FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK: Getting Back To Solving Local Problems Locally

By VERNON ROBISON

Back in the “olden days” of the Moapa and Virgin Valley communities folks were pretty self reliant. If there was a problem that affected members of the community, people didn’t wait around expecting help from the outside to deal with it. And they didn’t waste any time asking anyone for permission to solve problems. If there was a flood control issue somewhere, or a road that needed grading or a river crossing that was washed out, someone would just fire up his farm equipment and go to work solving the problem.

In many respects things haven’t changed much in our communities. When people need help, most local residents don’t wait around for someone else to give the assistance. Instead, they jump to help one another in times of need. Neighbors look out for one another. Needs are met quickly and efficiently. That is one of the great joys of living in a small town.

But nowadays, people do get hung up on finding easy, local solutions when they perceive that “the government” ought to be taking care of them. Modern day Americans, even us in small towns, can be quick to spot problems on our streets or sidewalks, in ourr parks, public lands or other common areas.

We see these things and immediately think that “someone” really ought to do something about them. Even if the solution is a simple matter, many people walk away rationalizing that “someone” must be getting paid to do that. Meanwhile, the problem remains unsolved.

With all that in mind, I’d like to say ‘Hats Off!’ to Moapa Town Advisory Board member Cally Wade and her family who got up early on Saturday to break that frustrating cycle and to actually DO something!

Wade had heard views expressed by members of the community that the walking/biking path along Henrie Road is not being adequately serviced by Clark County Public Works crews. It is true. The asphalt trail tends to accumulate rocks from passing ATVs and also from automobiles that must pass over it at various points to access driveways. There are also a few spots that accumulate layers of mud from rain runoff. And county roads crews scarcely ever come to Moapa to sweep it off. Complaints had been filed with the County Public Works Dept. But weeks and months go by and nothing has been done about it.

Wade said she listened intently over recent months as people became increasingly impatient about it at MTAB meetings and over social media rants. She herself had inquired about it with the County and gotten nowhere. Then last week, she finally decided to just do something about it.

“After all, it is less than a mile and a half of trail,” she said. “This is something that we can do something about ourselves.”

She scheduled a community work party for Saturday morning at 7 am. She posted it last week on social media inviting anyone who cared about the condition of the trail to come, bring brooms, and help.

The response on Saturday morning was disappointing. Only a half dozen people showed up – all of them brought by Cally herself. But the small group went ahead with the project anyway, hitting the trail with brooms and shovels. In just short of two hours, the rocky trail was swept clean and in immaculate condition!

Of course, no one had an illusions that this was a permanent fix. Rocks will start to accumulate on the trail immediately and it will soon be right back to the way it was. And once again, the community will be impatiently waiting on Public Works to sweep it off again. After all, six people taking two hours of their time sweeping the trail – well, that just can’t happen every day, or even every week. It probably can’t even be expected every month. So what was the point?

But come on now! Is this task really such a hopeless cause? Is it really so overwhelming an undertaking that a local solution can’t be found for the good of all? For example, if the number of volunteers on Saturday had been doubled to 12, it would have taken less than an hour to do the project. If 24 helpers had shown up, the time would be reduced to less than half an hour. A team of fifty would have gotten it done in only about 10 minutes.

Now let’s get crazy! If everyone living along the trail spent two minutes a day just sweeping off the area of their own driveway, and if folks stopped riding their ATVs along the trail, there would be almost nothing left for anyone to do – be they county crews or local volunteers.

Looking at it that way, doesn’t all the frustration seem a bit silly? Isn’t it a little crazy for people to expect a whole crew of County Public Works guys to drag equipment all the way out there just to sweep a few rocks off of a little trail that is only used by a small neighborhood of folks in Moapa? Under a certain political lens, one might look at such a scenario and call it excessive government spending.

Now, to be clear, I certainly don’t mean to pick on the good people of Henrie Road. It is not just them. We are all a little guilty here. There are countless situations where we, as modern Americans, hold ourselves back from just quickly taking care of a civic issue because we think there is “someone” out there who is being paid, by our tax dollars, to do it for us. And this may even be true.

But the fact remains that these public spaces are our streets, our parks, our sidewalks, our buildings, our schools and on and on. If we have the ability to solve the simplest of problems, why do we need to wait for “someone else” to take care of it for us?

Kudos to Ms. Wade; her four children Celia, Ethan, Sybren and Karianne; and their neighbor Barbara Parker! This little crew took my mind back to the days of my grandfather, when solutions were simple and local. Their service reminded me that the ultimate responsibility for the upkeep of public spaces is actually on the public that uses them and loves them. Finally, they demonstrated that it is never more efficient, nor more satisfactory, to rely upon “the government” to solve our problems when there is a simple solution within our power.

These six good people truly deserve one of Doc Moses’ Gold Stars for the week!