Lorinda Wichman Rob Mobley Jeffrey Bobeck John Van Loon Advertisement

Four candidates filed to run for the Nye County Commission District 1 seat being vacated by Roberta "Midge" Carver.

All four candidates are Republicans. The top two vote-getters in the Aug. 12 primary will proceed to the general election Nov. 4.

Lorinda Wichman

Lorinda Wichman said she will step down as government affairs representative for Round Mountain Gold Corporation if she is elected. She announced her candidacy early, in the spring of 2007.

Wichman, a native of northern Idaho, operated Associated Business Services in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, from 1987 until moving to Nevada in 1999. Her company provided one-stop services to local businesses including accounting, tax preparation, human resources, insurance and securities.

After moving to Central Nevada, Wichman went to work for Haas and Associates, a paralegal firm specializing in water rights, operated by unsuccessful Republican state assembly candidate Del Haas. Wichman was an administrative assistant to former Nye County managers Dave Chavez and Mike Maher from 2001-2003. She has worked for Round Mountain Gold since 2005.

Wichman is also a director on the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority where she serves with Carver and fellow northern Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley.

"This might sound a little corny, but I'm hitting 50 this year and I still have more to give and I can be of service. There's nothing that makes me feel more complete than being of service. I have a talent for plugging the cracks and following through," Wichman said.

District I includes a huge geographical area, from Round Mountain all the way down to the eastern parts of Pahrump. Wichman seemed very cognizant of the fact growing Pahrump now includes 2,653 registered voters in her district.

"The main thing that I would like to concentrate on is being a Nye County commissioner and improving communication between all of the outlying areas and Pahrump," she said. "I think I can bring something to the table for the people in Pahrump because my experience has been with developing businesses."

Wichman said she is familiar with living in another fast growing community, in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. She attended North Idaho College and at Lewis and Clark State College in northern Idaho, but left before graduation to raise three children and tie down a full-time job.

Round Mountain Gold is supportive of her campaign plans. Wichman testified last year before a state Senate committee in Carson City on behalf of the mine against the sales tax increase.

"Should this campaign be successful then I will give up my position at the mine and work the county commissioner position full-time," Wichman said. "I don't know how they could consider that to be a part-time job."

As a secretary for the Smoky Valley Republican Women's Club after arriving in Central Nevada, Wichman became acquainted with Midge Carver, who she said introduced her to a lot of people.

Wichman plans to go door to door to find out what the issues are that concern voters in the district.

Wichman said most of her time will be spent in Pahrump during the campaign. But she also wants to get out to other communities in her far-flung district, like Gabbs, Ione, Duckwater and Railroad Valley.

Rob Mobley

Rob Mobley, a Pahrump resident for three years, who moved to Southern Nevada from Los Angeles a decade ago, teaches American history at the Great Basin College Pahrump campus and the College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne campus in Las Vegas. He is cataloguing the collection at the Pahrump Valley Museum.

Mobley received his master's degree in American history from the University of Tulsa and is working on his doctoral dissertation.

"It seems to me the right questions are not being asked or followed up on, and I think I can bring my skills as a researcher to the commission prior to a vote to see how it plays out," Mobley said.

Nye County is growing too big for back room deals, he said. People need to put more time into the decision-making process.

When asked about specific issues he'd like to address, Mobley specified building and planning.

"It's a mess, the process of getting anything done, and a case in point is the museum," Mobley said. "It's just getting ridiculous when we've had a grant for two years and we've been unable to get our plans approved."

Mobley questioned whether it's better to continue outsourcing the building department to Charles Abbott and Associates or have a county-run department.

He acknowledged it will be difficult to get his message out to residents in the sparsely-populated areas. "The person who represents District 1 is representing both north and south," Mobley said.

Since there are already three county commissioners wielding considerable power in the Pahrump area, Mobley said "There's got to be a voice of reason to represent folks from up north." On the other hand, he said, it's hard to protect the interests of people in Pahrump, who comprise 82 percent of the county's population, if their commissioner lives in places like Gabbs or Round Mountain.

Jeff Bobeck

Jeff Bobeck moved from Pennsylvania to Pahrump eight years ago. He works out of his home as a health care system consultant for Siemens, helping customers set up computer software and hardware.

Bobeck ran unsuccessfully for the Pahrump town board in 2004, finishing third in the primary with 1,261 votes, 15 percent of the total, and again placed third in the general election, with 3,958 votes, 21.5 percent.

Bobeck is a pilot and flight instructor for the Nevada Civil Air Patrol and owns a small plane at Calvada Meadows Airstrip. He is president of the Pahrump Valley Rock Hounds. Bobeck is also a delegate to the Republican state convention.

"It just seems to me there's a lot of frivolous spending at the county level and a lot of local municipalities are going bankrupt," Bobeck said.

Asked for an example of frivolous spending, Bobeck pointed to all the money going to consultants.

While the county is required to undertake different tasks by state law, Bobeck said, "I'd rather find local talent, use consulting as a last resort."

A drop in real estate values means local government has to live within its means, Bobeck said. He would also like Pahrump to be more business-friendly.

"It's just a general impression when business comes here, a lot of people see it as a free lunch, lots of fees for this, fees for that, and I'd like to see it easier for businesses to come in here," Bobeck said.

He doesn't like new taxes, like a half-cent sales tax increase and was happy commissioners rejected a desert tortoise plan.

Asked what expertise he brings to the position, Bobeck said, "I work with a lot of people, being a consultant. I have to come up with some complex decisions and I have to work with people to make that happen. It's not my own show. I have to realize as a commissioner I would only be one-fifth of the intellectual input to the board."

Bobeck didn't describe the difference in his district as a north-south issue.

"It really is a split between the city and country people in Nevada. A lot of people in Pahrump District 1 came here for the rural lifestyle," he said. "My concerns are more for rural Nevada. So actually in the past, with Midge Carver, I really did not have any problem with northerners representing me because she stood up for the things I believe in: ranching, mining, farming and her late husband with the constitutional rights. That's very much what I'm into."

John Van Loon

John Van Loon retired to Gabbs after 25 years with the Federal Highway Administration, managing the right-of-way acquisition program in places like the Virgin Islands. He is a U.S. Navy veteran.

"Even though I'm not an engineer I've been involved in a lot of stuff relating to highway construction," Van Loon said.

A native Californian, who received an associates degree in real estate at American River College in Sacramento, he served a four-year term on the Folsom-Cordova school board.

Van Loon went on to receive a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma. He served as an Oklahoma City police officer for a few years, then worked for the Oklahoma City urban renewal authority and the Oklahoma highway department for six years after that. He was also a certified general appraiser licensed in Georgia.

"Gabbs is a depressed area, and I think that in the county we're not getting much in the way of tourist trade. I'd like to see more employment in the area. I'd like to see if we can do anything with respect to the foreclosure rate. You've got a terrible foreclosure rate in Pahrump," Van Loon said.

He has family ties to northern Nye County.

Van Loon said he didn't realize running for county commissioner was a partisan position. He acknowledged he will have to work hard to win the election, something he has the time to do.

He plans to knock on doors in Pahrump as part of his campaign as well as visiting the northern county.

While some political pundits feel north county residents would rally around a northern commissioner, Van Loon said, "If you work both areas you can pick up a few (votes). I'm sure there's probably some in Pahrump that would feel loyalty to Pahrump people and they do have a majority of votes there."