lOThursday, January 16, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
Editorial
I I I
Fanning Fickle Flames of Fame
By Robert Lowes
For Nye County's recently elected Commission Chairman
Dick Carver, the flames of fame continue to flicker like the
stubborn lingering embers of an abandoned high-desert
campfire. For Carver, the embers continue to burn bright and
long after the Sagebrush Rebellion he championed was judi-
cially was by a federal judge last year. However, Time
Magazine's one-time cover boy and cowboy commissioner
keeps on making news.
In one recent week, for example, Carver was not only
featured on network television on Robert Stack's Unsolved
Mysteries, but also that same week in an Associated Press
feature by staff writer Michelle DeArmond, which appeared
prominently in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and numerous
other member newspapers throughout the country.
For those readers who may have forgotten, Carver, armed
only with his well-worn copy of the United States Constitu-
tion, was catapulted into the national media spotlight when he
climbed aboard a rusting county bulldozer to open a closed
rural road in direct defiance of a federal agent's order. Not a
shot was fired, but the commissioner's courageous action
triggered a widespread western rebellion that wound up in the
federal courts to decide who would control the public lands.
That symbolic gesture occurred, interestingly enough, on
the 4th of July in 1994. It took the courts more than a year to
finally rule in favor of the federal government. When that
decision was rendered in the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas,
Carver nevertheless found some degree of victory in that
defeat.
In fact, despite the obvious oxymoron, I used a courthouse
quote from Carver to headline my story that week: "CARVER
CLAIMS LOSING IS WINNING." Not only was it an atten-
tion-getting headline, but it also accurately described the
commissioner's honest reaction to the long-awaited and
controversial court ruling regarding the management of
public lands in Nevada and throughout the rural West.
But before anyone starts to think that Carver took a dive
from his previous hard-core position on the issue, let me
assure readers, this is not true. Sure, he had basked for awhile
in the spotlight of national attention. And, who among us can
honestly say they wouldn't like to see themselves favorably
featured on the cover of a national magazine? While it's
never happened to me personally, I was around when it
happened to both Bobby Kennedy and former Los Angeles
Police Chief Tom Reddin.
Growing up in the spotlight of publicity surrounding the
Kennedy family, Bobby was used to getting such star treat-
ment in the media; however, Tom Reddin was not, and he
soon started to believe his own publicity. He shortly resigned
as the "Nation's Top Cop," a designation given to him by the
magazine, and became an anchor personality for Channel 5,
a local television station in Los Angeles. But Tom was
neither Tom Brokaw or for that matter Jerry Dumphy, the two
by R.P.L
top-rated, local TV anchors of the day,
and he didn' t last long in the tough and
highly-competitive LA media market.
Literally, it took him years to recover from the publicity of
having been a public icon, with feet, after all, that turned out
to be made of human clay. Frankly, I was somewhat
concerned that a similar fate might befall our Commissioner
Carver. For a country boy, he seemed to revel in the limelight
of attention as the overnight spokesperson for a growing
public outrage against abusive government control. In a way,
he became the public's Marlboro Man of the sagebrush
movement. He has gone around the country giving speeches
and spreading his message of local control to anyone who
would listen to him.
Often maligned and frequently misunderstood, Carver
and his sagebrush rebels were accused at one time of having
ties to militant militia groups and even were suspected of
being involved in two still-unsolved forest service bombings
in Carson City, which resulted in the recent Unsolved
Mysteries program.
Carver insists he has never advocated violence and has
never worried about the safety of any federal employees in
Nye County, most of whom he has known personally for
many years. In his interview with the AP writer that he
revealed he's tired of being in the limelight and is even
considering leaving the commission before the end of his
current term. Carver was elected last year to a new four-year
term, his third, and is currently serving as chairman of the
five-member board
However, Carver believes his missionary work is far from
being over. He still doesn't think the federal government has
a right to most of the public lands in the West. In Nevada,
some 92 percent of the state's land is currently under some
form of federal management and control. He remains con-
vinced a high-court judge will some day rule that the states
rightfully own the land and counties have the right to manage
it.
Realistically, he knows he can't count on getting th,
needed support from current Nevada Attorney General Frankie
Sue Del Papa, coincidentally raised in Tonopah in Nye
County, who sided with the Justice Department in federal
court during the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion. The attorney
general, a politically-prominent Democrat, was quoted as
saying that the 1979 Nevada Statutes claiming ownership of
the public lands were "invalid and unenforceable."
With some help from a more sympathetic state attorney
general, Carver hopes someday he will succeed in getting the
controversial land issue before the U.S. Supreme Court. In
the meatttime, the commissioner continues to believe that his
sagebrush rebels won a victory in their apparent defeat by the
federal government. He contends that the federal agencies
are now at the same table discussing critical land issues with
the local governments which the entrenched former bureau-
crats had previously refused to do.
Regional Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest
Service offices have been reorganized for improved, client-
oriented service to the public. Since the ruling, attorneys for
Nye County and the Justice Department are meeting to write
guidelines on how to get along and address concerns about
issues such as road maintenance, water rights and other
rangeland issues.
Maybe, just maybe, the cow county commissioner was
right, after all, and there are some sure signs of winning in the
losing.
Ambush at the Taj - only time will tell
in contrast to the ambush I witnessed in Tonopah on
January 6, when Pahrump's Cameron McRae and Red Copass
got waylaid by Chairman Dick Carver of Round Mountain;
Tonopah's Bob Davis; and Beatty's Bobby Revert, it was
refreshing to attend a couple of Pahrump Town Board meet-
ings. More on the town board later in this column.
Actually, in reference to the alleged ambush: the event
was nothing more than a typical political takeover. The
laughable part is the three northern commissioners were
about as subtle as a jet crash. Smooth as the Bill Copeland
Highway. Yessiree, for every curve they had the angle. The
Three Amigos could have charmed the cherries offa tree and
had a flamin' jubilee before they hit the ground. This blood-
less coup certainly marks a strange beginning to the new
political season and only time will tell if the angry rumblings
of some of Pahrump's most notable citizens are fiction or
prophecy.
For instance, the loudest and most frequent concern of the
people I'm talking to is the issue of not meeting in Pahrump
anymore. Actually, Chairman Carver never said he would
never meet again in Pahrump. He said the commissioners
would meet in Pahrump if the need arises. In other words, "if
it affects P .ahrump." Mr. Chairman, I respectfully submit for
your consideration the fact that 100% of what goes on during
a Nye County Board of Commissioners meeting affects
Pahrump, Tonopah, Amargosa Valley; Round Mountain;
Beatty; Gabbs, Belmont, Duckwater, Currant and Dyer and
on and on and on. It is our tax dollars, Mr.Chairman.
What the two new commissioners and Mr. Carver need to
prove to the citizens of Pahrump, and the other rural towns for
that matter, is that they recognize they represent all the
citizens of Nye County. Only time will tell. Anyhow, since
there's only one meeting down in the year with more than a
dozen to go; I suggest we hold our collective breath for a few
more weeks to see which way the wind blows.
As far as Cameron McRae no longer serving as chairman;
I have only two items to note on that subject: 1. McRae could
use the break from chairman duties and his influence may
emerge just as prominent. Intelligence and articulation will
do that for argument. 2. The following are comments made by
JonEastely of Round Mountain during the January 6 meeting
held in Tonopah. Eastely has resided in the Smoky Valley for
thirteen years and currently serves as chairman of the Round
Mountain Town Board. The subject matter concerning her
comments was McRae's tenure as chairman and the idea of
meetings no longer occurring in Pahrump. Eastely praised
McRae, "I would like to thank Cameron McRae for the four
years he has been chairman. I believe he has provided in-
formed, intelligent, and decisive leadership." Concerning the
issue of the meetings, Eastely addressed all the commission-
ers, singling out Carver for thanks in his original efforts to
hold meetings outside of the county seat, "...for making
government accessable by encouraging meetings to be held in
Pahrump. These meetings gave me the perfect opportunity to
build relationships that I would not have been able to other-
wise. It also created an environment that encouraged us to
focus on our similarities (and) our concerns about infrastruc-
ture, education, and the health and safety of our families,
rather than continuing to point out our differences. Despite
the four hour drive, meeting in Pahrump helped make the
county much smaller in my eyes." Eastely lives a short 225
Know What I Mean?
by Doug McMurdo
miles from Pahrump and yet she is
willing to drive to Pahrump to attend a
meeting. We could use more citizens
like her.
If a pattern of consistent 3-2 votes occur which "affect"
Pahrump, everybody will see the writing on the wall. This is
comment number two. Again, only time will tell. But I do
recall Carver noted during his acceptance speech that Revert
and Davis, along with himself, were "raised in Nye County.,'
Carver also stated "this is the strongest board in the nation and
• now it's even stronger with the addition" of Revert and Davis.
I suspect it's time to put up or shut up. At least let us know
where the Nye County line begins and ends according to your
map. Only time will tell.
On the other side of the coin and the basis of this compare
and contrast editorial lies the Pahrump Town Board. This past
Saturday, January 11, the board held a "strategy session." On
the 14th, the first official meeting of the Pahrump Town
Board occurred. Both meetings were informative and encour-
aging.
It appears the five members, despite some obvious but
minor personality glitches, are determined to march, albeit
conservatively, into the coming years with quiet optimism. At
the Saturday meeting, which was really no more than a rap
session, town manager Scott Neilson presented an impressive
program for those in attendance. Two major items seemed to
take precedence regarding this session. The first has to do
with priorities. As in, Pahrump's number one priority should
be public safety. Steve Rainbolt said it first in a public
meeting but all board members agreed. The other item is that
Pahrump must do all it can legally do to be independent from
Tonopah.
Actually, the two go hand in hand. Public Safety and
Independence. Sounds kind of seccessionist don't it? There is
no evolution without revolution! Power to the people!
While the town of Pahrump supports the continued protec-
tion of Sheriff Lieseke and the NCSO, the town of Pahrump is
looking into going solo on the ambulance service. If the money's
there and the numbers support the gambit; let's go for it.
As far as the independence part, Pahrump is very limited
in how much rope they get. Voters overwhelmingly rejected
incorporation and nothing could change my mind they don't
still feel that way.
Other good things I've heard that board members agree to
in spirit if not in terms: Pahrump should stay as rural as
possible. They will look into minimizing sub-division capac-
ity to no less than one-and-a-quarter acres. They are looking
into the water situation and what can be done to abate it. They
are looking into fire suppression and how to improve it. Fire
Chief Vern Long presented a preliminary draft and a ten-year
master plan foi" the fire department. The arena is about to get
some major improvements, an alternative fairground is being
investigated, economic development is moving ahead, and
most important, the Pahrump Regional Planning Commis-
sion is determined to not be a "paper tiger" as an overworked,
exhausted Ron Williams suggested to the commissioners last
week.
And they are throwing nickels around as if they were
manhole covers. They're pinching pennies until they scream.
Fiscal responsibility is being practiced to the nth degree. This
board appears to have matured to a new level.
New boards, new faces, new ideas, another era.
Only time will tell.
