Before I begin, I want this disclaimer to say that I speak ONLY for myself. I do not speak for any present or future Town Board member and I have not discussed the contents of this letter with any of them.
This is an OPEN letter to all Pahrump residents. I want to thank you for voting for your Town Board. Whether you actually voted for me or not does not matter because on 1 January 2011, I will represent every Pahrump resident. For that reason I ask for your support. This is YOUR Town and we, as a Town Board, represent all of you.
Please contact me or any member of the Town Board members by phone or e-mail if you want to see something on the agenda. Don’t wait until we, or the Town manager, place items on the agenda and then attend the meetings merely to criticize our actions. Please let us know what you want us to do. We want to serve the citizens of Pahrump and be the Town Board that you voted for. We can only do that with your support.
I would like to see more families attending the Town Board meetings because families come together to solve problems and resolve issues. We, as a Town, are “family” in that sense of the word. We also need to see our young residents (ages 18-30) attending to get them involved in the inter-workings of our Town government as a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” For those reasons, I would also like to see a “more civil” meeting where each person show respect for the others. A quote by Joseph Pearce says, “For only as we ourselves, as adults, actually move and have our being in the state of love, can we be appropriate models and guides for our children. What we are teaches the child far more than what we say, so we must be what we want our children to become.”
Also, please know that we (the Town Board) are guided by the NRS 241, the Open Meeting Law (OML). The OML prohibits more than two Town Board members from discussing any item that might be on the agenda prior to the Open meeting. It also restricts us from having a “closed’ meeting” except in special circumstances. We are not “all seeing and all knowing” and we’ll need your help. We will have the same information that you receive ‘on-line’ or from the Town Office so feel free to provide us with additional information that you might have that we don’t. Of course, we may receive confidential information not privy to the residents. I merely ask that you understand that, if that is the case, we may not be able to explain to you why we voted the way we did. I truly believe that will be the exception and not the rule.
The Town Board meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday each month at 7:00 PM at the Bob Ruud Community Center. The agenda is posted by Thursday evening before the Tuesday meeting. Please read it over and contact one, two, or all five of the Town Board members with your thoughts and ideas about any item on the agenda and then come to the meeting to show your support. I also ask that you send us your justifications for your particular stance on any agenda item. Please ensure that your justifications are verifiable and please provide enough data that will allow us to verify all justifications without merely blindly following rumors, innuendoes, or complaints. If you tell us the “sky is falling”, please let us know where we can get the information to verify it. Likewise, if you tell us that you are buying the pizzas, let us know when and where. I look forward to seeing all of you at the future Town Board meetings.
Dr. Tom Waters
Pahrump Town Board - Elect
Pahrump Town Board - Elect
