By Dr. Larry Moses
No one asked me but…Alexander Pope wrote, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.”
I had promised myself I would not get involved in the fight over the selection process of the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board. I really believe it is a counter-productive issue. However, being the fool that I am, I will once again try to deal with this issue.
Interestingly enough, the event that triggered this foolishness was a conversation I had with my neighbors around a fire pit cooking s’mores. Well, there is no fool, like an old fool, so here goes.
If you really want to understand the process for selecting Town Advisory Board members, let me direct you to NRS. 2691, which states:
Appointment by the board of county commissioners or the election by the registered voters of the unincorporated town of three or five qualified electors who are residents of the unincorporated town to serve as the town advisory board. If the ordinance provides for appointment by the board of county commissioners, in making such appointments, the board of county commissioners shall consider:(1) The results of any poll conducted by the town advisory board; and (2) Any application submitted to the board of county commissioners by persons who desire to be appointed to the town advisory board in response to an announcement made by the town advisory board.
The ordinance pertaining to the filling of seats on the local town board, as adopted by the Clark County Commission, does not provide for an election. It is as follows:
Town Advisory Boards (TABs) are formed per Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) Section 269.576. Members are appointed (underline is mine) by the County Commissioners… The final decision for appointments to TABs… lies with the Board of County Commissioners. The results of any poll or recommendation are advisory and will be considered (underline is mine) by the Board of County Commissioners, although they are not binding.(underline is mine) Persons submitting letters of interest and applications that may not be a part of a poll or recommendation may also be considered for appointment. The Board of County Commissioners may appoint (my underline again) either three or five residents to serve as members of the TAB…
Under the ordinance as written, there is no obligation to hold a poll and if one is held, the commission is not bound to the results.
I might remind those who are upset at the appointees who did not win the non-binding straw poll, your fight is not just with Commissioner Collins, who seems to be the favorite whipping boy for the residents of this valley. Tom Collins represents only a portion of the Valley. Many of those who are upset at Mr. Collins are not even in his district. Where is the anger at Commissioner Steve Sisolak who is the commissioner representing Overton? Why not the entire Commission who have the final say as to who represents us on the Town Board? I did not see Mr. Sisolak at the Town Board Meeting where it was decided a straw vote would not be held this coming election. Where was Rory Reid? Oh yeah. He is busy running for governor.
Like or dislike Commissioner Collins, he stood before the Town Board defended his past selections and indicated he would consider, but would not be bound by, any straw poll held in the future.
You may not agree with this selection process but it was done in compliance with a County Ordinance based on Nevada Revised Statues. It may not be wise to involve Commissioner Sisolak who wiped out the entire Town Board of Laughlin after it had been selected by a straw vote.
Let me run the risk of raising the ire of my more conservative friends and suggest it is time that we stop fighting with our Commissioner. He is ours, like it or not, for at least two more years and probably a lot longer.
The valley is in the grips of a major recession and we need to stop fixing the blame and start fixing the problem. We have just driven another successful business from the community as the Flex-it Gym has moved to our neighbor to the north: Mesquite. I do not know if you have noticed but Main Street Overton is losing businesses at an alarming rate. I counted five businesses that have either closed or moved locations in the last two months. We need to unite and see what we can do to regain a vibrant town.
Could Commissioner Collins have been less abrasive as he was instrumental in bringing in close to ten million dollars into our community, you bet he could. However, the community could be a little less abrasive in their attacks on the Commissioner as well.
It is time for everyone to take a deep breath and let by-gones be by-gones. Let’s set our egos aside and do what is best for the valley. Our Town Board made a step in that direction by taking the straw poll issue out of the mix. A straw poll, the people look up on as an election but that the County Commission looks at as merely another suggestion to consider when selecting Town Board membership, serves only as an irritant in an already volatile situation.
Our community is in the process of an evaluation of the implications of incorporating and taking over self-rule for the community. As we await those results, someone may want to look into the advantage of developing a Town Board rather than a Town Advisory Board. While that is not full incorporation, it would be a step closer to home rule. A Town Board is made up of elected officials and has some of the advantages of incorporation. I am not sure what all the implications are, but those who are smarter and more politically perceptive than I could surely investigate the value of such a governing body.
Now I will go to my den, hunker down, put on my hard hat and wait for the assault that will surely follow. Remember be kind to an old fool as he rambles on.
Thought for the week… A fellow who is always declaring he’s no fool usually has his suspicions.
– Wilson Mizner
