MARK WAITE / PVT Nye County Manager Rick Osborne. Advertisement

Rick Osborne, who began work as Nye County manager Aug. 11, saw some similarities between his new job and his 37 years of employment for the city of Tallmadge, Ohio.

There's the usual group of residents voicing complaints before the board, concerns over spending too much on consultants, law enforcement needs and a desire to improve economic development.

But some things are different out in the "heart of the new Old West" that caused some variation to the open door policy he advocated in his interview with county commissioners.

"The difference out here -- and I'm glad they warned me -- is that sometimes people coming in griping about things come in armed, and I can't say that ever happened back in Ohio. Someone had told me not to be alarmed by that if I saw it," Osborne said.

The transplanted Ohioan said diplomatically, "They feel like this is a frontier and maybe rightfully so. They're very protective of their rights, that's my sense."

Asked what else was different, Osborne said, "I've never worked in a community that had brothels before. That's a first."

Then there's the size factor. When Osborne commented during his interview Nye County was larger than Rhode Island, he was told the county was larger than seven states. Curious, he looked it up on the Internet. Turns out Nye County is larger than Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware and New Jersey, he said.

Osborne said he and his wife love the desert Southwest.

"I talk to my wife frequently on the cell phone back in Ohio. On the weekends I have a little more time to spend in my surroundings and I said everywhere you look is a picture, with the multi-colored mountains in the distance. It's just gorgeous," he said.

Osborne was one of four finalists called in for interviews. Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos said he made the motion to hire Osborne because he had experience running private businesses as well as serving in government. That includes running a bakery, a real estate business, a beer and wine store, even owning a race horse.

Osborne said he attended a weekly breakfast meeting at the Pahrump Nugget Hotel and Casino to talk about economic development.

"We talk about trying to attract new business and that's certainly important and I want to do everything I can to attract new business here also. One of the other things I said we should do is try to go visit our existing businesses and ask them, 'What can we do to help you grow your business here?' and 'Are we doing things that's making your business more difficult?'"

When asked what program or project he thinks would help Pahrump, Osborne said Yucca Mountain, but quickly qualified his remarks to say he spoke on behalf of himself, not Nye County.

"I think that one has tremendous economic potential for Nye County, and I want to see us move along productively with that one. Now I understand there are issues. I understand the state is taking a negative approach towards it," Osborne said. "While we're waiting and seeing, I believe that there is a great opportunity economically for us if (Yucca) can happen."

Osborne will have to become more familiar dealing with federal agencies in the West. He has yet to see a desert tortoise but visited Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, where he said the endangered pup fish reminded him of sardines.

Osborne spent his first 26 years with the Tallmadge Police Department, rising from patrol officer to sergeant, to criminal investigations, then eventually operations commander. He described his relationship with Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo as superb after sitting in on a couple meetings with him.

"It's interesting for me to interact with the sheriff's office because many of the issues that they deal with, I've been there and done that, and I understand where they're coming from. It's probably helped mold a little bit of my personality and my beliefs, having worked in law enforcement for 25 years. You know I don't see too many shades of gray because of that -- things are primarily in black and white," Osborne said.

Outgoing County Manager Ron Williams, with 27 years of experience working for Nye County, will spend four months training Osborne, until his last day Dec. 11. Osborne, grateful for the training, held up a computer plug and joked he'd like to be able to download all the information in Williams' head.

Osborne said it's too early to tell if Nye County has the right amount of staff. He intends to spend a day with different county employees to understand the work they do.

He said the complaints about hiring too many consultants is not unique to Nye County.

"I haven't visited with every employee yet, but I'm sure that they stay busy and a lot of times they don't have the expertise that is required to do a certain evaluation, and you're almost forced into going out" (for consultants), he said.

A lot of major changes in Nye County have already taken place under Williams. Osborne conceded the enactment of zoning in June 2007 caused some frustration on the part of residents unaccustomed to the more "sophisticated guidelines."

Williams said he typically spent four days in Pahrump and one day in Tonopah during his tenure as county manager. Osborne said he'd like to spend probably Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Tonopah "for the foreseeable future."

Osborne intends to take a tour of the vast northern part of Nye County with Carver, much as Commissioner Butch Borasky did when he took office.

"I want to keep an open mind and an open ear," he said.