CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT Jim Petell videotapes himself as he holds forth about the blackout "disaster." Advertisement

Jim Petell went before the Pahrump Town Board last Tuesday with his concerns about the way the blackouts of Dec. 13 and 16 were handled by local law enforcement and emergency services personnel.

Board member Dan Sprouse was critical of Petell's response to the blackout.

Petell approached the podium with a large box of documents and tapes, which he promptly dropped upon reaching the microphone.

After gathering the scattered papers, Petell began a long narrative of his personal experience during the power outage.

He explained that upon waking up when the power went out, he went outside and witnessed a very dark Pahrump.

"I thought it was 1993, when I first came here," Petell said. "I was elated. But to my demise, I noticed that I didn't have any lights. No power, no water, no nothing."

Petell then explained how he immediately donned his Neighborhood Watch captain's hat, got in his car, and made a series of phone calls to county officials.

They included Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, County Commissioners Gary Hollis, Joni Eastly, and Peter Liakopoulos and Town Manager Dave Richards.

Petell said that Richards was among those who returned his calls.

"Five minutes later he called back and said, in kind of funny manner, 'It doesn't take a brain scientist, Jim, to notice that the power's out in Pahrump.'"

Petell let Richards know he was on the road, scouting the town for people who needed help and checking for signs of broken glass in front of businesses, ostensibly to determine if any break-ins were occurring as a result of the power outage.

Petell, who is not involved in any capacity with the investigation into the shooting of the power line that caused the blackout, nevertheless made allegations about it.

"This blackout was a disaster by an act of terrorism: deliberate, decisive and premeditated, and so shall be judged, if ever found out, whoever did it, who they are," Petell said ominously.

Petell also offered the board a tape of sheriff's patrol cars he witnessed responding to various calls prior to 6 a.m. Saturday morning, commending those he saw who were doing their duty.

Then Petell commented on the Tuesday morning meeting that was held with emergency services personnel. "This was a secret meeting. The public wasn't invited, a person like me wasn't invited ... and I wonder why, because other people out here, Neighborhood Watch, auxiliary cops, could have done the same thing I done," Petell said.

The "secret" meeting, which was not open to the general public for security reasons, included members of the press, who covered it.

Dan Sprouse asked Petell to clarify as to what position he had taken in all this actions.

Petell responded by saying, "I'm a citizen, and I have a couple of hats."

Presumably Petell was referring to his posts as the Public Lands Advisory Board chairman and ambassador to Valley Electric Association.

Sprouse asked why Petell had e-mailed VEA on the morning of the blackout and again asked why Petell personally felt the need to take action.

"It's my duty as a citizen, taxpayer and voter," Petell said.

Sprouse pointed out that Petell was not the only citizen who wanted information about the blackout.

"I'm just confused, because my understanding is that Valley Electric was very busy," Sprouse said. "So, you are a citizen, and I have 5,000 other citizens that all want to send e-mails to Valley Electric, but are we really getting anything done there? That's my concern."

Petell responded by saying that he was trying to disseminate information about where shelter was available.

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe that would be a function of the fire chief," Sprouse said. "So my concern here, Mr. Petell, is that we have a fire chief, we have a person whose duty it is when there's a crisis, if you'd like to call it that, or emergency, where information would follow to that particular person. And with you not being a member of any emergency board, I don't understand why you're intervening, getting in touch with the sheriff on his cell phone, intervening by e-mailing Valley Electric."

"Be it as it may, that's what it was," said Petell. "And it will continue until the end result reaches its full capacity ... I'm not here to grandstand. I'm here to give facts and figures and what have you so it betters the understanding."

Sprouse said he couldn't understand why Petell was discussing this as an agenda item and describing the events as a "disaster" when all reports indicated that emergency personnel responded very well to the power outage.

Petell replied by reiterating his accusations of terrorism.

He then asked Sprouse if he would wait for emergency personnel to respond if someone were drowning in a flood.

"So while there's a difference between sending an e-mail to Valley Electric and pulling someone out from drowning...," Sprouse began, but Petell cut him off by claiming that his e-mails were appreciated.

Chairman Laurayne Murray said that while she appreciated Petell's efforts in getting out in the community, she also felt that the response given by emergency services personnel was well done.

In response to Petell's complaints that there was no emergency bulletin broadcast by local television stations, Murray pointed out that if there was no power with which to watch television, an emergency broadcast would be futile.

In response to the NCSO's actions during the blackout, DeMeo said that by the time Petell called him that morning, he was already up and coordinating an NCSO response.

Also, he said that Petell, as far as the NCSO knows, was not a member of Neighborhood Watch.