FROM THE EDITOR: DeMeo 1, County 0 after AG declines case

Tony DeMeo loves a good fight.

And the consummate politician this week learned he won the fight of his political life.

That happened when the state attorney general’s office declined to prosecute the sheriff for overspending his budget in fiscal year 2011-2012.

I had a gut feeling he’d overcome this thing.

And though it appears like Nye County has suffered yet another black eye, I disagree. I’m glad Tony prevailed.

But I’m also glad the county did what it did, though it must have taken a personal toll on Tony that he probably did not deserve.

Why?

I’m glad for Tony because I just never believed in my heart of hearts that he was capable of doing this on purpose as part of some sinister plot to bankrupt the county. There was never any evidence of malice on Tony’s part.

Ironically, I’m glad the county did what it did anyway. It took a lot guts to pull the trigger on something like this. Officials really believed it was their last resort after years of warning Tony to stay within his budget.

By doing this the county put every department on notice — maintain your budgets or face the consequences. Good.

Think Tony’s going to be a little more diligent about his budget going forward? You bet. Future sheriffs will too, and that’s a good thing for all of us.

Bye, bye Bill

Today is Pahrump Town Manager Bill Kohbarger’s last day on the job. He’s leaving for greener pastures, we suspect, in North Las Vegas.

The PVT, and especially me, would like to give Kohbarger a heart-felt goodbye and best wishes for all of his and his family’s future endeavours.

We caught Bill yesterday on the radio. He was a guest on Karen Jackson’s KNYE.

It was nice to hear him open up a bit more about some of the obstacles he’s faced during his five-year tenure. He spoke with the ease of someone on the way out.

I particularly enjoyed him blasting the disrespectful horde of “Concerned Citizens” who have made working as Pahrump town manager, or at least attending the town board meetings, a miserable experience for just about anyone.

He throttled that group. And they deserve every bit of his vitriol.

Needless to say, we wish Bill a fond farewell.

Hello, Susan

In what has got to be the most dizzying display of civic dysfunction ever, the Pahrump Town Board was able to somehow, someway fight its way toward hiring a warm body to fill the position left by Kohbarger.

Susan Holecheck is her name. She is a former mayor of Mesquite.

I’ve actually talked to Holecheck a few times, years ago, when she was a Mesquite councilwoman. I found her to be both honest and competent.

I believe she will make a great interim town manager — that is if the “Concerned Citizens” don’t run her off first.

Another possibility, of course, is that this town board itself might run her off.

I just don’t understand the rush to hire a town manager on an interim basis with the purpose of later hiring a permanent one even though we all know that position could evaporate depending upon how the Supreme Court rules on the ballot question case.

It just seems stupid. And that move to make the interim position a probationary position for the first six months is equally asinine.

Why Holecheck is even bothering with this place is questionable. She has a job as a marketing professional at a hospital.

I’ll have to ask her what she’s thinking.

But that’s after I welcome her aboard with open arms — and a warning about what she’s in for.

About those ‘Concerned Citizens’

It is so crystal-clear that Commissioner Donna Cox and town board member Amy Riches are so far in over their heads it’s getting to be ridiculous.

These women have turned out to be nothing more than a couple of tools for political extremists in town who want to cram their fringe agendas down everybody else’s throats without actually bothering to learn how to govern.

That business at the special town board meeting one week ago was disgraceful. Watching Riches leave the dais to go be with her “people” was as cringe-worthy a moment in local government as I’ve ever, ever seen.

Harley Kulkin was right to make public his serious concerns about her ability to participate as a competent elected official.

I know for a fact many of Cox’s cohorts on the county commission feel the same way about her.

These people are activists, not political leaders. They have no earthly idea how to listen, learn and lead; they just know how to squawk and parrot the crazy ideas of their small group.

I just don’t get how people of this low caliber ever get elected. It’s sad.