Alan Bigelow Advertisement

Alan Bigelow, a candidate in the District 4 race for Nye County Commission in 2006, will run for commissioner of District 1, where he now lives, next year.

Bigelow, 45, finished second behind Butch Borasky in the District 4 Republican primary Aug. 15, 2006, with 17.2 percent of the total, or 143 votes.

Lorinda Wichman of Round Mountain, has already announced she will seek the District 1 commission seat. Incumbent Roberta "Midge" Carver has indicated she won't seek reelection.

Bigelow had a slogan of "one county, one family" in 2006. He doesn't think the race will boil down to a north-south contest against his opponent.

"We need to be consistent. We need to be focused on the whole county and what we do. Commissioners working as a team can do that," Bigelow said.

Bigelow is a firefighter-emergency medical technician with the Pahrump Valley Fire and Rescue Service. He is a retired military man, having served in the Nevada National Guard and having spent six years on active duty in the U.S. Army.

Bigelow said he lived in Las Vegas back in 1963, where he saw that city go through many of the growing pains Pahrump is experiencing today. He graduated from Valley High School in Las Vegas. Bigelow has lived in Pahrump for five years.

He said he has put together a four year plan.

"Part of that has to do with alternative energy because I've already been a huge supporter of that. Of course, now people are jumping on the bandwagon," he said.

Bigelow would like to bring in a county health office, funded by taxes on hazardous material coming into the county.

"I want to continue to support the Pahrump incorporation program, and that's moving pretty good at this point. They need some guidance at the county level to make sure they fit all the mandates for the state," Bigelow said. "I honestly think incorporation can be done in the next two, three years."

Each jurisdiction needs to develop its own ideas what it wants, he said. For example, Amargosa Valley wants a planning commission. Tonopah has a redevelopment program.

Bigelow also pushed for implementing the Nye County water district. The Nevada state legislature passed a law last spring creating the district, but county commissioners have yet to appoint a board.

"We don't need to go into situations like in Railroad Valley, where Clark County has already asked for that water from the state engineer's office," Bigelow said.

Bigelow said he puts his military experience to work in trying to get to the point and make decisions. He sits on the Veterans Memorial advisory board and goes on KPVM-TV often on Mondays to tell people about the upcoming public meeting agendas.

Bigelow said he feels he can reach out to north county residents. Sixty percent of the voters in that district live in Pahrump. Bigelow said he toured northern Nye County communities in the last election, visiting the Round Mountain Gold Mine, also talking with local fire chiefs in Manhattan and Round Mountain about their needs.

"It's the right time at the right place, and I wanted to make sure I was doing things for the right reason. I'm very comfortable with that right now," he said.

A four-day break between his work days as an EMT/firefighter will allow him to devote time to the position, Bigelow said. That will include long trips to the north county in the far-flung district.