Roughly 13 years after Pahrump residents voted to dissolve the Pahrump Town Board, there are still some individuals in the community who are in favor of revisiting the issue in an effort to resurrect the five-member body.
Former member Dr. Tom Waters recently reached out to the Pahrump Valley Times by way of two recent open letters to express his thoughts on the issue, along with several other like-minded former board members.
Power shift
The dissolution of the town board resulted in the Nye County Board of Commissioners assuming many of the legal and fiduciary duties of the town board, which essentially downgraded the board’s ability to properly govern the town of Pahrump.
Though the decision was challenged by town officials, Pahrump voters eventually approved the proposal by a 7,294 to 7,063 margin in 2012.
“Personally, I believe that they are doing the very best they can but are overwhelmed by this vast responsibility of caring for the county, which is their job, and the town of Pahrump, which was our job,” Waters told the Pahrump Valley Times. “While some negative actions taken may have not been intentional, I believe that the commissioners have made some mistakes in their efforts to manage and govern the affairs of the town of Pahrump.”
Further, Waters reflected on some of the actions taken by the county, including the closure of the town office and terminating town employees to avoid duplicating particular duties and functions.
Additionally, Waters’ concerns also addressed the merging of town funds with county funds, essentially reducing the town to a subdivision of the county, he said.
Additional thoughts
Former town board member Harley Kulkin provided his thoughts on resurrecting the board.
Kulkin is a longtime supporter of establishing a Pahrump Fairgrounds site in the valley.
He told the Pahrump Valley Times that he supports the idea of creating a new and improved town board form of government, which he would proudly serve on.
“The town board was working on developing a fairgrounds plan to bring in jobs and money but when the county took over, they totally dropped the ball on that,” Kulkin said. “All the county has done in the 30-plus years since I’ve been here is create more and more financial liabilities. Right now, all we can be is an advisory board, but at least with that, we’d be able to push the county to develop the fairgrounds land, because of all the jobs it can potentially produce, and that’s my No. 1 priority.”
Actions have consequences
When queried about the chance of serving on a re-established town board, former member Bill Dolan’s response was brief and to the point.
“I’ve done my time in Purgatory, and that’s it,” he told the Pahrump Valley Times. “A couple of years ago, before our esteemed colleague Vicky Parker passed away, we got together to have lunch, and before we left the restaurant, we were approached by several people who hated the town board at the time and wanted us gone. Their comments to us at the restaurant were, they voted out the wrong board, and they needed us to get back in the game. We told them that you have to live with what you voted for.”
Waters, meanwhile, said other Southern Nevada communities with smaller populations maintain a town board, including Amargosa Valley, Round Mountain and Tonopah.
He urged local residents to work with Nye County commissioners in moving forward to strengthen area enterprise and industry.
“It remains my hope that the residents of Pahrump will demand of the commissioners to create an appointed town advisory board, an appointed town board, and an elected town board, or place the item on the next ballot for an elected town board,” he noted. “All of these can be done by a Board of County Commissioners agenda item. I encourage residents to contact their county commissioner and talk to them instead of merely complaining to each other.”
Commissioner comment
The Pahrump Valley Times was unsuccessful in gaining comment from commissioners, however, Public Communication Manager Knightly responded via email by stating the following:
“The Pahrump Town Board was disbanded after a vote of the people,” Knightly noted. “The State Supreme Court then upheld that vote. Four of the five county commissioners’ districts are fully in Pahrump with the fifth representing part of northern Pahrump.”
Contact Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com.