County Commission duty entails lots of committee time

The next time you get mad at the Lyon County Commissioners and think, "I ought to run for commissioner, I'd do a better job than these guys," stop and think.

The commissioners don't just meet twice a month to decide matters of import; they have myriad other committees to sit on and endless meetings to sit through.

Many of the assignments are the same as last year, since the commissioners have a thing about continuity, with the exception of Larry McPherson, who of course was not a commissioner last year.

Of course, he is still president of the National Pony Express Association's Nevada Division, but how much of his new job he can do from the back of a horse is unknown.

He'll sit on the Criminal Justice Advisory Board, since the new jail will likely be in Silver Springs. As a history buff, he'll probably enjoy serving on the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway.

But McPherson's other assignments are rather dry: the General Improvement District and Debt Management Committee and the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool committee. He is also the alternate for the Western Nevada HOME Consortium and the Data Processing Committee. By June, he'll likely be itching to jump on his horse for the annual Pony Express re-enactment - and he might not want to come back.

It's probably a good thing for Bob Milz he no longer has the responsibility of being chairman of the Lyon County Commission, as he is the chairman for each of the boards he serves on: the Comstock Historic District, Western Nevada RC&D Executive Committee, Carson Water Subconservancy District, Dayton Valley Conservation District and the county Room Tax Board. That's enough gavel duty to give a commissioner calluses. He gets a respite in his Lyon County Planning Commission appointment - he's merely the alternate - and he also sits on the Western Nevada Resource, Conservation and Development Committee.

Commission Chairman Phyllis Hunewill sits on the Criminal Justice Advisory Board with McPherson, but most of her other assignments are directly related to agriculture and natural resources, assignments befitting her representation of rural Smith Valley.

She is the Smith Valley Representative for the Walker River Conservation District and serves with Milz on the Western Nevada RC&D Committee and as an alternate on the Walker River Irrigation District. She is also the commission's rep on the Planning Commission, Nevada WORKS committee and, with Leroy Goodman, the Nevada Association of Counties and the Western Nevada Development District.

Don Tibbals, whose district includes equally rustic Mason Valley, also serves on the Walker River Conservation District. His other assignments emphasize rural interests and law enforcement, such as the State Land Use Planning Committee, the Walker River Irrigation District, the Quarterly Jail Inspection committee and the Local Emergency Planning Committee. Possibly as a distraction from the strictly rural, he also sits on the Nevada Association of Counties Indigent Committee.

Leroy Goodman, representing Lyon's single urban metropolis, Fernley, sits on committees with nary a water or farm issue in sight: the General Obligation Bond committee, the Nevada Association of Counties, Western Nevada Development District, Western Nevada HOME Consortium and the Data Processing Committee. He is an alternate on the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the V&T Railway, Nevada WORKS and the Local Emergency Planning Commission.

So when you think the commissioners don't listen to the people, it may be they're listening too much.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 351.