GINA B. GOOD / PVT Pahrump Town Board Chairman Nicole Shupp and Larry Sanders exchange angry words during the meeting. Town Manager Bill Kohbarger and Sheriff Tony DeMeo, not in uniform, confer at right. RELATED STORIES • Garbage Town board again OKs amended trash rules • Jail possible for violators Advertisement

Larry Sanders has serious concerns about the trash ordinance, PTO No. 43.

His strong opposition turned into a shouting match with Pahrump Town Board Chairman Nicole Shupp at Tuesday's board meeting.

At one point Sanders told Shupp, "You work for us."

Shupp issued a sharp reply, "No, my job is to run this meeting."

When Sanders continued to shout, Shupp asked, "Where are the deputies?" She then declared a meeting recess, as Sanders was shouting, "Go ahead and arrest me."

Nye County Dep. Jim Scott, who was off-duty attending the meeting as a supporter of the Pahrump Veteran's Advisory Board, was first to reach the podium in an effort to defuse the situation, saying to Sanders, "Nobody is going to be arrested tonight."

Sheriff Tony DeMeo, also in casual clothing, spoke quietly to Sanders. According to board member Frank Maurizio, he and member Mike Darby told Sanders he didn't want to spend time in the Pahrump jail, which is known to be uncomfortable at best and can be filled beyond capacity at times. Harley Kulkin was among others at the podium calming Sanders.

Finally, Darby lead Sanders away from the podium, but not before Shupp approached him with her apologies for losing her temper.

Once the meeting resumed, Sanders was back at the podium to express his opinion on the ordinance.

"The way this thing is written, if you have a junk car in your yard, or anything larger than what will fit in one of the trash cans, you cannot have anyone else remove it," Sanders said. "It restricts the wrecking yard from coming to take an old car out of the yard.

"It's a farce. The only thing you need is to give Pahrump Valley Disposal an exclusive residential and commercial contract to pick up trash and leave it at that. Why put all the other stuff on all the people in the town?"

Shupp asked Rick Campbell, the town attorney, if it was possible to simplify the ordinance in the way Sanders suggested. There did not seem to be a clear answer at that time.

As reported earlier this week, Sanders is the founder of Recalls R Us, and June 5 he and others filed a recall petition against Shupp as well as Bill Dolan, vice chairman of the town board.

"I believe the good people, the working people who aren't out for personal vendettas, will realize lies have been told," said Shupp during a recess in the meeting. "I apologized to Mr. Sanders for my temper tantrum and once we started talking, he is a very nice man, even though he started a petition against me."

She said upset residents have stopped by her home, causing her to install a chain restraint because her children sometimes answer the door before she can.

"I'm afraid of some of these people," Shupp said, looking toward the half-filled seats at the Bob Ruud Community Center. "My family's safety comes first."

She said residents "can reach me by calling the town office, 775-5107, or they can e-mail me at nshupp@pahrumpnv.org.

"I have no chance to explain anything before the public. I thought the petition would be more specific, so I could reply. It's not as though I have done anything illegal."