September 20, 2007
Governor Says Homeland Security Issue Unites Nevada

Photo by Dave Maxwell Gov. Jim Gibbons speaking at the Homeland Security rural Communities Committee meeting

By Dave Maxwell

Speaking at a meeting of the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security Rural Communities Committee before a full City Council Chambers in Caliente last Thursday, Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons said that the issue of Homeland Security was the one issue that unites all residents of the state for a common goal. “There is no line between North and South. All residents of the state are Nevadans. It’s the one issue we all have to work together on.”

The Rural Communities Committee of Nevada’s Homeland Security held their meeting this time in Caliente as Gibbons said, “To bring Homeland Security to you. To bring an understanding of it, bring to you what we’re doing in it, to listen to what you have to say about it, and find out how we can regionalize issues.”

The meeting was teleconferenced to other committee members in other counties of Eastern Nevada. Listening on the phone were people in Ely, Las Vegas, Mineral County, Nye County, Storey County, and the Department of Emergency Management. From time to time, telephone listeners were asked to comment or ask questions of panel members.

Governor Gibbons said when he took office earlier this year, he moved Homeland Security out of the Nevada Department of Public Service and made it a department that reports directly to him, “without being filtered through anyone else.” Newly appointed Nevada Homeland Security Director Rick Eaton also personally attended the Caliente meeting.

Gibbons went on to say that terrorism prevention is “the one issue we have that we all have to work on together.” “In Nevada,” he said, "our number one economy is tourism and our number one economy is a discretionary economy (people spending money here, but not living here), If something happens the federal government is not going to come rushing in with dollars and resources for our state as they did in NYC after 9/11.” Nevada will have to do it themselves he thought, and feels that prevention rather than response is what all the state needs to focus on. “The Homeland Security Committee needs to know and understand what the rural parts are about so we can build that One Nevada in Homeland Security,” he said.

After leaving Caliente, the Governor and his party were to make visits the remainder of the week to Mesquite, Boulder City, Jean, Pahrump and Beatty.