By VERNON ROBISON
Moapa Valley Progress
Congressman-elect Cresent Hardy made a visit to Moapa Valley last week to meet with community leaders and discuss needs in the community before taking office next month. About 45 people were in attendance.
The meeting was one in a series of meetings that Hardy and his staff had arranged in various communities throughout the large and diverse Congressional District 4. Hardy ran against Rep. Steven Horsford (D) in the November election and won the race for the CD4 seat.
In the meeting, Hardy stressed the importance of constituents working together with their representatives to bring about a positive outcome. He pledged that his office would have an open door to members of the public in his district.
“I’ve told my staff that I want to have the best constituent services of any Congressional office out there,” Hardy said.
Hardy added that he wanted his approach to be solution-oriented. He added that he believes the best solutions come from the people who see and experience the problems first-hand.
“My father used to tell me, ‘Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have an answser on how to fix it, because you sure ain’t gonna like the one I give you!’” Hardy said. “That is the way it is with government: state local or federal. If you leave it up to the government’s own devices, you aren’t going to like it at the end of the day. So if you have a challenge come to me with an answer, the best you can. Give me an idea of the best way to go. Then we can make sure we get to a solution that you like.”
Community members brought up several local issues of concern to Hardy during the meeting.
Moapa Town Board member Tim Watkins expressed concerns about federal spending. “I know this isn’t just a local issue, but the spending has got to get under control,” he said.
Hardy said that he would work, one step at a time, toward shaving spending from the federal budget. He pointed to welfare entitlement programs as needing reform. He also said that it was inevitable that the social security system needs change, including raising the retirement age.
Logandale resident Wendy Mulcock talked about the incursion of federal government into education. Mulcock has been vocal in her opposition of the Clark County School District proposed sex education curriculum updates in recent weeks.
“It feels like top-down government coming into the local schools and telling us what is best for our kids,” she said. “And they are not listening to parents as they should. Instead they are listening to special interests in the community above the parents.”
Hardy said that for most of history, education was taken care of at the local level. He said that it should be brought back to those local roots.
“From my perspective, it has to come back to the community level,” Hardy said. “It should be that we give you the dollars and let you, the local areas, decide how the money is best spent for your kids.”
Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board member Judy Metz talked about the huge impact that federal land policy has had on local business. Beginning with the closure of Overton Beach, then the reduction of services at Echo Bay; small businesses in Overton have suffered severely, Metz said.
“Lately we have been working on becoming an OHV friendly community and drawing visitors in that way,” Metz said. “Now the BLM wants to restrict almost all the land all around us. As a small business, it’s hard not to feel like we are being shut down on everything.”
Hardy emphasized that he was a states-rights advocate on public lands issues.
“This is our land here in Nevada, he said. “We know better than anyone what the concerns are and where the focus needs to be. It would be better managed in the states’ hands.”
Hardy said he is serving on an 11 state coalition working to take back control over public lands in the west.
Overton Power District (OPD) General Manager Mendis Cooper commented that federal overreach was being felt in the realm of power utilities as well.
“We’ve seen this administration trying to solve technical problems with political solutions that just don’t work,” Cooper said. “There is no trust in the people who are involved in these industries and who specialize in these things. We need the ability to operate in our areas of expertise and have the federal government let us do it. But I see constantly the current administration inserting itself into the energy process; and why they think that they have the ability and the knowledge to run the power system, I have no idea.”
Hardy encouraged Cooper and others in attendance to let him know when those situations arise and to be bold about being involved and getting him involved in the right solutions.
