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EDITORIAL: An Old Pot Brought To The Front Burner

EDITORIAL:

An Old Pot Brought To The Front Burner
Published January 28, 2009

Recent events seem to have brought the old topic of incorporation back into the public discussion; and for good reason. The idea of this community becoming an incorporated city has been talked about for decades. For years, Moapa Valley residents have expressed concern that the Clark County bureaucracy did, or could not, understand this community’s needs. As dynamic growth continued in the southern Nevada metropolitan areas, the upper and lower Moapa Valley has felt the frustration of being a rural community forced to fit into an urban mold. Attempts have been made by conscientious county representatives to establish rural standards that could provide unique treatment to the rurals. Unfortunately, these attempts have been moderately successful at best. Furthermore, their success has always been heavily dependent upon sympathetic and respectful advocates for the rurals sitting on the County Commission. Recent developments have illustrated we can no longer depend on that advocacy. Without it, we suddenly find that we have less control over our destiny than ever. The only option which will bring a final solution to this conundrum is incorporation.

Admittedly, incorporation won’t be the solution to all problems. In fact, it poses a whole set of complex questions for which there are no simple answers.

It is easy, though, to get wrapped around the axle by trying to argue every fine detail before the process can even get off the ground. Many have offered tentative support to the general idea, but they demand to see all the numbers up front before they jump in with both feet. This is simply not possible, and frankly, it’s not the way it works. It is true that some rough budget projections have been provided. These have offered some hope. But there are still a lot of blanks left unfilled. The fact is, incorporation is a tremendously complex subject. All questions just can’t be fully answered in advance. To find answers to all of the detailed questions the community must roll up its sleeves, go to work on the issues, and be willing to take a mighty step of faith. We must jump into the process with both feet first to get the answers we seek.

We are at a pivotal spot in the development of the Moapa Valley community. The economy has cooled significantly from where it was a couple of years ago. That may be a blessing in disguise. It has put many of the toughest questions that are facing the community on hold. But those questions haven’t died. They are all still lurking in the wings. One way or another, the big issues dealing with the community’s future will, soon enough, be back to face us again. When they do, who should be making the decisions? Given recent events, do we really want to be working through those issues with our current county representation? Under the best of circumstances that hasn’t worked real well. Under present circumstances it could spell disaster. In either case, the best answers to these questions will and should come from the people of this community. And in this case a newly incorporated Moapa Valley.

The extreme nature of our current representation on the County Commission hasn’t really changed the basic nature of the problem. The old problem of inadequate representation has always been there. The current situation has only served to bring the issue, again, to the front burner. The community can no longer afford to continue talking these things over in the back rooms and at the barber shop and then go home and do nothing about it. We are now left with no other option.

If we want to have a true local voice in the future of Moapa Valley, incorporation is the only sure way. It is not an easy way. There is a lot of work involved. It isn’t the kind of work that we should just leave to a small handful of people and trust that everything will be fine. The process ought to involve a broader grassroots involvement from the community.

A few local residents have been faithfully beating the drum of incorporation for some time now. These people have been working quietly and hard, behind the scenes, to gather information and to try and develop support for the process. Up to now, they have not been very successful in getting traction to move forward. They need support from the community. They need forward motion. They need volunteer manpower and they need strong community leadership.

Much of the information that has been gathered is available at their website atwww.moapavalleyinc.info. This website also offers specific opportunities for people to become involved in the process. The Progress encourages the public to visit this site and join in moving the effort forward.

Now is not the time to sit on the sidelines and talk it over. Now is the time for the process to finally gain traction and start rolling forward. Only then can we find answers to the tough questions that will allow us to start controlling our own destiny.

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