By GINA B. GOOD
PVT
Is the town taking legal action against PAVED, it’s former economic development advisory board, that is now a nonprofit group?
With PAVED Pahrump Alliance Valley Economic Development members in the final throes of planning, coordinating and administering details of the Sept. 23-26 town fair and festival, is the town deliberately trying to divert the organization’s focus?
PAVED members Phil Huff and Bob Irving have asserted the town wants the organization to fail, and the timing of the Aug. 24 town board agenda item suggests those accusations could be true.
Unfortunately, none of these questions, nor any others, were answered at last week’s board meeting, which was interrupted briefly to allow board members Vicky Parker, Mike Darby and Frank Maurizio, along with Town Manager Bill Kohbarger, to meet behind closed doors with town attorney Rick Campbell.
The agenda said the closed session’s purpose was to “advise the town board on its legal alternatives regarding PAVED’s failure to provide an accounting of Fiscal Year 2009 grant monies.”
When the board reconvened, it voted unanimously to accept the advice of counsel. However, there was no indication of what advice Campbell offered.
During public comment at the end of the meeting, PAVED President Paula Glidden took three minutes to respond to what she and other members of the embattled group deem to be unfair treatment.
Glidden alleged the group was refused a spot on the night’s agenda and then handed a thick packet of paperwork to board members and staff.
The bundle included a statement from the PAVED board with a profit and loss statement from March 1 to June 30, 2009, as well, operating statements for those months. Various town board agendas and corresponding minutes of those meetings were also attached, going back to March 9, 2009.
According to Glidden, who has appeared several times in front of the board to answer questions about accounting for last year’s Fall Festival, the current inquiry is harassment.
She said a phone call to her group could have cleared up the issue, rather than incurring legal fees for the town.
“We would all probably be disgusted as to the cost of the legal fees,” she said. “Each time we have come here, we brought supporting documentation … each time we have been scrutinized by … the board and staff. In the end, we have been instructed to move forward and continue … on projects the town instructed us to fulfill … only to be misdirected or suppressed when we have tried to get things done or answered.”
Glidden maintained Kohbarger had promised to supply information, set appointments or “just get things done” for PAVED but had never fulfilled his word. She cited specific situations, including instances that relate to that night’s closed session.
“We are here being considered for suit against us by the town. We have never received a request from the town for the expenses you now want for the fourth quarter of 2008-2009.”
Glidden maintains PAVED first heard from the town attorney in late June, mentioning six financial categories with allocations in each category about which PAVED had no knowledge. Around Aug. 10, town attorney Rick Campbell supplied that information.
“We are still baffled by this request,” said Glidden in her response to the board. “We gave you all our financials in April.”
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- GINA B. GOOD / PVT – PAVED President Paula Glidden, at the Dec. 8, 2009 board meeting, as she announces the Fall Festival made about $16,000. Glidden was executive chairman of the festival. Upper left is Town Board Vice Chairman Bill Dolan.
Another group that Kohbarger is after. Balloqui’s wife got all the money in salary, they deserted the organization and now Kobarger wants blood. This clown needs to go.
Al Balloqui’s wife got MOST of the money, most of the rest she made out in checks – to Al Balloqui!
Now Al Balloqui works for the Town, with a nice salary –
and all the taxpayer supplied health benefits & retirement package that goes with it.
What is with Kohbarger? Does he think he is a dictator? He wants to remove this group and will stop at nothing.
What is wrong with us taxpayers allowing this to continue? For crying out loud just call for his resignation at the next meeting.
HOW THE PAHRUMP TOWN BOARD AND TOWN MANAGER GAVE $125,000 OF OUR ROOM TAX MONEY AWAY FOR FREE!
In my opinion, this is how the taxpayers gave $125,000 tax free money to a non-profit called PAVED (that wasn’t an official non-profit at the time they received the FREE money).
This is an example of how one person, along with a group of less than honest people, conned the Town Manger and the Town Board out of $125,000 of room tax money. If I knew all you had to do was lie and mislead the Town Board to get FREE TAX MONEY, I would have made up a non-profit with well know town people and asked for $125,000 or more before PAVED received it from us taxpayers.
But then again, I am NOT a good friend of the Town Manager and also NOT a good friend with some of the “past” Town Board members or current Town Manager. So in that case, I wouldn’t have a chance of conning $125,000 from the taxpayer’s room tax fund with the blessing of the Town Board and Town Manager.
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Our past, and some current, Town Board members along with our current Town Manager have been and are easily fooled. They need a lot of help trying to run this community so let’s make sure we pay attention to what’s on or Town Board agenda at http://www.pahrumpnv.org/pahrump-nevada/documents/agendas-minutes/ .
Thanks to the fact that PAVED was able to B.S. the Town Board and Town Manager into giving PAVED. This money was supposed to be used for tourism and economic development, it never was. I have asked many times where the money went and all I get is the run-a-round.
I was told that PAVED was a private non-profit and was not responsible for letting the public into their meetings. Also, even though it was part of the agreement, between the Town of Pahrump and PAVED, that the Town Board would receive an accounting report of where the $125,000 was going towards. PAVED was late getting this information to the Town Board and it wasn’t complete.
When I personally asked for a detailed accounting of what the $125,000 was being spent on by PAVED, that the Town Board gave taxpayers money to, I was told 2 different things by members of the Town Board and Members of PAVED.
1.PAVED told me they are a private non-profit and therefore they do not have to allow non-members to attend meetings. Also, they do not have to give anyone who is not a member a detailed accounting of where they are spending the $125,000 WE taxpayers gave them, out of our room tax fund.
2.Some Town Board members, including Laurayne Murray, told me PAVED was a private non-profit and therefore they do not have to allow non-members to attend meetings. Also, they do not have to give anyone who is not a member a detailed accounting of where they are spending the $125,000 WE taxpayers gave them, out of our room tax fund. Laurayne Murray was also a member of PAVED and the liaison to PAVED, from the Town Board, at that time. Laurayne Murray was one of the Town Board members who approved giving PAVED $125,000 of our room tax money. Laurayne Murray also gave me the run-a-round when I tried to get more information regarding what PAVED was doing with our money.
John McDonald was also no help at all. He kept telling me he would forward the finials from PAVED when he received them from PAVED. However he never did and a few months later he resigned from the Town Board.
We have not seen any proof or results from PAVED with regards as to what they did with $125,000 of our tax money. Instead it seems it was used to mostly pay salaries for board members friends/relatives. They also used the money to buy some computers and other supplies for themselves. And don’t forget all the free travel, hotel and meals we paid for some of the PAVED people to travel to worthless events and training at our expense.
Please ask the current Town Manager and some of the past Town Board Members at the time, why they gave PAVED $125,000? They gave PAVED $125,000 of our room tax dollars to start up PAVED. PAVED made many promises to the town with how they would use that money to help bring businesses to Pahrump.
THERE HAS BEEN NO POSITIVE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT FOR PAHRUMP OR RESULTS FROM THE USE OF OUR $125,000.
So the incompetent people on the past Town Board, along with the current incompetent town manager, gave $125,000 of room tax money, that is supposed used for tourism and gave it to PAVED, who used most of it to pay salaries for board members friends/relatives.
In my opinion, the current “Community Business & Economic Development / Code Enforcement” person, and his wife, noticed PAVED was going to run out of money. Now they would have no income, so the current “Community Business & Economic Development / Code Enforcement” person was able to get the Town Manager to create a job that was called the “Community Business & Economic Development / Code Enforcement” (whatever).
This job was a “good-old-boy” setup from the get go. With the economy the way it is and its obvious businesses aren’t coming to Pahrump like they used to, then I recommend we save the town and us taxpayers some money and eliminate the “Community Business & Economic Development / Code Enforcement” job from the town payroll. I am sure we could find someone else who is currently working for the town longer to do the job. This would save a lot of money.
PAVED used to do the job for FREE, so I was told directly by a PAVED member, until they got $125,000 from the Town. Now they ran out of money and we GOT NOTHING FOR OUR MONEY.
However, I do know someone from PAVED who benefited by getting $125,000 to spend anyway he and the useless board at PAVED wanted too. And then that person got a full-time job with the Town of Pahrump by the time PAVED was running out of money.
SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM PAULA (I WANT TO BLAME THE TOWN FOR PAVED BEING A SCAM WHO TOOK US FOR $125,000. ISN’T THAT ENOUGH MONEY? PAULA & AL?
Ummm…Christian?
First, you obviously have too much misdirection or a misunderstanding of the facts to write such a letter.
Secondly, your stated “facts” are, for the most part, incorrect.
*May I recommend YOU read the Town Board MINUTES to find what the reality is.
Christian, I’d like you to go back to one particular named source you refereed to in your post, Laurayne Murray, and ask her to verify what you just attributed to her….It will NEVER happen because either; 1) you misunderstood her or 2) YOU are inventing what you attributed to her: “Laurayne Murray was one of the Town Board members who approved giving PAVED $125,000 of our room tax money.”
$125,000? Like I recommended before, READ the Town Board Minutes and see how wrong you are.
Also, and I quote you: “However, I do know someone from PAVED who benefited by getting $125,000 to spend anyway he and the useless board at PAVED wanted too. And then that person got a full-time job with the Town of Pahrump by the time PAVED was running out of money.”
“He” abused PAVED. I’m certain, much to the disdain of the PAVED Board of Directors. Today “he” is employed by the Town of Pahrump – good riddance. His WIFE was afforded the salary – for her full time employment, at an amount that, by my research shows, consumed much of the annual budget of PAVED – she too is gone. The current six person board is composed of successful business people, both active and retired, that do not take a salary to sit on the board of PAVED. They so not deserve to be sullied by the actions of a husband and wife team that left PAVED so high and dry upon the splitting of ways.
So Christian, all you have written is your misunderstood translation of the FACTS.
You also besmirched the Honorable Paula Glidden, The current President of PAVED, a person of great integrity with awesome leadership abilities. In fact, I think you would find she has contributed more money, time and expertise HELPING PAVED than most anybody would EVER do. I think you owe her a personal apology – for the misdirected and unwarranted attack on her good name: shame on you.
And, in the future, please don’t use Al’s and Paula’s name in the same sentence, it’s like mixing horse manure with gold. But hey, that’s my opinion.
I am NOT a past or present member of PAVED – but I know how to read – and interpret the facts. I know how to look up facts and I ATTEND Town Board meetings (and now I can watch them LIVE on CH.46) so I am INFORMED with the FACTS and that tells me the TRUTHS. I recommend to anyone that is reading this to do the same, this is OUR Town. Understand what is in FACT happening, learn the TRUTHS, correct the rumor mongers, support those that have the best interests of our valley to heart. If you don’t like something then, by golly, get out there and VOTE! That is the only way we will have a say in getting rid of the scoundrels and we can replace them with good and honest people that we want elected into office – so that they represent OUR interests and concerns. That is the only way to continue.
Enough of my rambling on. Christian, don’t take what I said too personally, I sometimes get too excited when I hear what I know to be false – and for that I continually have to apologize; please accept my offer of an olive branch – a real one.
For the rest of you, if you stuck around this far, here’s what I know of PAVED:
PAVED offers an attractive support package for businesses that want to locate, maintain and grow viable business enterprises here in Pahrump.
The six board members are successful business owners that have salvaged PAVED from near ruin – because they believe in Pahrump and its potential. They want to help attract new business to Pahrump, they want to share their knowledge of starting, maintaining and growing a business – with not only new but also existing business owners as well. They want what I want; the ability for this town to grow and thrive – yet maintain our unique rural lifestyle. I know this because I am a Pahrump business and I know most of the six members of PAVED.
*PAVED also was the organization that provided the best working proposal to the Pahrump Town Board to be the host the new 2010 Pahrump Town Fair and Festival. For that they should be commended.
From what I understand, this is going to be a very nice event this year,I sincerely hope to see you there.
Regards,
Calico Wheels
I will reply to the post above first.
Needs, the document (Form 990) you provided shows only that state REVEIVED PAVED’s Form 990 on 5/26/09. Anyone who knows about non-profits is that it takes time before you are approved as a non-profit.
So, if you look at when PAVED received $125,000 of our room tax dollars, and the time PAVED was approved as a non-profit, you will noticed the Town gave a group of people who, formed a non-profit, because of some back room B.S. and got $125,000 for FREE!
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Now to Calico: In my opinion, Man, not only are you brainwashed your ignorant. Of course Laurayne Murray approved giving them $125,000. She was conned by the people who started PAVED and was also a member of PAVED who hid behind being the Town Board liaison to PAVED.
Nice try though trying to make PAVED sound like they are reputable. Too bad you wasted all that time typing. Plus, most people in this town who know about AL and PAVED know the REAL truth. Too bad we can’t vote out the town manager and AL.
Check the link below for more info. Seems like PAVED can’t find a home or stay in the same place for very long, not a good sign of a stable group or non-profit. In my opinion of course.
http://nvsos.gov/sosentitysearch/CorpDetails.aspx?lx8nvq=ySC4K6aVj%252btdQgZdMROz6w%253d%253d&nt7=0
I could go on and provide more links and information but I don’t want someone from PAVED or relative or friend to waste time typing a longwinded reply like Calico did.
LATER