A momentous community milestone was reached in Moapa Valley a couple of weeks ago. It happened quietly and without much fanfare. In fact, other than a handful of people who were ‘in the know’ about it, most folks didn’t even realize it happened. But it was a true game-changer for the community all the same.
On June 30, the Moapa Valley Fire District (MVFD) ended its fiscal year, and it was the first one where its local advisory board was actually set free to truly manage governance, budget and policy of the district. This first year had been something of a proving ground for the board. And it turned out to be a glowing success; so much so that the Clark County Commission, acting under state law as the MVFD Fire Board, actually made the arrangement permanent. On June 18, the Commissioners sealed the deal by officially appointing an MVFD Chief. Then they approved a contract to add a licensed Medical Director as a resource for the district.
These actions effectively cut the district’s traditional ties with the Clark County Fire Department. It brought the MVFD under home rule. That was truly a first! In fact, it is hard to overstate the significance of this decision, its value to the community, and the political struggle involved to get us there.
For decades now, the volunteer MVFD has been weighed down by a great millstone: the Clark County Fire Department (CCFD). Though the MVFD was formed in 1960 as an independent entity, it was placed by statute into the care of the Commissioners. And they, having moreimportant things to do, had long since tossed it under CCFD administration for management. But the huge CCFD has since outgrown any ability to relate the needs of our small rural entity. With each passing year, the culture gaps between the big-city paid department and our small-town volunteer force opened wider and wider.
Finally, about 18 months ago, the problem came to a head. It became clear that the relationship between the two entities was entirely disfunctional. MVFD was being buried in red tape. In all of the bureaucracy, the district was no longer able to recruit or retain a sufficient volunteer force. Dangerous gaps in service had begun to appear. Local officials had good ideas on how to fix the problems, but with the mammoth CCFD looming overhead, they lacked flexibility to implement them.
Fortunately, the district had been created with an ample allotment of state sales tax all its own. It doesn’t need to lean on Clark County for funding. It can afford to operate independently. A local advisory board, if allowed, could develop more sensible and flexible policies that would address the district’s unique challenges. The MVFD board just needed the Commissioners to set them free to do that.
Of course, such an idea is a very tall order in Clark County. Many similar requests had been made to Commissioners over the years by district chiefs. But they had always been dismissed out of hand. The reasons were the old familiar ones: ‘You are too small. There isn’t enough money to operate on your own. How will you survive? You require the protection of big brother Clark County to be safe and solvent.’
Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick was the first elected official to be willing to give the idea of an independent MVFD a full hearing. To her, it wasn’t just the usual small town folks complaints. She recognized the urgent problem and wanted to solve it. So she listened carefully to local fire chiefs. She examined their ideas fully. And little by little she let out the line for the MVFD board to start making real decisions. Kirkpatrick fended off the nay-saying and fear-mongering of county bureaucrats, bean counters and attorneys. She tuned out the noise and gave the idea of home rule a chance at the MVFD.
Thus far it has succeeded! Last year, the MVFD board has found a way to increase services, decrease emergency response time, incentivize new recruits, simplify and improve training and make key updates to equipment and facilities; all this while managing to run a quarter-million dollar budget surplus. In doing this, the board has proven that local home rule is not only possible but effective. They have given evidence that there is a deep pool of capable civic leadership in Moapa Valley; that is, if tlocal folks are set free to make real decisions.
Most of the credit for this success should go to Commissioner Kirkpatrick. Without her willingness to give home rule a chance, these outside-the-box changes would never have been possible. Her advocacy has shown outstanding rural representation, the likes of which we have not seen in northeastern Clark County for a very long time.
Thank you, Commissioner Kirkpatrick; and congratulations to the board members, chiefs and volunteers of the Moapa Valley Fire District!
