The Sept. 19 approval of the Focus Property Group development agreement is a done deal, but it has surfaced as the major issue in the Nov. 7 Nye County Commission race.

District 5 candidate Pete Liakopoulos said he favored the Focus Group development pact.

He made the statement in response to a question during a recent candidates forum sponsored by the Pahrump Valley Rotary Club at the Saddle West Hotel and Casino.

"I came out for Focus Group before," Liakapoulos, said. "Focus Group has brought in some of the things I'm looking to get done in my term of office."

Liakopuolos said the project will bring in $56 million worth of infrastructure, as specified in the development agreement, and $36 million worth of sales tax revenue, arrived at by computing the cost of a $100,000 home against the sales tax rate.

Liakopoulos said he doesn't expect many senior citizens to take advantage of his plan to defer property taxes until they transfer the title, which would be aimed at people who plan to live in their homes until they die.

"Nobody in Nevada has done it because we have to go through the legislative session," he said.

Liakopoulos' opponent, non-partisan candidate Dan Schinhofen, said the number one issue he heard while going door-to-door was about the Focus Group project.

"I agreed with our legal advice. This was not the time to vote. There's too much there," Schinhofen told the crowd at the VFW post Saturday night about the development agreement. "My Republican opponent is four-square behind them ... All this money they're going to give us, there's very little we can (do to) hold their feet to the fire."

Schinhofen said getting government officials to cooperate would bring in commercial development to Pahrump. Another solution, he said, would be hiring a good planning director; county commissioners say they don't know the name of the person being offered the planning director position.

"We have not been as user friendly as we could've been," Schinhofen said. "Part of our problem in the past was everybody had their own little plans and then worked against each other."

Democratic District 5 candidate Jan Bearss, who said her only previously elected offices were union positions, said she wouldn't be subject to outside influences in making her votes. Bearss said she decided to run in 2004 and drafted her platform, "Citizens First," six months ago.

She talked about balancing the budget by creating a comprehensive, long-term plan. Wind and solar power would be ideal industries to locate in Pahrump, Bearss said, adding that she'd work closely with the Economic Development Authority of Esmeralda and Nye County (EDEN).

"If I were coming out here and I were looking for a job, I would probably look somewhere else," Bearss said.

District 4 Democratic candidate Charlie Anzalone told voters, "The first thing I'd do is hand out a business plan to all commissioners."

The business plan, he said, would include a plan for sewer systems and electrical transmission lines.

Anzalone also suggested that each county commissioner should be elected by voters from throughout Nye County instead of just within each one's district.

"I want to see all commissioners be at-large positions," Anzalone told the VFW post audience Saturday night. "Right now I can win the district and not be accountable to the entire county."

Anzalone said Nye County schools need more law enforcement protection. He added that the schools should be "community schools" open to the public.

"The Amish people, of all people, have to start worrying about protecting themselves," he said, referring to a recent shooting incident at a school in Pennsylvania.

District 4 Republican candidate Andrew "Butch" Borasky said he served on the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission for two years and learned about balancing a budget in running his excavating business.

Borasky referred to an Urban Land Institute conference in Las Vegas recently, which concluded Pahrump planners were unprepared for growth.

"One of the things I'd do if I'm elected is put a citizens review board in to see what's going to happen with growth," Borasky said. "We need to be allowed to determine our own destiny. Developers from Las Vegas should not be able to come out here and tell us what we're going to live in and what it's going to look like."

Borasky said he has proof the water table is dropping a foot per year or more in Pahrump Valley. He said commissioners should require that developers putting in more than 100 homes should guarantee there's going to be water available.

Borasky said Utilities Inc., the major water and sewer provider in Pahrump Valley, should be allowed to expand.

The question of incorporation also came up. Schinhofen said if the county government is working efficiently, Pahrump doesn't need to incorporate.

Borasky replied, "I would be in favor of incorporating Pahrump if it was presented in a fashion everyone would understand."

Anzalone said it would depend on how Pahrump might wish to incorporate. It would mean establishing a mayor and police force, he said.

"Right now the rule is you have to incorporate the valley that's over 250 square miles. That's ridiculous," Anzalone said.

All candidates seemed to agree that the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project is a certainty. Nye County should attempt to ensure the project is managed safely with ample financial benefits to the county, they said.