GINA B. GOOD / PVT Stephanie Lopez attended her first town board meeting to support Town Manager Bill Kohbarger. She said she was harrassed after the meeting. RELATED STORY No vote yet on Kohbarger Advertisement

At Tuesday's town board meeting, Pahrump resident Stephanie Lopez submitted 150 signatures in favor of Town Manager Bill Kohbarger keeping his job. She gathered the names in 90 minutes by talking to shoppers in the Walmart parking lot.

Following Lopez at the podium during public comment, Donna Cox, representing Concerned Citizens for a Safe Community, submitted an additional 150 signatures to add to the 131 names the group turned in June 8.

"Now, we can run out and we can spend weeks getting 10,000 or 20,000 signatures. That is not the point," said Cox.

Then what is the point?

The signatures have been the point since May 12, the first time Don Cox set a table up in the parking lot of the Bob Ruud Community Center with the petitions. The 131 signatures were the reason board member Frank Maurizio stated he put the item to discuss Kohbarger's termination on the June 23 town meeting agenda.

Describing the petitions she was submitting, Cox also said, "These signatures are from the people that attended these meetings over the last months. These are not something random that we picked up at Walmart or down at the Nugget or anywhere else. These were picked up out in front of the building before, during and after meetings."

By inferring the names gathered from people attending town board meetings were more relevant than those brought in by Lopez, Cox went against her usually consistent message that the 200 or so members of CCSC represent the 38,000 people who live in Pahrump Valley but don't attend town or county meetings.

Lopez, on the other hand, said she went to Walmart because, "That's where the people are."

In conversations after the board meeting, Lopez said Tuesday night was the first time she had attended a town board meeting as well as the first time she has spoken at any meeting. She didn't know the board member's names. She said she didn't really want her picture taken or to be quoted in the newspaper. However, she decided to stand up for Kohbarger because she had a strong conviction about how he felt about Pahrump.

Knowing him only as one of the T-Ball parents whose child was coached by her husband, Lopez said Kohbarger was "a loving and involved parent," and "the right person to bring much needed change to the community."

After the meeting, Lopez said, "I usually don't say much because I don't like the limelight or the drama. I was so nervous to get up and talk. I don't like to have the center of attention, but after the meeting, people were shaking my hand as I left. Two gentlemen gave me their cards and said if I needed help to contact them. Someone told me I was the first person who had the strength and the will to support Bill. Another guy said I was the voice of all of us."

But not everyone was happy with what Lopez said.

"This one lady personally attacked me. I was shaking. I didn't know what she was going to do. Some young man came and stood between us. She told me to move back to Vegas. She said, 'Screw you' in a very nasty tone of voice. She came down the ramp toward us as we were heading to the car.

"That lady was off the wall. I just told her to have a great night and walked away, but I'm still upset. She and her little posse circled me."

Lopez said the reason young families don't take part in town politics is because of just that kind of drama. "Look at the majority of people who were at the meeting. Most of them were older and probably retired. It doesn't seem like young families are represented."

Marijo Conway, who accompanied Lopez and her mother to the meeting, agreed. She and her husband have three young boys and moved to Pahrump three years ago because they liked the rural feel of the community. She was with Lopez as they left the meeting room.

"Both of us knew going in that there were people who would oppose Stephanie's opinion. That was fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. After the meeting, we walked down the ramp outside and someone said something to Stephanie that I didn't quite hear. Stephanie turned around and said, 'Excuse me, were you talking to me?'

"A woman stepped forward. She was above us on the ramp and kind of leaning toward us. She said, 'Why don't you just move back to Vegas?' I was shocked by her tone of voice and her manner. Stephanie told her she had family here and she owns property here and is involved in her kids' school and was not going to move.

"The woman said she liked Pahrump the way it is and didn't want it changed. She said her husband was on the board and then she said 'screw you' to Stephanie."

Sandy Darby was the woman who spoke to Lopez. "I was totally frustrated and aggravated during and after the meeting," explained Darby, whose husband, Mike, is a town board member. When contacted, he said his wife speaks for herself and is passionate about what she believes in.

"I was sitting in front of Miss Lopez during the meeting and she and her friend were making comments the whole time," said Sandy Darby. "People should learn the proper conduct during a meeting if they are going to attend.

"I have no problem with her giving her opinion. But her comments while the meeting was ongoing led me to believe she didn't like Pahrump. I just told her if she didn't like this town, she should move back to Vegas. Mike and I love it here. I don't like it when people move in and try to change the nature of the town."

Darby also admitted, "I could have handled the situation better. I just wanted to know why she lives here if she doesn't like it. I told her she should learn how the meeting runs with the time limits and stuff like that. I was angry at how the meeting went for a number of reasons."

Lopez said, "I was only going to attend the one meeting, but now I'm going back. It's not right for people to do that to someone with a different opinion. The last time I checked, it is my constitutional right to speak. I was treated really, really badly.

"I just wanted to make a point. I wanted to see if the town was getting input from the residents. Bill had no idea I was going to be there."