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Sheriff calls Nye County assessor's comments 'blatantly racist'
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
An elected Nye County official faces accusations of racism after questioning whether construction workers building a new jail in Pahrump are legally eligible to work in the United States.
In an e-mail sent Friday to Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, tax assessor Shirley Matson asked if the county had verified the workers' citizenship, noting they looked Latino.
"That's what we call racial profiling," said DeMeo, who said he has no legal reason to investigate the workers' status.
"My staff, me, taxpayers coming to our offices, other town and county employees can plainly see that the construction workers are all Mexican/Latino, non-English speaking and I'm getting complaints," wrote Matson, who moved to Pahrump from San Diego in 2007 and was elected county assessor in November.
She has described herself as a conservative Republican.
Matson said she was concerned for the safety of her staff, though she acknowledged there have not been any incidents to support that concern.
"You don't have to be an American citizen to work in America," DeMeo wrote in response to Matson on Monday.
On Wednesday the sheriff said Matson's comments were "blatantly racist" and were intended to "inspire hatred and divide communities."
The Pahrump Valley Times, a twice-weekly paper owned by Stephens Media, the same company that owns the Review-Journal, demanded Matson "resign immediately" in a front-page editorial published Wednesday.
"You are neither fit for office nor a trustworthy servant of the public good," the editorial said of Matson.
Matson called the editorial and stories in the Pahrump newspaper a "hit piece" orchestrated by DeMeo. She said the sheriff has a vendetta against her over past skirmishes in the immigration debate.
The sheriff, she said, favors designating Pahrump a sanctuary city where local officials refuse to assist in enforcement of immigration laws.
"That would be untrue," said DeMeo, who acknowledged there is bad blood between him and Matson over an unrelated incident dating back several months, but he said the pair has never discussed illegal immigration.
"I'm not in favor of making Pahrump a sanctuary city," he said. "I'm in favor of supporting the Constitution. People (like Matson) want to wrap themselves in the flag but they don't think the law should apply to anyone but them."
Contact Doug McMurdo at dmcmurdo@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512.
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Lazy sheriff means that she is racist? If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck guess what? Treat it like a duck. The sheriff needs to get off his lazy but and do his job. If I lived in Pahrump I would be writing calling for his job... USELESS
OFTEN PUBLIC PROJECTS HAVE TO PAY PREVAILING WAGES
I haven't read that in the article but Post offices and schools etc...
often have a binding wage agreement
They could be legitimate Latinos-- Mexicans etc.. look into the funding and then go from there
stay the course
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MS MATSON YOU ARE MY HERO, I'M WITH YOU. You go girl! The unemployment in Nevada is 14.5% and tax paying citizens are out of work, and ILLEGAL MEXICANS are working. What's wrong with this picture? Get with it folks, one of the reasons our country is in such a mess is because of ILLEGAL ALIENS! Go to any dialysis center and see them getting free treatment that costs thousands of dollars. They are just taking over, get rid of them, send them all back ALONG WITH THE SHERIFF.
We have illegals working in construction and certain special interest groups are protecting them like their life depends on it.
We have a Facebook group out here called "Positive Pahrump" which is largely made up of Democratic operatives, that is now making threats to this woman and posting her personal information all over the web.
We need to deal with the issue of illegal immigration in this town and quickly.
Doug, why didn't you publish the entire article that included S. Matson's commets about the Latino girls spreading their legs to anyone just to get anchor babies and the other degrading things she stated?
If you are going to publish someone else's work or use their work and attach your name to it, have the courtesy to give a whole picture not just a sound bite or two.
Had me a cute little latina out there at the cherry patch. I never did check her green card. Some things just aren't that important.
Maybe next time Shirley Matson will contact ICE instead of an incompetent sheriff.
@Gary...You can't be serious. You accuse Matteo of violating the Constitution. How exactly. He isn't keeping Matson from speaking his mind. He is simply speaking his own. But you, the man quick to defend Matson's right to say what he wants, tells Matteo to "keep his comments to himself." It's apparent that the only views you find worthwhile of protecting are the ones similar to yours. Maybe you should re-read the 1st Amendment and you will find it protects even someone who is "just a cop." Heck it even protects people who display their hypocrisy. That is a good thing for you.
Perhaps Assessor Matson should be Sheriff. She is more concerned with legal behavior than the Sheriff. And the Pahrump newspaper seems biased based on this story.