EDITORIAL: MVTAB Straw Poll Ignored

In one of the most startling displays of political arrogance in local memory Clark County Commissioners Tom Collins and Steve Sisolak ignored the results of the Moapa Valley “straw poll” by which Moapa Valley formalizes its choices for the local Town Board. The straw poll process has been used for decades and has always been respected by the County Commissioners who represented Moapa Valley without regard to political affiliation. Now that time-honored process has been gutted and cast aside for political expediency and cronyism.

Reaching to the bottom of the list of candidates to find those who had garnered the fewest votes, Collins and Sisolak appointed community gadfly Billy Mildice (239 votes) and Mesquite Postmaster Deborah Greco (415 votes). Greco lives in Overton.

Ignoring established precedent set for over 50 years the honorable commissioners refused to seat incumbent Rik Eide (1097 votes) and long-time resident and respected school administrator Pledger Solomon (1011 votes).

We are forced to wonder if either Mr. Collins or Mr. Sisolak have respect for any of their constituents if some of them are treated like they have treated Moapa Valley in this matter.

Commissioner Collins is actually a resident of Moapa Valley. He moved to Logandale shortly after he was elected to the County Commission in 2004 and has built a pretty little farm/ranch. However, his condescending attitude toward the people of this community has failed to build for him any significant loyalty base. As a result he garnered only 33% of the vote from among his fellow townspeople. That should have given Mr. Collins cause for pause and a reason for him to look in the mirror and reflect whether, just perhaps, he could be doing something wrong. Apparently it did not.

This newspaper has consistently reported the news of Mr. Collins activities factually and accurately, and often positively. On occasion, when we have thought him out of line, we have also editorialized accordingly; not with the intention of picking a fight, but rather of trying to help him see this community through the focus of those who have lived here longer than he. We see that as our responsibility and duty as a community newspaper. His response to our reporting and our editorials, and to others in the community who have ventured the audacity to question his wisdom on anything, has been at least surly, often angry, nearly always filled with bullying language, and always condescending. His assumption always seems to be that if we poor unfortunate rural folk just knew as much as he did then we would be grateful for his presence.

To add tragedy to this unfortunate comedy we find rookie County Commissioner Steve Sisolak apparently deciding to go along with this. The tragedy in this is that it leaves Moapa Valley with no meaningful representation on the County Commission. And that is tragic indeed.

Some in this community have been around long enough to remember Commissioners who served even before Commissioner Bruce Woodbury’s long and well-served tenure. We have talked to some of those and have found that never during the years we were represented by Bob Broadbent; not when we were represented by James G. “Sailor” Ryan; not when we were represented by George Franklin or Rodney Colton; has there ever been a situation when the stated wishes of the community on an issue as fundamental as this were so ignored and trampled upon.