Monday, April 20, 1998 | 10:31 a.m.
FRED IS UP LONG BEFORE DAYBREAK and driving his huge snowplow up the steep grade leading to Lake Tahoe. The wind-chill is -20 degrees Fahrenheit and the snow is sticking on the truck's windshield as he shepherds it along the road, which is outlined by a rock bank on one side and a several-hundred-foot drop on the other.
Cy reaches for another swig from his water bag as the blistering summer sun of Southern Nevada adds to the heat generated by the hot asphalt he's using to patch a road. Before the day ends, he will have lost almost 10 pounds of his body weight.
Gertrude listens to the complaints of a taxpayer as she struggles to answer his questions. This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last time, she hears from him. After hanging up the phone, she works into her lunch period, seeking an answer that will solve the problem presented by the caller.
Roger pins a badge on his chest and drives into the dark to protect the people in his patrol area. The badge, at one time considered a shield, is treated as a target by the criminals in this area. The bad guys have even less respect for the people in the neighborhood, and only Roger's presence gives these people any comfort. After a long night on patrol, he will have to appear in court to testify on a prior case.
Greta works with emotionally disturbed children and helps guide their parents through long hours of consultation. Last night, she was called to the home of a child and, when trying to calm him, she was bitten. A bit weary, she's back working with another group of children the next day.
Phil is a building custodian with little help, but he makes certain that everything is in the right place when the first wave of school children comes to visit the museum the next morning. His work day begins at 6 in the evening and he leaves the building about 2:30 a.m., but tonight some new displays must be put in place, and he leaves when the sun first peeks over Sunrise Mountain.
So what do all of these people have in common? They are all public servants who make life just a little bit better for the people of Nevada. We pay their salaries and, in return, get much more than we could ever expect for the money they receive. Loyalty and pride in their work is something we too often take for granted when talking about public servants. Sadly, they also become unfair targets of some politicians seeking office. They believe it's easy to beat up on public servants and to gain public office riding on their backs.
Election year is here again and, before too long, some office-seeker will talk about how there are too many people taking money from the pockets of taxpayers. Then he or she will cite some specific incident where a city, county, state or federal employee has failed to meet the candidate's "high standards." This kind of political garbage usually comes from candidates who haven't had the experience of working with public employees. You can safely bet, however, that they have benefitted many times from the hard work of these dedicated people.
The attempted use of public employees as a doormat doesn't end with an election. For example, because of some disagreement with government policies, a group in Elko County has used a grand jury to take out their frustrations on state and federal workers carrying out the policies designed to protect wildlife and land resources. A most recent attack on the public employees has gone all the way to the Nevada Supreme Court.
So who are these public employees being beaten up in Elko County? Duane Erickson, a 30-year career biologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife, and his wife have lived in Elko County for almost 20 years. She teaches math at Elko High School, and they have raised two sons in that community. Erickson told me: "We have never been involved in a single incident of impropriety or illegal actions since we moved to Nevada in 1968. Now, to be called government thugs and extortionists by the local press and criminals by our local government has been difficult to understand and sometimes even harder to accept."
It's evident the Elko power structure has no shame, but large numbers of people have written me to express their personal concerns. Erickson refuses to hang his head and be a whipping boy for the local system. Erickson puts the whole scene in a single picture with the following statement: "The state attorney general has given us all the support we could ask for and we hope the state Supreme Court will see through the political agendas and intimidation prevalent in our county judicial system. The grand jury is still alive and well in Elko County and, if we lose, I see a pretty bleak future for state and federal employees in Elko County unless you support the local agenda. I believe that all four of us accused have done our jobs well, and we are proud of what we have accomplished for the sportsmen and outdoor recreationists in Nevada. Again, thanks for your support."
Some time spent on extolling the hard work and dedication of public employees would be more productive and closer to the truth than what comes from the mouths of some ignorant office-seekers and, in Elko's case, selfish and inconsiderate office-holders.
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