By Selwyn Harris

The Town of Pahrump is looking for a few good men, women and teens to serve on the town’s various advisory boards.

The boards are formed according to Nevada Revised Statutes NRS and Citizen Action Councils CACs to assist the town board in decision-making processes pertaining to the community.

Town Manager Bill Kohbarger said it’s important to have a complete advisory board to facilitate strategic goals.

“We have several advisory boards and we are always looking to keep them full. We use their expertise. They are an advisory board to the town board and to myself. They are a very good asset. They usually meet once a month and talk about the issues that are in the area of their expertise,” he said.

There are nine advisory boards operating at any one time.

Board members hold their meetings either at the Town Annex Facility or the Bob Ruud Community Center.

The boards include the youth advisory, incorporation, tourism, and public lands to name just a few.

Kohbarger said several others are in need of members.

Earlier this month, the chair of the Veterans’ Advisory Board resigned his position due to health concerns.

“Reggie Knight submitted his resignation on Sept. 4 and we wish him the best,” he said.

Kohbarger noted that the application process is brief and simple.

“They can just come down to the town office, get an application, fill it out and send it in. If they want to serve on the parks and recreation board, we prefer they have a little bit of knowledge in the area. If they have been a coach before and they have taken care of fields or they are just a concerned parent who just wants to be involved.

“We are not looking for exact expertise, we are looking for people who want to get involved and move this community into a better place, which is forward,” he said.

According to the town’s website, advisory boards were created to represent unincorporated towns that have been created by law to generate area specific taxes, which are designated for additional services in the town.

Members must be eligible to vote in elections and must be a resident of the unincorporated town or area encompassed by the board.

Appointees serve without compensation for two terms beginning on the first Monday in odd numbered years.

When a vacancy does occur, the town board will appoint a qualified person to serve the remainder of the unexpired term.

Kohbarger noted that some town staff regularly attend advisory board meetings and town board members serve as liaisons on various advisory boards.

“They are supposed to sit there, observe, and answer questions on open meeting laws and such. They advise what they can and cannot do. They just offer advice. They do not vote or give direction during the meetings,” he said.

Town Board member Dr. Tom Waters, who is a liaison for the Veterans’ Advisory Board, spoke about the importance of residents serving on the various boards as well as have the community attend.

“The youth advisory board received a parks update at the last meeting from Buildings and Grounds Manager Matt Luis. They were very excited about finding out everything that is going on in our parks. I would venture to say that many of our citizens do not know all of the things that are planned for our parks or the things that are going on. I know I invited everybody to come out to the youth advisory board meeting but I wish that had more visitors there. Matt Luis did an outstanding job.

“There were things that I thought I knew but I didn’t know. I learned a lot at that presentation and I think that anybody who would like to see that presentation they can contact the town manager and he can encourage Mr. Luis to give us another presentation somewhere,” he said.

Waters also noted that the youth advisory board is in need of at least two additional members at this time.

“Any young person that would like to be on the youth advisory board should contact any member of the youth advisory board or go online and fill out an application so we can go ahead and fill it up and have alternates as well,” he said.

In regards to the Veterans’ Advisory Board, Waters said anyone interested in applying need not be a veteran.

“We would like you to be a veteran but you don’t have to be. Right now, I think we have one or two members who are not veterans but they support veterans. We need the volunteers and there are a lot of volunteers within the community and we thank them all,” he said.

Town Board Chair Vicky Parker noted that the Nuclear Waste and Environmental Advisory Board is in much need of members.

“If you have in interest in nuclear waste or environmental issues please sign up. The other board that I know really needs help is the parks and recreation board. We do not have anybody on that board currently that has a child in the youth sports programs. This board has such a huge influence on the sports played in the parks so it is vital that we get more parks and recreation members and particularly we need at least one parent would help a lot,” Parker said.

On a related matter, both the town and county are presently in a tug of war match over a potential November ballot question that would allow voters to decide whether to dissolve the town board and create an advisory board for town issues.