This week in Pahrump was positively ‘newsylicious’

Can I invent a new word?

If I could, it would be “newsylicious.” Used in a sentence, it wold go something like: “This week was a positively newsylicious week for Pahrump, Nye County, Nevada.”

It was newsylicious because, from a newspaper’s standpoint anyway, there was a lot going on, and that in and of itself is, well, delicious in a way. After all, we have pages to fill and they don’t, generally speaking, fill themselves.

A few tasty morsels include the non-vote over the county’s possible purchase of Pahrump Utility, the huge turnout for the appeal filed by Rene Morales over his proposed landfill, the county’s refusal to renew the contract with its medical examiner, this whole deal with the roundabouts (Movie Quote: “Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament.”), and, of course, the pending departure of Bill “the Giant Slayer” Kohbarger.

Pahrump Utility

I have to admit, I was starting to come around to the idea of buying this utility. I was reticent, mostly because I don’t particularly trust the capabilities of some of our fearless leaders. But the more I thought about it and talked to people about it, the more I could see how advantageous owning a water utility could be if the county wanted to spur economic development. It’s true that the county could get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time as far as getting grants and building infrastructure compared to a regulated private utility.

And the Hafens, well, I hardly believe they would push the county into buying a boondoggle. It doesn’t make sense. So, I was a bit chagrined when Commissioner Dan Schinhofen’s motion to purchase the utility didn’t even get a second.

Chairman Butch Borasky should have stepped down for a second and seconded the motion, then we could get a vote at least of the full board. This community spent a lot of time and money on this issue and we deserve a board that will stand up and vote.

I guess the writing was on the wall, no second from Lorinda Wichman and Frank Carbone and Donna Cox must mean that they do not support buying the utility, but that doesn’t tell us why. And after a few hundred thousand dollars in studies and consultants, I want to freaking know why our elected leaders think this is a lousy idea.

Is that too much to ask? The conversation should be had.

Morales landfill

Rene Morales is a fighter. Good for him. That’s probably why he’s become a successful business person over the years. He went before county commissioners this week to appeal the rejection he got for a permit for his proposed construction debris landfill. County commissioners upheld the planning commission’s rejection, but not without hearing an earful about the lack of jobs in this community. They should hear about it. All the time.

As for Morales, I’m not too keen on his landfill idea, either. But I do think that a man of his gusto and intelligence will find a way to use that piece of property on East Simkins for something productive and profitable for himself and the community.

I urge him to keep at it and don’t let this minor setback affect his ability to remain in this community and thrive.

As for the expensive, glossy, political mailer attacking Morales and slamming local politicians, I found that to be way over the top. Someone spent a lot of money for that mailer. They spent a lot of money to energize and frighten a lot of people. And they did it from a position of anonymity. Kind of gutless, if you ask me. That anonymity might shield you from scrutiny, perhaps, but it also tarnishes your message from the outset.

Rexene Worrell

Here’s what you didn’t hear when commissioners decided to change the bid for the county’s medical examiner job so much that it effectively killed Dr. Rexene Worrell’s chances of staying in the position, which she’s held for the past 10 years. What you didn’t hear was that commissioners believe the county was being fleeced by the good doctor and that the sheriff was approving too many costly autopsies.

For a position that was only budgeted for about $50,000 a year, Worrell was collecting more than twice that, to the tune of more than a million dollars over 10 years. Now county officials want to find a cheaper route, probably through Clark County.

But, there is still something off here. Why not just go over the costs with the sheriff and Worrell and find common ground before simply nixing the contract? The sheriff says the decision was made without so much as a phone call to ask his opinion. I know Mr. Tony DeMeo and certain county officials have locked horns over the sheriff’s spending habits. But to totally lock him out of discussions about such an important component of his law enforcement duties seems a bit much.

Then there’s last year when her contract came up and it turned out there was a move afoot by the funeral homes to get Worrell out. Could that be a factor this time, too? If it is, nobody’s saying.

Bill Kohbarger resignation

Let me just say this first — Bill Kohbarger had nothing to do with the disappearance of a certain green giant who used to grace State Route 160 where Valley Homes once operated. Nothing! He had nothing to do with it!

Now that that’s out of the way, let me tell you, we are going to sincerely miss our beloved town manager when he leaves next month for North Las Vegas. We really will. Unlike many, many, many, many Pahrump residents, I actually like Bill and find him to be a pretty good town manager. If nothing else, Kohbarger is totally newsylicious. From suing the county to dreaming up a theme park to spending $3.1 million out of all the town’s special funds next year, there was never any shortage of excitement when Bill Kohbarger was around.

And another thing, when Bill was off work — if you’re ever really off work in that sort of job — I hear he was a pretty good dad, too. Good dads are hard to come by.

We could blubber on and on, and maybe we will do a nice send off — certainly we could photo shop that pretty mug of his on a certain familiar giant statue.

Though we haven’t always gotten along, and I think Kohbarger is much too secretive for his own good, we will miss the big guy. We really will.

Now as for Dave Richards. Well, I hear he used to be the town manager and he wants his old job back. That’s super. We should give him a try — that is unless it’s true that he’s hooked into that Concerned Citizens for a Safe whatever crowd, a la Donna Cox and some other vocal tea partiers.

No way, don’t bother. This town needs responsible management, not fringe political, English-only, run for your guns BS — the drones are coming, the drones are coming! So if that’s what’s on tap, we really could do without it.

Now, I might be wrong, and I hope I am, because Pahrump deserves a little break from the crazy.