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	Commissioners Disregard Straw Poll Results In MVTAB Appointments

	By Vernon Robison Moapa Valley Progress Published January 7, 2009 In an unorthodox move on Monday, the Clark County Commission departed from the results of the local straw poll vote (CLICK HERE to see straw poll results) in appointing members of the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB). In two of the five MVTAB seats, the commissioners chose candidates who had received the least votes in the community straw poll. The straw poll vote has been in effect in the community for decades. While the law allows the Commissioners to appoint whomever they wish, the Commissioners have always upheld the tradition of following the results of the informal straw poll in making Town Board member appointments. The top five candidates in this year's straw poll included Guy Doty (1337 votes), Judy Metz (1189), Gene Houston (1165), Rik Eide (1097) and Pledger Solomon (1011). At Monday's meeting, the Commissioners appointed Doty, Metz and Houston. But instead of Eide and Solomon, the appointments went to Deborah Greco; who had received the third lowest number of votes at 415 votes; and Billy Mildice; who had received 239 votes, the lowest number in the straw poll. The two County Commissioners who represent Moapa Valley offered little by way of explanation for these contrary appointments. When asked for a comment on the appointments, Commissioner Tom Collins stated, "I have no comments for you on your paper. You know what I think of you. Have a nice day." Then he abruptly hung up the line. Steve Sisolak, the new commissioner representing Overton, did not return calls from the Progress. Reaction to the MVTAB appointments was mainly one of surprise. "I don't really know what to think about it," said Judy Metz, who has served on the MVTAB for over a decade. "In the past, the Commissioners have always gone along with the community on the straw poll. I guess we are going down a new road now." State Assemblyman Joe Hardy related that, when he heard the news, he was immediately interested in knowing what the rationale had been for making the appointments. He said that he called Collins to inquire about it. "He (Collins) told me that it was now a new era," Hardy said. "He said that he wanted to break the mold and do things differently. He felt that the change would be for the better." But Hardy wasn't so sure. "I think that Bruce Woodbury did it right," Hardy said. "(Woodbury) set up a solid system of home rule. It has been a good system for many years. It's hard to best a system like that no matter who you are." Hardy further stated that the Commission's tactic would tend to make it harder for state legislators to feel good about allowing more power for local governments. "We have a Legislature that likes local governments generally," he said. "But this makes it difficult to say that we want to allow more local autonomy; when the very entity that asks for it immediately starts taking it away from another smaller entity." State Senator Warren Hardy also expressed surprise at the action of the Commissioners. "I don't know what the thought process was on this," Hardy said. "Frankly I'm surprised that this happened. It has certainly been an established tradition for the Commission to follow the straw polls in the outlying areas. So this is definitely unusual." Hardy stated that he intended to put in a call to the Commissioners to find out what the process had been on the appointments. The two MVTAB candidates who were passed over by Monday's Commission vote expressed disappointment in the decision. Rik Eide has served on the MVTAB for the past two years. "I feel that I have put my best foot forward to represent this community," Eide said. "I think that the residents in the community recognized that and acknowledged it in the straw poll. I'm just disappointed to know that the new County Commission has decided that it isn't going to listen to the will of the Moapa Valley. The new Commission has proven right off in their very first meeting that the will of this community will not be heard. My concern is that this community no longer has any representation at all at the County level." Pledger Solomon stated that Monday's appointments were an indicator of just how far Commissioner Tom Collins had drifted away from representing the people of Moapa Valley. He noted the fact that Collins had received so few votes from his Logandale constituency in the recent elections. Collins received only 33% of the vote from Logandale consituents. "Now it is crystal clear why that is," Solomon said. "He doesn't represent the interests of the people here. This whole thing makes me question whether the Town Board has any influence at all to represent this community to the Commission." TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! Comment on this story. Send a letter to the editor by email, click here: *EMAIL US*

To view the results from the Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board Straw Poll held in November CLICK HERE

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