Town meetings may get earlier start

Pahrump Town Manager Susan Holecheck is looking for public input regarding the start time of town board meetings.

Holecheck suggested that scheduling town board meetings earlier would be beneficial in several different ways.

At present, the regular meetings begin at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

“I think it’s something for us to think about. Being aware of taxpayer funds, we are paying overtime for some staff to be there and that is one concern. Number two, we now have the advent of Granicus online and that allows people to watch the meeting from home at their leisure,” she said.

Holecheck also said she has spoken with local residents and the possible change.

“I’ve actually heard from some people who say they are less inclined to drive a lot at night when it’s dark and that is also a big consideration,” she said.

The town manager mentioned this week’s meeting, which ran for more than four hours.

When the meeting adjourned just after 11 p.m., there were less than six residents in the audience.

Additionally, Holecheck was back at work the following day at 7 a.m.

“If the town were in favor, I would like to see us move the meeting to 5:30 p.m., or at a minimum at least move them to 6 p.m. That just means that hopefully all of us can get out and get the business done and get a good night’s sleep. When meetings run that late it can be a challenge because you don’t want to lose that edge of being able to communicate properly and analyze different situations. My main concern is that I may not be on point and precise in my thinking the next morning,” she said.

Holecheck said she would like to get local residents’ opinions on the proposal which if approved will begin early next year.

Holecheck also said this week that Las Vegas Social Security representatives will indeed continue to provide service to the Pahrump Valley.

She said a simple misunderstanding led to the confusion about the services that have been provided to the community for many years.

“Although some of the smaller towns in Nye County like Beatty and Tonopah will not have Social Security representation there. On the other hand the Social Security representatives realize the size of Pahrump and our demographics so they will continue to come out here for our residents,” she said.

Social Security representative Ronnie Singh said locals can rest assured that services will not be interrupted.

“We will continue to service Pahrump the last Tuesday of each month with sign-in hours from around 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. We start calling names at about 8:30 a.m. There have been no changes whatsoever to our Pahrump schedule,” he stated in an email.