economic times and continue to spend, spend, spend more money than what they bring in,” he said.
As it stands now, the seated members of the town board will fulfill their terms until they expire on Dec. 31, 2014.
Carns also noted that to expedite the town board’s removal both Kulkin and Waters should summarily give up their respective seats at once.
“I would hope that they see what the people decided and realize this is what the people want and go ahead and resign and let this show get on the road. They should remove themselves out of the way and allow the advisory panel to happen and forget about the town board. I really doubt that they would do that but I would hope they would because they are members of the very same community.
“They were elected to serve the community and the community decided that they don’t want their services anymore so I’m hoping they would actually recognize that and just bow out gracefully with the blessings of the town,” he said.
On Tuesday, local voters elected two new town board members.
Former board member Bill Dolan earned 5,622 votes while local resident Amy Riches picked up 5,940.
Frank Maurizio, also a former board member, lost his election bid by garnering just 5,410 votes.
Current Town Board Chair Vicky Parker lost her bid for re-election.
Parker gained just over 5,000 votes.
The governor’s office is expected to appoint an additional town board member to fill the vacancy left by Carolene Endersby, who resigned in March.
Requests to learn when the appointment will be made were not successful.
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- Horace Langford Jr. / Pahrump Valley Times – Pollsters attempted to record exit poll results on Election Day outside the Bob Ruud Community Center. Ballot Question #2 narrowly passed.
Hey Waters….here it is….plain and simple….YOU ARE FIRED! Why don’t you just leave? You really think you deserve a 2 more years???? WE DON’T WANT EITHER ONE OF YOU. WE DON’T WANT THE BOARD. Got It???
You and the other and the other 7293 voters have voted to dissolve the one and only political voice that this community has as a whole. You want to shoot the horses thinking the cart can pull itself and it cannot So you vote to have the county pull the cart. Why? I could understand this If the question would have included moving the county seat here it would make some sense. But it did not. I challenge any one of you to post 5 good reasons to eliminate the Pahrump Town Board. This won’t happen because there isn’t 5 good reasons there is only 1. The people on the board itself. They are not politicians and they made some really poor investment decisions with town funds. Rookie mistake. So now who gets to make the decision? A county employee. Judge or not. Anyone who believes that his decision will be impartial is wearing rose colored glasses. Also, Mr. Carnes you got some brass. You need to shut up. Everything you say has to do with the people on the board not the board itself. I bet you are filling out a county job application as I type.
Hey gusty, now all of the power and decision making is in Tonopah. If you aren’t careful this town will end up like gold field!!! I guess you can’t see a power grab when its right in front of you.
That’s a curious statement, Train Guy. Since four of the five commissioners will be from Pahrump in January and the remaining member doesn’t even live in Tonopah, how do you figure all the power and decision-making will be based in Tonopah? I’m just curious– I rarely understand what people mean when they say things like that and truly would like to read an explanation. Have a great weekend.
LOL I am really going to miss you Joni.
The people who voted for this should leave like a gustywind , leaving our town in the hands of Nye county is a big mistake ansd I hope along with other citizens in Pahrump that it is overruled. I would like to see Pahrump grow not be a Gustywind.
A note to our local sage Tom Waters. I’m a little confused, this is what the town takes care:
1 oversees area parks
2. oversees the town cemetery
3. oversees the swimming pool
4.oversees the Pahrump fire department.
Why would these tasks be difficult for the county commissioners to oversee? Now granted, they would not be spending most of their time ‘overseeing’ the Harley World fiasco, which would free up some of the time needed to insure the chlorine level is up to snuff at the pool.
I disagree with you analysis sir, regardless of what Judge Lane rules and who you appeal that to, (I’m sure that is on your ‘to do list’), you guys are finished. Resigning now would save everybody some delays. Or you can put us through even more trouble by having to recall you.
The people spoke, now get out of their way, we’ll do just fine without a town board and Harley World.
The will of the people has been stated now. We voted, the ballot measure won, now lets see how we can work with the county commission (Being that they are a whole lot more realistic with plans) on improving our county and town, and lets get that town board and town manager out of the way.
People were tired of being ignored at town board meetings. People were tired of seeing the majority of people NOT want something to happen, and yet out of the blue seeing it happen.
People were sick of seeing all that money wasted on studies.
If we find out this does not work out, we can always vote again to restore the town board, but for now there was no other way to free us of this oppressive town board and manager.
Next time when the majority of the people say no incorporation, listen to them.
And no, this did not “open the gate to incorporation” as some are saying. At least the commission listens to us unlike the town board. They already know we are against becoming a city.
Tell me it isn’t so Harley. Is it true that you now wish to push for incorporation (I know that you have always wanted it) of Pahrump because you lost on both fronts in this last election? That you are very angry because the people voted to take all of your power away and this is an act of revenge. As of now, I’m holding on that it is just a silly rumor and that you are not so juvenile as to stoop to such antics. Please prove the rumor false by taking the high road and moving on with your life out side of politics.
Sadly, its not a rumor, it was in the other paper in town.
It’s not true. Despite what Roger says. Keep in mind that Roger is ALWAYS wrong.
Funny, Harley was quoted in the Mirror as saying that.
Yeah, as much as Robert wishes me to be wrong, I saw it with my own eyes. Sometimes people put their party affiliation before reality, such is the case with 99% of Robert’s posts, and God help you if you don’t agree, you must be one of those “Fox Noise” watchers lol, he is best ignored.
Harley was quoted as saying exactly this in the Mirror.
I’m still not sure I support this, but it was probably inevitable that it would happen at some point. Can you imagine the county commission board with Dolan, Maurizio, Parker and Kulkin all on it at he same time? Dolan would try to push incorporation through executive order and Maurizio would be sneaking around investigating him for it. While everyone was distracted, Kulkin would bypass the board and the planning department and open a theme park on his own. In the meantime, all of the other communities in the county could be on fire, starving, and not able to keep the lights on and no one on the board would notice. But we’d have a half-built theme park that employs two people to repair the rusty, swinging gates that are hanging off their hinges because the county budget was mismanaged so badly that they couldn’t afford to run public works any more. It’s just Harley in his a/c uniform.
To Snidely Whiplash:
Please go back to Wednesdays pvt and see the reply,
I made to your i stand corrected response in it you will find my apology and contact info. should you need it
Amy Riches
Hey Snidely Whiplash, at least Mr. Maurizio did something. He also was investigating the Town Manager for backroom deals without the boards approval. I seen the evidence very damaging to several high profile people in the community and Reno. Thats why he was thrown under the bus. The Town Manager forced Al Balloqui to file a ethics complaint. Mr. Balloqui could not say how Mr. Maurizio bullied him. Mr. Balloqui was questioned by several commission members, extensively and failed to convince them. Mr. Maurizio stood up like a real man and stated he he made a mistake with the Fire Chief. He took his medicine. If the commission thought he was a bad person they would have took him off the board. But dont take my word for it. Go on line and read the commission report. The commission chairman even stated that if this were in front of them in July of 2010, Mr. Maurizio would have received a letter of reprimand only.
It was satire, Mr. Smith. Satire is usually meant to be funny, and its purpose is constructuve social criticism using wit as a weapon. Maybe I should have added another dash of wit, although Mrs. Whiplash chuckled at it.
So much hatred from small minded people. And I so wanted to see the comedy that was sure to come from Amy Riches.
In the typical republican fashion, the argument in favorr of disbanding the town board was full of lies. This is how the new GOP(Bill Carns) operates. Can’t win without lying to the public.
Actually Dr. Waters rebuttal was full of lies, I expected better but then that’s why I voted YES.
Robert, please provide the instances where I have lied or mislead anyone away from fact or truth. Not any mindless diatribe about Republican values versus liberal values but specific instances of the lies which you allege.
The typical leftist Kool-Aid drinking reaction to losing an election is to call the conservatives liars and demean their intellects. So you are true to form, Robert. Maybe you and Vicki Parker can drown your sorrows as you lift another glass of it as you practice humming together. In the meantime, bask in the knowledge that 60% of the Kingdom of Nye voted for freedom on the top line of the ballot. And if that doesn’t do it for you, maybe you should just join your Culinary Union friends on the other side of the hump. You’d probably be much happier over there with all the other control freaks like the totally Democrat LV City Council and all the HOAs, etc.
Bottoms Up!
I would have to disagree with Dr. Waters’ statement that the question was confusing. It WAS written as a negative, which is poor English. However, I was able to understand it, “Shall the Pahrump elected town board form of government be discontinued?” It SHOULD have been “….be continued?” but, either way, it was a simple question.
That said, if the town board is relegated to an advisory board, they will STILL be there to administer the same things, only they will not have any discretionary capability in spending, only to spend what has been budgeted by the BOCC. This would effectively make the town board administrators without any decision making authority. From my chair, it would probably be better to eliminate the board altogether and retain the town manager who would report to the BOCC. Whatcha think?
Kohbarger is as much of the problem as the Town Board, and he needs to go too. We need this entire wild spending, incorporation loving, crew thrown overboard. Besides, your suggestion is contrary to NRS requirements for a town government.
Kohbarger may not be the man for the job, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. If the BOCC elects to dismantle the town board, then the most efficient way to administer the town is to have a town administrator. They needn’t be called “manager.” What we will need is someone who can administer the funds allocated by the BOCC wisely and efficiently. That person would report directly to the BOCC answerable to them.
We can let Mr. K go and hire someone to take his place as administrator. That would be my suggestion.
@ You Know Who. That certainly makes sense to me