Letters to the Editor

Resident: Absolutely no data center wanted in Pahrump

I attended the 7/7/26 BOCC meeting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A lot of folks left when items were struck from the agenda and folks were confused because they also thought data centers were struck from the agenda. There were a lot of people at 10 a.m. who wanted to speak against data centers but when data centers kept getting pushed and finally discussed at 5 p.m., a lot of folks couldn’t stay that long. Topics should have time frames and agendas should be followed. The perception of kicking the can is very real here.

Even though a lot of public comments were made at 5 and a lot of previous public comments had been made opposing data centers at previous BOCC meetings, RPC meetings and water board meetings some of you still think the residents want data centers. I am appalled that you could possibly think this after all the public outcry in opposition. It seems as if everything the residents are saying is falling on four sets of deaf ears!

I attended the other meetings (one went until 11 p.m.), the Regional Planning Commission meeting and Water Board meeting and didn’t always speak because the 40 people before me said the same thing: NO DATA CENTERS.

At no time did ANY residents give the impression that they wanted data centers. The only two people in the 7/7/26 meeting in favor were Tim Sutton and Russell Meads (sp) who are “paid experts” and involved in getting approval. They conveniently showed up at the end after the data center agenda item had been moved around all day.

And, now there’s supposed to be a Town Hall for data center developers to present their facts because you think there hasn’t been enough public outcry already. Stop changing the agenda, stop running meetings into marathons and listen to what your constituents have already said and that is: NO DATA CENTERS!

Sincerely,

Cheryl Varkalis

Pahrump Resident

Is our government ‘kicking the can down the road’?

While reflecting on our great 250th anniversary I started comparing our present-day situation across our great nation and I can’t believe I’m the only one that has anxiety over the unimpeded advancement of socialism sweeping the country. It should not be surprising as a national survey found that 17.6% of social science professors self-identified as Marxists and have been teaching Generation Z for years. Worse, CHAT GPT says 66% of Democrats favor socialism.

According to the Democrat Socialists of America (DSA) over 250 DSA are elected officials in all areas of our government. Even worse, many believe there is a difference between socialism and communism. The fact is they both believe in the utopia of collectivism ideology, and distribution of wealth, other people’s wealth of course! Socialists justify their ideology as not immediately confiscating private property. Socialism takes a little longer as it allows you to keep and maintain your property until the taxes for destitution and building larger government exceeds your ability to pay and then government confiscates your property and your money for distribution. At that point the facade is over, it is communism! It seems to me we have a similar situation of kicking the can down the road as the beginning of the Civil War, before Jan 1, 1863 Emancipation Declaration was signed by President Lincoln changing the Civil War from the fight to reunite the north and south to the rights of all people as depicted in the constitution.

We’ve had five major wars, dozens of major proxy wars and numerous smaller covert operations guided by the cold war seeking to limit the spread of communism leading to 95,000 military deaths. The cold war encompassed my 34 years military tenure and cost $13-15 trillion in today’s cost; one of the largest national security expenditures in U.S. history. Yet we continue to support cities like New York and their communist mayor with $7.4 billion annually. I am a MAGA and Trump supporter but was appalled when Trump invited Mamdani to the White House, instead of saying good luck with your free stuff distribution, our government does not support communism, and if you ever call me a fascist again, I will bankrupt you and your whole family! Worse, he encouraged him to say it on national TV. On Trump’s behalf he doesn’t direct the funding, Congress does, thus the more DSA elected, the further the can is kicked.

Gene Fisher

USN Retired