Letters to the Editor of the Pahrump Valley Times

President Trump proud of receiving unknown award

Four-year old T-ball kids are full of pride when getting their end-of-season participation medal. They are too young to understand the medals are pretty meaningless, given every kid on the team gets one.

Very much like those four-year-olds, our 79-year-old president is stuck in a euphoric T-ball world in which any award he receives is a prideful moment. Last year, Trump expressed great glee when he was awarded the soccer “Fifa Peace Prize.” For the record, there has never been a soccer peace prize until Trump got his. More recently, Maria Corino Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader, gave her Nobel Peace Prize to you know who! Our president, having for years lusted for that special award, was in his glory.

Now, one might wonder what the heck is wrong with people willing to suck up to and give our president undeserved awards, but that’s a topic for another time.

Let’s consider ourselves fortunate that our medal-seeking commander-in-chief is not a student of history. If he were, Trump probably would know about Idi Amin, the 1970s brutal dictator of Uganda. Amin had a penchant for strutting around in public wearing a military jacket full of flashy but unmerited awards.

Shhhhh, don’t tell our president about Idi Amin!

Dan Schmitt

Local government presents challenges to Pahrumpians

Mr. Burgan, welcome to the realities of life in Pahrump. You previously mentioned considering “contacting your commissioner to complain about the way the planning department works with citizens.” The structure of local government, especially as it pertains to the planning department, presents significant challenges for residents seeking meaningful change.

Planning departments hold substantial influence within local government. They are responsible for developing and enforcing most rules and regulations that residents must follow. These departments serve as the primary source for new policies, and their enforcement mechanisms directly impact citizens’ daily lives. The common belief that government employees, including city or county managers, work for the citizenry is often a misconception.

In practice, managers are the ones who run the day-to-day operations of government, not the elected officials. Specifically, the manager’s accountability lies with the majority of commissioners rather than the public at large. Commissioners are tasked with making policy decisions and have limited oversight over the actual functioning of government operations. All eligible commissioners unanimously selected the previous head of the planning department to serve as the county manager. Opposing their own selection to address citizens’ complaints, especially those that live and vote in one district, but experience issues in another may be pointless. This situation often leads to responsibility being shifted rather than addressed.

Recent citizens’ experiences with short-term rental (STR) ever-changing issues over the past five months have shown that efforts to resolve concerns by contacting commissioners are frequently ineffective. As an example, citizens, me included, were required to pay $550 to have an engineer stamp the sewer system permit that the county had already approved. Although this requirement was later lifted, those of us that paid the fee are unlikely to be reimbursed.

According to an AI search, Pahrump forms 1.87% of the county’s area, but generates up to 55% of its total tax base. A powerless town board doesn’t solve this imbalance. To distribute tax revenue more fairly, elect commissioners for fairer distribution, or consider incorporation with privatization. For example, despite three years of pictures and requests, numerous huge potholes leading to one of my properties remain unaddressed!

Gene Fisher (USN Retired)