It’s not very often that a discussion between two regular Joes makes headlines, but that’s what happened after Gov. Joe Lombardo dropped by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office for a quick visit with Sheriff Joe McGill’s staff last week.
McGill noted that Lombardo was in Pahrump on April 7, to tour the Armscor Precision LLC facility, just a short distance from the sheriff’s office.
Both officials are roughly three months into their first terms holding public office.
“Armscor Precision invited him for an introduction,” McGill said of the visit. “They’re a firearms manufacturer and it was a little bit of a surprise. I heard about it yesterday and they invited me to come up there and meet with him there because I hadn’t met the owners of Armscor either.”
One more stop
As the visit was wrapping up, McGill said that he extended an invitation to Lombardo for a first-time visit to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.
“I asked him if he had 10 minutes just to stop by our office, walk around and meet with staff and he gladly accepted.”
McGill went on to say that the brief visit focused mainly on introducing Lombardo to staff and administration while touring the recently remodeled public lobby at the 1520 E. Basin location.
Casual conversation
McGill noted that conversations about operations and funding within the department were not part of the visit during the tour.
“In essence, our money comes from the county, which in turn comes from the state originally,” McGill said. “But he can’t just indiscriminately say I’ll get you 50 cars.”
‘So far, so good’
McGill briefly summed up his thoughts on how things are going at the sheriff’s office, roughly three months into his first term.
“It’s going good,” he said. “We’re making some changes and trying to keep people happy.”
Slow down, pay attention
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office recently conducted “Operation Freeze” and “Joining Forces,” which focused on enforcement events during the month of March.
As stated on its social media page, deputies conducted 346 traffic stops and issued 264 citations during Operation Freeze.
Deputies also conducted 75 traffic stops and issued 56 citations during the Joining Forces event.
The sheriff’s office will continue conducting Operation Freeze this month as well as another Joining Forces event with a focus on distracted drivers.
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes