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March 29, 2024 5:34 am
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: Nothing Short of Hiring An Attorney Will Do

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa residents Jay and Valerie Holt had no idea what they were walking into last week when they entered the Clark County Government Center in Las Vegas. They had gone to present their zoning requests to the commissioners regarding the well-beloved Roos-N-More zoo in Moapa. Given all that they had done to lead up to this date, they no doubt believed that approval on their requests would be a slam dunk; no problem at all.

After all, over the past year they had diligently placed all their ducks in a row. After the facility was closed down for code violations last year (none of which involved the care of the animals), the Holts had gone to work bringing the zoo into compliance. And it has been expensive. The Holts report that it has taken over $300,000 thus far in the past 18 months to address the issues. Much of that money was raised from generous donations of community members all across Clark County; hundreds of people who love the zoo and want to see it stay open.

The community of Moapa has also been a consistent and enthusiastic champion of the facility. All of the neighbors, who actually live around the zoo, have offered their full support. The business community in Moapa has fully embraced the zoo. And each time the Holts have brought a zoning request before the Moapa Town Advisory Board it has received strong recommendations for approval. Finally, Commissioner Tom Collins, who represents the area, has shown himself to be an unfailing advocate for the zoo.

Yet all of this was not enough. Rather than recognizing the tremendous groundswell of overwhelming public support that has kept the Holt’s dream alive, the commission dwelt solely on the 1,001 what-ifs, wherefores and why-nots that have become so prevalent in dealing with Clark County. This tangled web of conflicting codes has been the undoing of small business ventures everywhere, but especially in the rurals. The commissioners pummeled the Holts with legalities and liabilities; finally denying them on all requests and effectively issuing an order to shut down the zoo permanently on a 6-1 vote. The only vote on the commission in favor of the zoo was Collins.

Mr. Collins was right when, at the end of this mess, he told commissioners that their unfortunate vote had arisen purely out of ignorance. None of the other six commissioners knew the lay of the land in Moapa. None of them understood the unique rural nature of that neighborhood; nor had they visited it. None of them understood the positive, feel-good story that the zoo has brought to an economically struggling rural town. Instead the commissioners did what we’ve seen so often: forcing their urban sensibilities and experiences onto an unfamiliar rural setting. And there seemed to be nothing that could change their minds.

It wasn’t until the Holts went out after the meeting and hired an attorney to represent them that their prospects suddenly began to brighten. Yes, there was a deluge of emails and social media messaging from the general public that had flooded the inboxes of the commissioners during the following day. That may have softened the ground a little. But let’s face it, the real kicker that brought the zoo back up for reconsideration last week ended up being the threat of a lawsuit by the Holts.

Now, it’s great to have an attorney to represent you in court. But we are not talking about the justice system here. We are talking about our local government; the county commission!
This should be the body that is closest to the people. The commission should be intimately familiar with the unique circumstances and the particular issues of local residents. Local government representatives should be our neighbors and our friends. They should be a welcoming, helping hand that is easily accessible to us; and not sitting high up on a pedestal glowering down at us. Most importantly, our elected representatives should represent us first and foremost; and not the county lawyers and bureaucracy. They should not bind themselves down under some rigid legal code. Rather they should seek common sense solutions in behalf of the common people. They should be our problem-solvers, not our problem-raisers.

It is a sad state of affairs when decent rural people can’t even go before their own local government to representing themselves without getting bogged down in an unfamiliar and unfriendly bureaucracy. In the realm of local government, people like the Holts should be able to approach their local government in person; with heads held high; knowing that they are bringing something of value to their community. They should be treated with respect as fellow citizens, neighbors and friends. Instead rural business owners, if they dare to represent themselves before the commission, are too often treated as the Holts were last week: with suspicion, as if they are trying to get something for nothing or trying to do something illegal and under the table.

What an upside down world it is when we have to actually hire an attorney to represent us before the people who should already be our elected representatives! It sounds ridiculous just thinking about it. Unfortunately, that seems to be the world that we live in as rural residents of the mammoth, urban-centric Clark County.

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