Election Guide News, voter information Don Rust Mike Darby Vicky Parker Sean Brooks Advertisement

There will be three new members on the Pahrump Town Board come November. Nicole Shupp and Bill Dolan will complete the remainders of their terms, Gov. Jim Gibbons will appoint one member to an unexpired term, and two of the following candidates will complete the five-member team for the town.

Don Rust, Incumbent

Pahrump resident for 14 years

"The fairgrounds project is very important to economic develop in Pahrump. We have a good start on it and I am hoping I will be able to keep working on that.

"To date, BLM land has been given to the town and the current town board has been able to begin action. We have a master plan. We have plans for gray water usage from the Mountain Falls subdivision and we are in the process of purchasing water rights from several sources.

"The project includes a new place for the rodeo, equestrian events, baseball and a variety of other recreational areas. Performing arts would have a facility. The fairgrounds will be a multi-use and multi-purpose with public and private participation.

"Secondly, I support a recycling and processing effort at Pahrump Valley Disposal, as they have a design and plans for the recycling. They say no Pahrump residence would be required to place bins outside their homes.

"I was part of the board that started these things and I want to see them continue. I don't want to see these issues fail just because there is no continuity.

"Bill Doland is an appointee and he is leaving the board. We have to elect people who are going to stick out their terms.

Where do you stand on the proposed detention center?

"I think we should have it. Some people are pretty upset, saying they didn't have enough notice, but in fact there were several public meetings and now they are saying 'I don't want this because I don't know anything about it'.

"They think prisoner's relatives and friends will be coming here. That doesn't happen elsewhere. People don't understand it is not a prison. It's a federal detention center for people awaiting trial.

Sean Brooks

Pahrump resident for five years

"The issue important to me is looking for responsible businesses to move out here and soliciting the companies that won't just take from the community and the town and then pick up and leave.

"I came from a farming community, from a small town in Southern Utah. The children there grow up, marry their high school sweethearts, go to college and move away. If you are going to be both a retirement community and foster growth improvements in the community, you are going to need the younger generation. To attract them, you need to have jobs to keep people here.

"If elected, I have a vested interest in this town -- my wife of 13 years and our two young daughters. I will work toward what's going to be in the best interest of the township and what's going to be in the best interest of our future generations?

"People get up during the comment portions of the town meetings and then the board votes in the other direction. To me, that's not a representative government. I want to take into consideration the phone calls and the comments at the meetings and the people who may stop me in the aisle of the grocery store.

"I want to do what the people in the town want and what is in the best interest of our town.

"I'm a Gulf War era Army veteran from Minersville, Utah. My wife, Jeanette, home schools our girls. I work in Indian Springs at the prison as a senior correctional officer. I'm also a code compliance officer.

"I'm sitting on the middle of the fence as far as the proposed federal detention center. I know it will be a good thing because it will bring decent paying jobs to Pahrump. But on the same hand, I am not looking forward to having a prison in my backyard."

Vicky Parker

Pahrump resident for seven years

"Fiscal responsibility is really the most important issue for Pahrump. Right now, the overriding issue is the economy and the financial viability of Pahrump. The consolidated tax moneys coming from the state will be way down and Pahrump is going to have to look very carefully at every financial expenditure.

"The town board has done a good job with its budgeting process. When a request comes in, the board members always ask: 'where in the budget is the money coming from?' and the town always finishes the year with a surplus. I aim to see that that protocol continues.

"I think the proposed federal detention center will bring a lot to the town of Pahrump. I have spoken to some of the residents of Ely. When they had a state prison proposed in Ely there was tremendous opposition. There is no opposition now. It is looked upon favorably. I feel five or ten years down the road Pahrump will feel the same way about CCA.

'It's going to bring good jobs, starting at $25 an hour. All the construction materials and sales tax will be paid in Nye County, resulting in a million dollar one-time increase in sales tax for the county, right at the time when the sales tax revenues are down and the county needs it most. It will also bring one million dollars a year in taxes to the county over the long run.

"After attending the town board meetings for six years, and watching the board members come and go, I came to the realization that I make decisions that are as good or better than theirs. That's why I am running."

Parker earned her B.S. in business administration from Rochester Institute of Technology. She's on the Great Basin College general advisory board and is a member of Pahrump Valley Community Action Team, P.A.V.E.D., and a volunteer for several community service organizations.

Mike Darby

Pahrump resident for two years

"With economic conditions the way they are today, it is time for the town board to be accountable. Pahrump's priorities should be on infrastructure and sustainability.

"I want to preserve our unique community and create incentives to promote manufacturing and industrial growth. Regulations and fees on industry and private property should be drastically reduced.

"It's important to me that the town board governs openly and with transparency. I will adhere to the open meeting rules because I see times where board members put their hands over their microphones to confer or lean back in their chairs to talk to each other so the people seated in the room can't hear. They are conducting closed business right in front of our faces.

"The only way you should conduct town business is with people's input. During board meetings when people get up and say their three minutes for public comment, you have to listen with respect.

"I like rural communities. I was raised in a small community and lived in a small town. I am a country boy. My wife and I moved to Southern Nevada with our daughter in 1991 and this is the first time I have ever run for office. I'm a construction worker; I've been a heavy equipment operator for 20 years. I work with my hands and I am used to hard work.

"I am approachable. I will listen to what people say. One lady said other communities show pride in their local school teams. She asked me why we don't have a billboard saying 'Welcome to Trojan Country'. There must be some way to address these things. I have a lot of questions about how the town is run.

"If elected, I won't go off half-cocked. I will research things and get back to people. That's part of the job."