Is the Focus Group plan a done deal?

In recent weeks, the Focus group submitted an additional 250 changes to their development plan for a total of 1390 changes and that is still not the end. The changes have been so many that our master plan does not even look like our plan any more.

Their plan in its current form has to be rejected. They need to come back with a new plan that is in compliance with our master plan, ordinances and zoning.

However, they are used to having their own way and why should Pahrump be any different? Our capitulation is expected to be a slam-dunk piece of cake.

Four of the five commissioners have already turned their back on this community. Despite the unanimous and massive opposition by the people during the last two meetings, and from the e-mails and faxes that were received, our outrage has been ignored. They are giving away the store.

The commissioners don't seem to have a problem of conscience. Their actions show that they can disregard us, vote any way they want and get away with it.

Being a Nye County commissioner carries a lot of responsibility and the people expect a commissioner to do the right thing. But are they taking that seriously?

Therefore, this is a defining moment for Pahrump and Nye County. Unless you, the people, show up and say, "We are not going to take it any more," you will deserve what you get and permanently have to live with the consequences.

The time when you showed up in high numbers was when brothels were an issue, and that made a difference in the outcome.

An opinion is not worth much unless you can make it count. To make a difference you need to show up in numbers of at least 500 people or more. There is a dereliction of duty that needs to be addressed. The commissioners that were voted in, do you really think that they are representing our wishes? It does not seem to be the case.

There are many questions that beg to be answered, especially from Commissioners Gary Hollis and Candice Trummell.

Has Mr. Hollis ever bothered to read the Focus group proposal? Would it make any sense to him if he did? How frequently has Mr. Hollis been dined at the Winery and Nugget restaurants by the Focus Group? Has it been on an ongoing basis? The campaign contributions that he received, where did they come from?

Now regarding Ms. Trummel, who recently switched her position of chairman on the board, to the regular position, which allows her to bring up motions. A motion here, a motion there, and pretty soon you can do a lot to promote someone's agenda.

She does not own property here and she works in Las Vegas. Does she also live there, since her time in Pahrump is very scarce? So why should she care about us? Is her position here to mainly serve as a stepping stone to bigger and better things in Las Vegas? Is there any kind of relationship or connection between the company she works for and the Focus Group?

Before the Focus Group project, she did not want any lot smaller than 10,000 sq. ft. What was finally adopted was a minimum lot size of 8,000 square feet for single-family homes. Then all of a sudden we see a complete turn around. What is the real reason for such a drastic change of position?

Is it possible that how the commissioners vote is already predetermined? It would all be very interesting to know.

The high density housing of the Focus Group will require higher taxes since growth does not pay for itself. The project will create traffic that our infrastructure is not capable of handling, and with the corresponding emissions, our air quality will suffer. There will be more crime and our lives will be more stressful. The tranquility that we have known will disappear.

If you don't want that to happen, you need to show up at the next public hearing. The Focus group item is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 8:30 a.m. That will be your chance to set things right. Bring as many friends and neighbors as possible.

John Brent

Golfing in Pahrump

A friend from back east (upstate New York) is giving up a few months of work and time to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.

He's playing a round of golf once in each of the 48 mainland states and has chosen Pahrump to represent Nevada.

I want to thank Neil Pierce, general manager and head professional for welcoming Andy (Girard) to Mountain Falls the morning of Sept. 16.

If you see us there, please stop and say hello. Details about Andy's travels and how to contribute to his effort are available at www.summerofandy.com.

John and Sharon Tate

Making a mockery

After reading the letter, "It's no secret," (Sept. 8, PVT) from the Flagman, I started to realize that something just didn't seem right with the vote count for the Flagman.

For several months prior to the election, I saw an enormous amount of people pledge their support to get the Flagman elected sheriff of Nye County. There was actually two phrases I heard over and over again, and they were, "We need you for sheriff, Flagman," and "We're all voting for you, Flagman."

Even though the primary election is over, many people are still confused at the fact that the Flagman only got 588 votes. I also heard that another candidate was so upset with the vote count in the primary that the FBI has been notified and is looking into possible voter fraud.

It makes me upset to think that our military is risking their lives around the world to bring democracy and free elections to countries around the world, and Nye County is making a mockery of everything the Flagman and the rest of us honest American citizens believe in and expect from our free and democratic society.

John A. Bushko

Sick of corruption

I personally witnessed how much support the Flagman really had for the election.

I was shocked and overwhelmed when I began campaigning with him. Ninety-six percent of everyone I talked to or handed a flyer to volunteered that they were voting for him. Honestly, I met two people that were voting for DeMeo. The numbers Flagman referred to in his letter to the editor (Sept. 8, PVT) were fact for sure.

Citizens who voted for the Flagman, please send your comments to the FBI.

Sick of Nye County corruption,

Kelly Strickland

Two too many?

Are three television stations two, too many for the size of Pahrump?

Tuning in locally, I continually see repeats in movies, which are slowly being replaced by regular programming other than movies and political talk shows popping up like baby rabbits.

It's not that I'm not interested or opposed to listening to the pros and cons about Pahrump, but talk is cheap when hearing what we should do, or not do, with the same problems existing today that existed years ago.

I continually see the same individuals on 41 or 30, the same callers expressing opinions that I heard on a prior show or another channel, and the same questions asked while we hear the same answers being given from those interviewed.

Word of mouth is great, people, but for those of us who would like to be here to enjoy these suggested changes, time waits for no one. What may have been a solution to putting someone's rural little hometown of Springdale, USA on the map doesn't necessarily mean it will work for this quiet little town of Pahrump.

The town manager has been interviewed on TV so many times, newcomers in Pahrump thought he was a talk show host.

To continually put on these hot-seat shows with different names, they're all beginning to sound like the same ol', same ol', and these repetitious style shows are burning each other out.

This town needs new blood with new ideas as we enter a different era. The good ol' boys way of thinking is passe.

Thanks to whomever keeps the translators working, serving Pahrump so other stations are received from the east side of Charley.

Local channels should review and revise their programming selections or small dish company stocks may soar.

CHarles A. Hagen

Letter to Lieseke

An open letter to former Nye County Sheriff Wade Lieseke:

When the people of Nye County ran you out of office four years ago, you received less than 37 percent of the vote.

That tells me two things: You can't win this race and the only reason you are running is to harass Tony DeMeo.

Tony doesn't deserve this, and the people of Pahrump don't deserve this. We deserve a political campaign, but you are conducting a smear campaign.

Gary Marchinke

God Bless you

I'd like to thank Harley Kulkin and Pat and Bill Garlough for their endeavor to help the residents as well as trying to stop corruption in Pahrump. It's a shame we don't have more like them in our country, then "We the People" would be running the government instead of the other way around.

Keep up the good job Harley, it must have felt like you got kicked in the head discovering your own party didn't give you equal backing. (They're lucky only a few books got tossed).

Too bad more Pahrumpians don't seem interested in your ideas in preserving our desert lifestyle with continued growth in a step-by-step manner.

Wonder how long it will take some citizens backing "the opponent" to discover her motive is for personal growth only. Wake up people. Check the facts. It's later than you think.

By the way, those of us interested know it was your idea for a "theme park" to help generate money for the town, and not those trying to take the credit. God Bless you.

Ellie Vecchione

Eight-year Pahrump resident

No one likes an eyesore

Just a few comments on the Sept. 8 Pahrump Valley Times articles about the Focus Group.

1) Everyone I've talked to and the people at the commissioners' meeting on Sept. 5 are against the Focus Group slamming eight two-story homes on an acre.

2) No one at the commissioners' meeting was for this future eyesore, except the Focus Group's representatives and the people that will (or have already received) receive monetary gain.

3) I've lived on my property in the south end of the valley for over 20 years. My well water level has dropped 31 feet as of 2002. It probably has dropped even more in the last four years.

Tom Buqo, please address this: Will all these homes have an effect on our water table? We all know the answer, but we want to hear it from you.

4) Will this project help with employment in the valley? (We are in a slowdown in construction). Are local contractors going to build the house pods and roads? Are geotechnical reports going to be by our local companies, or will some engineer rubber stamp the reports, with out even doing a compaction test? This is already happening on some big projects.

What about framing, plumbing, electrical, etc.? How about getting some union contractors in? This would help to ensure the workers are legal workers.

5) And to Commissioner Trummell: Just where are all these people you think want the lot size changed from 8,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet? They are not at the commissioners' meetings or writing letters to the editor, nor are they calling our local talk shows on Channels 30 and 41. Hmmm.

6) I think the Focus Group is going to focus -- all of us.

Pete Wallace

Harley didn't hurt anyone

First, let me say that much has been said about Harley Kulkin in the new media. Nevertheless, he has never been interviewed by any of them.

In my opinion, we need more Harley Kulkins to stand up for the little guy. Harley has dedicated so much time to our community over the years. He seeks nothing for himself but relentlessly pursues his dream to make this a better community for all of us.

Some people might frown on Harley for rearranging the furniture at the Democratic headquarters. The Dems shut the door in Harley's face and asked him to step aside to make room for Laurayne Murray. Laurayne, who got most of her money from Clark County, received a goodly amount from the Nevada water district, according to her own report.

Could Clark County be after our water? Is Laurayne going to work with the assemblymen as she said while campaigning or will she work for them? Think about this, folks.

Keep in mind, Harley rearranged furniture, he did not rearrange anyone's face. As a young child, I learned about another man who tipped over tables and kicked out the money-changers. He is revered today throughout the land. You can read about him in the New Testament. He was not concerned about political correctness, only concerned about mankind.

Erline Heard

David to meet Goliath

Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bob Ruud Community Center, the citizens of Nye County will once again have an opportunity to address the county commissioners regarding the proposed 900-acre, 6,200-lot subdivision near Manse Road proposed by the Focus Group.

Public testimony in the two previous meetings has been overwhelmingly opposed to granting any deviation from our existing density ordinance.

Focus Group is a formidable adversary. They have literally tons of money and a host of high-dollar lawyers at their command. Sort of reminds me of David and Goliath. The encouraging thing is that Goliath fell in defeat because David had the courage to stand and fight with what he had available to him; a simple sling.

All that we have available to us is an ordinance, five commissioners (two of which sadly already seem determined to surrender), a handful of overworked staff and each other. The question now is whether, like David, we will be courageous enough to stand up for our community and the developmental limitations we have established.

This project is the largest and most significant of its kind ever to appear before us, and as this development goes, so goes the future of our county and, more specifically, the community of Pahrump. We simply cannot afford to proceed hastily or heedlessly. After more than 1,300 changes imposed since its initial presentation, it is ever so slowly becoming a more mutually beneficial agreement.

While I respect the challenges faced and the sacrifices made by our elected public officials, and intend in no way to impugn either the integrity or the character of any member of the board, I am perplexed by the apparent willingness on the part of Commissioners Trummell and Hollis to have approved this agreement more than a thousand changes ago.

One can't help but wonder how this is representing either their constituencies or the public good, and I respectfully and publicly request an explanation.

The crux of public opposition centers on the Focus Group's request to be allowed to build three-story homes on 4000-square-foot lots. They are currently requesting an allowance of 20 percent of these small lots. That's a possibility of 1,240 of them. If this is acceptable to you, then you have only to do nothing at all and it will most assuredly come to pass.

If, however, you find this as unacceptable as I do, then please join me in communicating that conviction to our county commissioners.

Nevada Tolladay

Manager deserves credit

Back in the '40s, Herbert Spencer wrote an article for the New York Times. In it, he wrote, "There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance -- that principle is contempt prior to investigation."

It seems it still is very valid now, the person that wrote the article about the First Step Club is a prime example of that very principle. That person is not now nor ever was a member of the club, and on top of that she has only been there maybe twice in her entire life.

Our manager took on the job when the club didn't have enough money to pay its bills. She had garage sales, bake sales, most of the time by herself with no help from anyone.

At the last bake sale, she baked over 10 cakes herself.

She works 80 to 90 hours a week keeping the doors open. Sometimes she is rude, but only to those who are rude to her and sometimes she is short with people because her health isn't the greatest. If, in fact, and this is no joke, it wasn't for her, this club would have closed its doors 10 years ago.

So, instead of criticizing her for being human, I, for one, thank her for her unselfishness and her willingness to step up to the plate and make a difference.

Our manager is leaving the first of the year because of health reasons. We are going to have a hard time finding someone to fill her shoes.

Now is a bad time for this kind of bad press, because we are having a hard time making our bills and may have to close down anyway. Its not because of the manager, but because the rent went up, the electricity went up and gas is so expensive people are staying home more.

Douglas Olson

First Club board member