A small piece of legislation made its way quietly through the Nevada State Legislature back in 2015. It never received much attention and is still relatively unknown. But it was brought by residents of two small, unincorporated towns located in opposite corners of Clark County: Laughlin and Moapa Valley. Both of these communities had the same complaint. They felt disenfranchised in the selection of their Town Advisory Board (TAB) representatives.
The resulting law established elections for TAB positions. Rather than having to seek appointment from County Commissioners, those wishing to serve could file to be included on the November ballot.
Elections would be held and the top five candidates would be seated on the TAB. For the first time, TAB selection would be a community choice; entirely independent of the county commission. This new law was viewed by some as a baby step toward greater autonomy for the local boards.
Unfortunately, those hopes haven’t unfolded quite as expected. Since the bill was passed, there have been NO local TAB positions appear on the ballot. That’s because precious few have ever bothered to file for the spots. According to the law, when there are not enough candidates to hold and election, the decision just reverts back to the Commissioners. They get to decide. That’s what happened in the 2016 election. And this year no one, that’s right NO ONE, filed from either Moapa or Moapa Valley.
All of the TAB seats will have to be appointed by the Commissioners. Frankly, that’s just a bit embarrassing!
This topic was raised last week at the Moapa Valley TAB meeting. It was pointed out that the lack of candidates was not because no one wanted to serve. Rather it was because folks weren’t informed of the filing deadlines in time. If that’s all it was, it is certainly a forgiveable offense. After all, for a volunteer position; for which there will be very little campaigning and no campaign dollars spent; staying on top of the dates and the paperwork is problematic. Admittedly, more must be done to publicize that information. And the Progress pledges now to do that much better in future election cycles.
But one thing should be made clear. A lack of TAB candidates on the ballot is NOT due to a shortage of leadership nor to a void in community engagement. In fact, the local communities have a deep bench of leadership talent from which to draw, and a high level of community pride and engagement.
Nevertheless, a lot of our “starters” have preferred to just sit out the game when it comes to the TABs. Thus, there may be a deeper factor at play than just a lack of information.
The fact is that TAB members, elected or appointed, have never been allowed to have real skin in the game. They’ve never had any real authority to make decisions. Instead they can only give “advice” to the commissioners; advice that can be, and often is, utterly ignored. The most recent example of this may be the ongoing power struggle over the Moapa Valley Fire District board trying to gain a little autonomy for itself. That board is, of course, yet another volunteer advisory body.
The single greatest impediment to development and growth of small outlying townships in Clark County is the sheer weight of the overbearing county government to which they are subjected. Rural communities are being suffocated under that weight of urban-based problems, urban-based codes and urban-based mindsets; most of which just don’t apply outside of the urban Las Vegas valley.
What is needed for rural areas to thrive again is simple. Some control should be rendered to local leaders to make decisions and solve unique community problems. Allow our TABs a budget and the final say on spending it. Give them ability to develop and rule upon common-sense rural-based development standards. Release our TABs from urban red tape and let them cut to the chaise to find unique local solutions that don’t require braving an impossible labyrinth of urban code and bureaucracy. In short, just give the rurals some autonomy.
Do that, and a huge change in local leadership will occur. When a real game is afoot, our heavy-hitters will arise, fully dressed to play. There are plenty of capable people to lead, if they are allowed to actually lead something. As it is, though; with TABs being relegated to the role of mere ‘yes-men’ to their county commissioners, most of our brightest local leaders will continue to have better things to do and will stay comfortably on the bench. Can anyone blame them?
