Letters to editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

Member-owners of cooperative should participate in process

A recent Saturday saw a management implosion of a local cooperative during its annual meeting when the membership (owners) lost confidence in their management. At this point the wisdom of Albert Einstein should be considered, “The same minds that created the problem cannot solve it.” It also appropriate to find guidance in a paraphrased statement from Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War, “When your opponent is surrounded, always leave him an honorable escape.”

Should an unbiased recent history of the local cooperative be written it could possibly read somewhat like the following: The CEO and board of directors slowly succumbed to temptation from listening to their collective egos as they slowly slipped into creating an elite state of mind or ‘In-Group’; believing only they held the wisdom for guiding the cooperative’s future, without educating nor seeking approval from the membership.

The owners must be counted as the second actor in this brief history, as they slide into a state of comfortable apathy fed by soothing statements from top management of how well the co-op was doing as narrated in its publications, slick meeting presentations that discouraged members penetrating questions and when questions were allowed, answers came from hired lawyers giving wordy answers that confused rather than informed.

It is appropriate to applaud the actions of two directors, who recently astutely read their tea-leaves telling a dark future and resigned. An informed segment of the membership hopes the remaining four directors will likewise realized their past actions have led to dissatisfaction within the membership as evidenced by petitions filled with member signatures demanding director resignations.

Past sins of the former ‘In Group’ will continue to haunt members well into the future and it is hoped the apathetic majority will become informed and take back their corporative through their votes for new directors and CEO.

It is important for each member to recall the past annual meeting and think about their lack of participation. There are approximately 18,000 member-owners of the co-op, yet it is doubtful if there were enough members at the recent annual meeting to make a quorum (approx. 360 members). Keep in mind, members, you own this cooperative and it is your lack of interest that brought about the recent rate increase.

You should also take a hard look at the future regarding electric energy. The recently elected progressive state government just passed legislation demanding all electricity in the state, during the next few years, will have to be generated by ‘green sources’. These sources will generate both electrical power and higher costs for the consumer. Be careful and be informed about how you vote. Voting is like praying - you are often plagued by getting what you prayed for.

Dwight W. Hunter

Quilters’ group coordinator thanks members along with local businesses

As the coordinator of the 2019 Pins and Needles Quilt Needlework Show on April 5th and 6th, sponsored by the Shadow Mountain Quilters, I would like to thank all the members of our group who worked throughout the year to produce another successful show. Without all your efforts, we would not have enjoyed such a wonderful display of quilted and assorted needle artistry displayed for the community. Congratulations to those who entered their work for all to admire and especially to the winners of the beautiful ribbons hand-crafted by a group of our members.

In addition, the guild would like to thank the many local business owners who contributed gift certificates and merchandise which enhanced the raffle baskets, NyE Communities Coalition for sharing the activities center as the judging venue, to the Nevada Treasure RV Resort for providing a location and setup assistance, to the PV Times, KNYE Radio and Channel KVPM for advertisements, to B&C Printing for the timely printing of the program, to the vendors who offered attendees the opportunity to purchase quilt-related items. We especially thank Robin Hebrock for the front page Pahrump Valley Times article which attracted much attention. We extend a huge thank you to members of the community who offered their support by attending and purchasing tickets for raffle baskets and the Opportunity Quilt.

Unfortunately there still remains a challenge to find a location that will accommodate a show of this size. After multiple inquiries about town, a choice again faces the Shadow Mountain Quilters regarding where the guild will be able to host such an event in upcoming years. This must also be a concern for any other groups wishing to host an event of any size. The Bob Ruud Community Center was most likely adequate when it was first opened. The community has since grown considerably larger and yet we are still faced with this as the only location to host indoor public events. This is a limiting factor in attracting other event planners from outside the area. Income from such events would provide revenue for many diverse local businesses; including lodging, restaurants, gas stations and merchandisers.

Violet Touchton

Consult the experts for the best information

What are the reasons the mass media and our state elected officials have been so uptight about using Yucca Mountain for nuclear storage? Our state has been used for testing of atom bombs for many years. For as many years the government has buried much radiation waste here and at this point in time there has been no or little leakage to harm our citizens.

When was the last time the Yucca Mountain area sustained enough damage to cause major damage? The type that could or has affected Nevadans’ air or water contamination.

Let’s let the people who measure and check seismic movement determine if safe storage can be had at the Yucca Mountain area. Please – no more opinions and hysteria without given facts to back them up – just the truth.

How many parents of Nevada children have uncertain feelings of their time in school? What can and should be done for their safety?

If you have these thoughts, try to review some of the possible solutions for their safety by going to your computers and contact NRASchoolShield.org to see what ideas they have put forth to other locations and why they work.

Remember, these ideas are by members that have the same questions of their children’s safety at school that you have and they are not political in their views and ideas. Maybe we can improve children’s safety by exploring everyone’s views. Just a possible idea don’t you think?

Henry Hurlbut

Opinion from the Nevada Republican Assembly

Last month, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford decided he could represent all of Nevada when he joined a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency to fund a border wall he has promised to build dating back to his presidential campaign. According to Ford, “President Trump cannot side-step our Constitution for a political ploy.”

According to the Washington Post, there have been 30 national emergencies declared in recent years. There are 28 currently active. During their presidencies, Obama declared 12 and Bush declared 13 of these emergencies. Some of them have had to do with the Sudanese government, the Western Balkans, Albanians in Macedonia and Zimbabwe. All protections for people of these countries. To our knowledge, there has never been a suit to stop a president’s declaration of a national emergency.

In all actuality, Trump’s declaration of emergency isn’t for a wall; the emergency is that we have a dysfunctional Congress, whose House refuses to work with the president. Democrat members of Congress and even past Democrat presidents including Obama, have all wanted to secure our southern border with a wall. But now that Trump finally wants to protect the American people, rather than spending most of our defense dollars overseas for other countries’ protection, the hypocrites in Congress come out in force against him.

It’s particularly unconscionable for Ford to have signed on with this suit, considering the recent murders by an illegal alien, of Jerry and Sherri David, and Connie Coontz and Sophia Renken. If a stronger, more secure border wall had been in place, the murder of these four innocent people, in three separate incidents, may very well not have happened. The Angel Families in this country would agree.

For those who say there’s not an emergency, Border Patrol agents and property owners along the border would disagree. Just one sector is getting 1,000 illegal entries a day. That’s 7,000 a week! How is this NOT an emergency? In just 2018, there were 266,000 criminal record arrests at the border, 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, 25,000 burglaries, 4,000 kidnappings, and 4,000 violent murders, committed by illegals who were trying to sneak into our country.

The incarceration rates for illegals is THREE TIMES as that for American citizens. Do we really want our tax dollars spent on putting these illegals in prison here? Wouldn’t it be better if they just NEVER got over the border to commit crimes here? EVERY crime committed by an illegal, is one that should have NEVER happened.

Who gave Aaron Ford the right to speak for Nevadans? He does NOT speak for us! His action tells Nevadans and the rest of America, that he cares more for illegal aliens than U.S. citizens.

Sincerely,

Juanita Cox,

President, Nevada Republican Assembly

Dr. William Tarbell,

President, Washoe County Chapter of the Nevada Republican Assembly