A request by Nye County Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos for a $25,000 independent audit of the contracts of hydrologist Tom Buqo and environmental affairs specialist Mary Ellen Giampaoli attracted only the support of Commissioner Gary Hollis Tuesday.

It was defeated by a 3-2 vote.

Duriing the debate, Buqo fired at Liakopoulos, reminding him who is actually under indictment.

"We have beat this horse almost to death," Commissioner Roberta "Midge" Carver said. "You absolutely wanted -- and probably still do -- to remove (County Manager) Ron Williams from his job because of the amount of money that he takes, and we have a budget crisis. You are now asking for another $25,000 to audit these contracts."

A request to terminate Williams was pulled from the agenda, as Liakopoulos noted the county commission already offered the job to a candidate, Richard Osborne Sr. of Tallmadge, Ohio.

Liakopoulos said the $25,000 cost of the audit would amount to only 1 percent of the amount of their contracts. He was puzzled by the commissioner's resistance to his suggestion.

"I also believe we owe the taxpayers some accountability in the amount of money we're spending," Liakopoulos said.

County auditor Dan McArthur said past financial audits of their contracts came up clean, but this type of audit would be more detailed.

Commissioner Joni Eastley objected to a statment by Commissioner Butch Borasky an audit would clear their names.

"Why should you have to clear their good name when no specific complaints or items of concern have ever been brought forward?" Eastley asked.

She said consulting work on the Tonopah Airport to which Liakopoulos referred, was performed by PBS&J Engineering and Eileen Christensen from BEC Environmental as part of her economic development work.

Liakopoulos said it's a question of the consultants garnering 21 contracts for $2.2 million since 2005.

Eastley said drilling contractors working for the Nye County Nuclear Waste Projects Office make millions of dollars from the county. Engineering firm PBS&J has also made a lot of money, she said.

Williams said he didn't know where he could find the funding to pay for the audit, a statement hotly disputed by Hollis, who suggested McArthur add a performance audit of Buqo and Giampaoli's contracts to his usual, annual county audit.

Jan Cameron, Amargosa Valley Town Board chairwoman, complained the annual audit reports are already way too late.

"Every one of my invoices is done to the rigid, county standards," Buqo said. "County staff individually reviews every single invoice, every line item, every subcontractor."

Buqo said he's had six Nye County contracts over the past two years, four have been closed, costing $462,000. Two ongoing contracts total $682,000, of which $55,000 has been spent to date, he said.

"What really disturbs me is when someone wants to talk about accountability and through innuendo slam me. Mr. Liakopoulos, I am not the one under indictment for felony charges, you are," Buqo said. "You want to sit there and grandstand and it gets in the newspaper. It reflects not only on you and me, it reflects on Nye County.

"I've got professional responsibilities. I have commitments to Nye County staff. I'm going to be retiring soon and I intend, if it's the preference of the board, to meet those commitments, get those reports done. I will fully participate in any audits," Buqo said.

But he said he would bill the county for his participation in such an audit.

Giampaoli said her contracts since 2005 total just over $1 million. Some involve contracts that closed with $100,000 of unexpended funds, she said.

Giampaolil said $495,825 was spent on at least two dozen subcontractors.

Commissioners later approved an extension of Giampaoli's contract to June 30, 2009, to work on the Amargosa Valley Science and Technology Park project and for past work on the desert tortoise habitat conservation plan. They increased her contract for the work another $61,000 to $216,050.

Liakopoulos voted against the extension, Hollis wasn't present.

Commissioners also voted 3-0 with Hollis and Liakopoulos outside the room, to amend Giampaoli's scope of work as environmental compliance specialist for public works infrastructure management.