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Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, of Tonopah, faces a challenge in her bid for reelection to a third term from Jim Petell of Pahrump. Both are Republicans.

District 2 includes about 2,000 square miles of Nye County, including the communities of Tonopah, Beatty and Amargosa Valley, as well as Pahrump north of Bell Vista Avenue and west of Linda Street.

JONI EASTLEY

Eastley will be seeking her last term on the Nye County Commission, as she will face term limits in 2012. She was elected to the Round Mountain town board in 1988 before being elected to her first term on the county commission in 2000.

Eastley is chairman of the Central Nevada Regional Water Authority; a member of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Council; a member of the Nevada Airport Association; secretary of the Tonopah Development Corporation; past president of the Nevada Association of Counties; was a founding member of No To Abuse; a founding member of the Tonopah Historic Mining Park Foundation and is a board member of Preserve Nevada.

"The fact I ran unopposed last time says a lot and the fact that I did not draw an opponent out of Tonopah, Amargosa or Beatty says something. I attend as many town board meetings in those communities as I can. I'm very accessible," Eastley said.

She added, "I represent this county at many state and federal functions. I'm probably away from home 70 percent of the time and on the road representing Nye County which is a good thing."

Nye County needs to stretch its resources over 18,000 square miles, Eastley said. "Tonopah is no more important than Duckwater, Pahrump is no more important than Gabbs."

Eastley said she gets a lot of e-mails about the proposed federal detention center in Pahrump.

"I have never had a problem with the facility, the only thing I don't like and have consistently voted against is the location," Eastley said. She favors a location at the southernmost end of Nye County, near the Front Site Firearms Training Institute, or near Pahrump Junction at the intersection of Highway 95 and Highway 160.

The development agreement is the only remaining item pending on the detention center.

"I am confident that staff is going to be tough in its negotiations," she said.

Eastley said she felt there wasn't much documentation in a request before county commissioners earlier this year to sponsor a ballot question on the incorporation of Pahrump this year. She said the town is doing the right thing in commissioning a feasibility study with University of Nevada, Reno researchers Tom Harris and Buddy Borden.

"Whether or not I would support putting something on the ballot for incorporation depends on what the results of the university study are," Eastley said. She wants to be sure if Pahrump incorporation passed the voters it didn't end up hurting the town.

Eastley opposed the half-cent sales tax that would've gone to hire more sheriff's deputies and help fund rural fire departments.

"The only fire department that needs the money to pay for staffing is Pahrump. All the other fire departments operate with volunteers," Eastley said. She said the county has been generous in providing funds to rural fire departments thanks to a medium term financing plan approved in her first term.

"Pahrump has the greatest need because they have paid, union firefighters. What they should be looking at is the Pahrump voters. If they are not willing to tax themselves for this service, then maybe they should be looking at forming a fire protection district," she said.

County commissioners have been trying to make small communities look more attractive through downtown revitalization grants, used to improve storefronts and clean up empty lots. Eastley said that could attract business. She noted a mining company is looking at exploration near the Belmont turnoff in Big Smoky Valley, while the Mizpah Hotel in Tonopah is in escrow.

Eastley defended commissioner travel, she said the vast majority comes from Nye County oversight of the U.S. Department of Energy project at Yucca Mountain.

"Any commissioner who is going to be on this board and expects to do their job should be taking trips like that. They have to. This Yucca Mountain project is a huge project that has some really serious ramifications to Nye County. I think it's really important that individual commissioners understand the technology. I think it's important that they tour nuclear facilities so that they can see for themselves the various facets of the operation."

Eastley said when she first came on the board she thought Nye County spent too much money on consultants, which she said are also mostly for the Yucca Mountain project. She said commissioners don't approve every consulting contract, like a request for a $35,000 engineering study on speed limits in Pahrump.

Eastley said commissioners don't have the staff to complete some projects and she doesn't want to hire permanent employees, with benefits for work that may only last a year or two.

In her dealings with the federal government, Eastley sees a major step for Nye County in the creation of a separate U.S. Bureau of Land Management field office for Pahrump. That will enable BLM employees, who are often overwhelmed on work on the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, to concentrate more on Pahrump, she said.

"I think I have proven my leadership capabilities over the last eight years. I have done a tremendous amount of good for the district in which I was elected," Eastley said.

JIM PETELL

Jim Petell said he didn't trust the media any longer and didn't wish to grant an interview.

Petell has been a regular participant in Nye County meetings and formerly taped many of the meetings.

He has lived in Pahrump for 13 years and was formerly chairman of the Pahrump Public Lands advisory board.

Petell is a native of Rome, N.Y., then moved to Southern California in 1976 where he worked in the aerospace business. He received a bachelor's degree from National University. Petell moved to Pahrump 13 years ago.

Petell filed a notice of intent to recall commissioner Gary Hollis for approving a development agreement with Focus Development Group in September 2006.

He was charged with gaming theft earlier this year.