Nye County Commission Chairman Gary Hollis said he will seek re-election to a third term to his District 3 seat in November.

A Las Vegas native, Hollis has been a resident of Pahrump since 1969. He moved to Pahrump to live with his family after finishing a stint in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Hollis attended Robert O. Gibson Middle School in Las Vegas and received his high school General Equivalency Diploma (GED) in the U.S. Army.

Hollis worked in drilling exploration for a career, receiving most of his experience underground. He worked at the Nevada Test Site off and on from 1980 to 1998.

Hollis served on the Pahrump town board from 1996 to 2000. He defeated Paula Elefante 1,442 votes to 1,338, a margin of 51.8 percent to 48.1 percent, to win the district three race in November 2004.

District 3 includes roughly an area on the west side of Pahrump south of Bell Vista Avenue, north of Jaybird Street and Calvada Boulevard, west of a jagged line running from Linda Street to David Street to Blagg Road.

"There's a few things that I haven't been able to get accomplished that I would like to see accomplished. Number one, I would like to see the Calvada Eye developed to what I proposed to the commissioners," Hollis said.

Originally Hollis proposed the district attorney's office relocate to the Calvada Eye building. Nye County Commissioners now are planning to convert the old Calvada library into a meeting room. County administrative offices, human resources, and health and human services would also be housed there.

Hollis said architectural reviews on remodeling the Calvada Eye building should be done soon, then the renovation would be let out to bid. The reopening of that building would, among other things, relieve a lot of demand on the Bob Ruud Community Center, he said.

"Second of all there's the flood issue that I started when I came on board, the Wheeler Wash flood area and to the north of Pahrump that I've been working on. I'd like to get that finished before I decide to leave office," Hollis said.

The commission chairman would also like to see a new senior center built as part of the Beverly Park project on Basin Avenue and Barney Street.

"Your first term as a commissioner is a learning experience. There's a lot of things that we got accomplished this year. We worked on some new zoning and planning matters that makes the system work, which is hard zoning," Hollis said.

The adoption of the Pahrump comprehensive zoning plan June 20 means every property owner doesn't have to come before the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission and Nye County Commission to rezone their land from the old open use zone, Hollis said.

"The last three years I've been the liaison commissioner for nuclear waste. We've got a lot of work done in the last three years. We've drilled several wells and we've done a lot of studies that have supported Nye County's position on Yucca Mountain. Another thing I hope to accomplish this next year is a new PETT fund agreement with the Department of Energy for the next five years," Hollils said.

Nye County is requesting a sizeable increase in Payment Equal to Taxes (PET) by the DOE for the land value of Yucca Mountain. That agreement will cover the next five years beginning in fall 2008. The county currently receives $11.25 million per year from the DOE in PETT funds. Hollis is an unabashed supporter of the Yucca Mountain repository program.

Hollis said Nye County this year just received a $500,000 appropriation from Congress to study renewable energy projects.

Three residents filed a motion of intent to recall Hollis over his vote approving a development agreement with the Focus Property Group to develop up to 5,800 homes in southeastern Pahrump valley in September 2006, but the recall attempt fizzled.

Hollis said he wants skilled people to return to Pahrump with their talents to give back to their community that provided them with an education. But he lamented that many people move elsewhere because of the low-paying jobs. He also spoke about a need for affordable housing in Pahrump.