FROM THE EDITOR: Changes in town, and another big change at the newspaper

The next two weeks are usually a lull in the news business with few if any government meetings, and everyone seemingly leaving town.

Even criminals seem to take a break this time of year, meaning that maybe the Crime Corner will not be as lively.

This is a time of transition in Nye County, with newly-elected officials in the sheriff’s, district attorney’s and assessor’s office, all in the midst of a transition. Meetings between county management and the incoming group of leaders are ongoing, with everyone hoping for smooth transitions. There are also meetings with the outgoing leaders that are intended to help everyone involved.

One of the biggest transitions I’m interested in has nothing to do with these offices, but the dissolving of the Pahrump Town Board. As was widely reported here and other places, the Town Board held its last meeting on Dec. 9.

Having talked to various officials in the county, I get the understanding that the plan is have a advisory board replace the outgoing elected board. How soon that may happen is not clear, because I don’t think anyone truly knows. One official told me it might be best if there was some time distance between the two boards to let everything settle down. Another told me something could be on the Jan. 5 agenda for the Nye County Commission.

The County Commissioners will be the ones tasked with appointing members to the advisory Town Board, a process already in place in Beatty and Gabbs, and it will probably be up to them on Jan. 5 whether they want to follow a similar path here.

Another option is to step into the roll of overseeing town business themselves. Unlike Beatty or Gabbs, four of the five commissioners live in Pahrump so they may believe they could handle the duties. This would eliminate a layer of government, allow the county to exchange with the town’s services - such as the fire department, tourism, IT - providing more efficiency and saving money for both governments.

I also expect town employees to keep their jobs. The county is already so thin when it comes to employees, and the town positions are already financed, I believe keeping them all makes sense. Staff roles may change over time, but not immediately. There is plenty of work to be done in Pahrump. Who they will answer to still seems to be in flux.

Pahrump Town Manager Susan Holecheck’s contract expires Jan. 4, so the commission may be asked to consider her future employment the next day too.

This move to do away with the elected Town Board was decided by a narrow margin in 2012 by a vote of the people. So it is now time to move on.

Speaking of moving on, long time Pahrump reporter Mark Waite’s last day at this newspaper is today. After 34 years in journalism, Waite has decided to retire. Waite started reporting in January 1980 in Florida, then went to Texas in 1985. He then found himself in Australia in a one-year work exchange in 1986, returning to Texas after.

Waite arrived in the Silver State in October of 1996, landing a reporter position at Elko Daily Free Press. He came to Pahrump in 2000 to work for the now closed Pahrump Valley View. He told me his first assignment was a Jan. 31, 2000 meeting on town incorporation at the Ruud Community Center attended by 200 people.

In late 2002, View owner Las Vegas Review-Journal acquired the Pahrump Valley Times, and Waite moved to this paper. Except for a two-year hiatus traveling the world starting in 2004, Waite has been a fixture around town for 12 of the past 14 years, attending government meetings, community events and keeping an eye on your tax dollars.

With Waite’s departure will leave a void in the newsroom. Waite has an encyclopedic knowledge of people in Pahrump and all of Nye County. If he doesn’t remember all the details of a certain event, he can pull out an archived story from years ago to jog his memory.

Waite’s departure is part of a larger trend in journalism where long-term veterans are leaving for retirement or new careers, leaving a void of institutional knowledge in their wakes.

However, we got very lucky in finding his replacement. Newspaper veteran Lillian Browne from upstate New York decided to trade in her winter boots for the western desert. Recommended to me by a mutual friend at the Review-Journal, Browne covered government, financial and environment issues in Delaware County.

She started Monday with the town hall meeting by Congressman-elect Cresent Hardy.

She is already fitting right in.