The Beatty Town Advisory Board held a special meeting May 2 just to go over the Nye County sheriff’s budget proposals for Beatty’s share of the public safety sales tax money.
The board had anticipated the item would be on the agenda at the county commission meeting.
There were parts of the proposal as presented by the sheriff at the board’s last meeting that they were in favor of, but others that they had issues with.
That meeting was attended by a larger-than-usual audience of Beatty residents, many of them upset with the sparseness of deputies patrolling the community.
Many of them could remember when Beatty had an active sheriff’s substation and jail, and several deputies living in the community.
Currently, only one deputy lives in the community.
Reports of vandalism and break-ins have greatly increased.
With the exception of Erika Gerling, the board members were critical of the expenditure of Beatty’s share of the money to supply equipment for deputies assigned elsewhere.
Crystal Taylor mentioned that equipment that had been bought for Beatty in the past had wound up going to Pahrump. Gerling said she wanted Nye County deputies to be well equipped wherever they served in the county.
Taylor said that she was not expressing a lack of support for law enforcement, but it had to do with “all we have lost because we are smaller.”
Chairman Dick Gardner said that deputies should “have the best they can have. It’s scary out there these days wearing a badge.”
One item all board members seemed to question was the use of some of the money for a couple of squad cars.
Gardner said that he always sees idle squad cars sitting in the compound at the substation.
The special meeting turned out to be just discussion since the board learned that the county commissioners had pulled their agenda item in order to have time for a more thorough examination of the items and figures.
Gerling said the postponement was a “good thing,” that “it shows that they are listening to us.” But she was frustrated with not being able to accomplish anything in the meeting. She had trouble trying to find something she could put into a motion.
In the end, the board decided to ask for more hard information on the proposal.
Richard Stephens is a freelance writer living in Beatty.