EDITOR:
Motocross might have a place in Douglas County ... a parcel of land situated in the well worn trails in the remote hills and mountains far from the sight and earshot of any residential areas. Steve Brown, Harvie Keith and their small, but loudly enthusiastic, group should be required to pay for this parcel (whatever it may be).
I can't imagine why a number of adjacent counties have outright refused to allow them to set up motocross. Carson City said no, Lyon County said no, etc. How can this be? How could these other counties refuse to reap the wealth of money that a motocross track would bring into their threadbare coffers?
After all, according to Bill Chernock of the Carson Valley Visitors Authority, motocross is very financially lucrative for Douglas County and its voters. Chernock is not accountable to the voters of our county. Nor, for that matter, is T. Michael Brown, the county manager, who is appointed by - you guessed it - the commissioners. We also don't want to forget Scott Morgan, parks and recreation director - another appointed position. Quite cozy, isn't it?
I have to ask how financially lucrative the present "temporary" motocross location - on county land on Pinenut Road - is for the homeowners and other residents (voters) of Douglas County? In my humble opinion, answers are very obvious: "the hell with the voters of Douglas County."
Douglas County commissioners sat comfortably in their plush chairs last spring in the county meeting facility and decided to throw their "crumbs of approval" to the motocross folks - a number of whom were not from Douglas County - and permitted them to operate a "temporary," one year track to provide them time to secure a permanent location.
It's 2010 now, and (gasp) guess what? Steve Brown and Harvie Keith are applying yet again for a "temporary permit" for the very same site as last year. Considering that Brown and Keith have been refused access to permits in Carson City, Lyon County, etc., they feel that they have a good deal in Douglas County and that eventually the voters will become tired of opposing their presence in the peaceful, serene neighborhoods in the Pinenut Road areas.
Two county commissioners, Dave Brady and Nancy McDermid, have their terms expire this year. They, along with the other three commissioners who will face re-election in 2012, voted to allow motocross on Pinenut Road right adjacent to the Douglas County Animal Shelter. I am absolutely certain that neither Brady nor McDermid or, for that matter, any of those who approved it, have had the values of their properties adversely impacted by the motocross track. I would even dare to say that they haven't heard any of the noise, felt any of the dust, and smelled any of the fumes that come along with any motocross track.
We, the voters of Douglas County, have the opportunity to remove Brady and McDermid from the recesses of those really plush commissioner's chairs this year by simply not re-electing them, two down and three to go in 2012.
Jonathan Brown
Minden
