Mohave County is the fifth largest County area wise in the US and I will be overseeing a budget of over $250Million.
I hope I didn't offend you by my comment that “Bullhead City is not an irrelevant place in the middle of nowhere.”
I have a passing familiarity with your area, I was aware of its importance before the real estate collapse in Southern California and Nevada, but I wasn't entirely sure what had happened more recently since I haven't had a reason to keep close contact with things in your area and didn't want to say outdated things that could be wrong.
FWIW, I used to live in New Mexico and several times considered moving to Arizona or Southern California. Didn't happen and I went back to Missouri years ago. I have relatives living in Las Vegas and I drove through your community several times back in the 1990s while traveling between California, Nevada, and the Midwest.
With a $250 million county budget you've got huge responsibilities. Would I be correct in guessing that a lot of that is utility taxes from the dam?
For whatever it's worth, the Fort Leonard Wood area in which I live was designated last year as the nation's third-fastest growing “micropolitan” area for the 2000-2010 census period, along with The Villages in Florida and one other community in a different state. We're growing tremendously due to national defense spending, but since local governments don't collect tax on federal property, population growth doesn't lead to immediate revenue growth though it does lead to lots of demands for services and new off-post construction that eventually generates revenue, but tax revenue lags significantly behind population growth.
Anyway, you've got lots of work to do and I wish you well. Good luck... any elected official needs it in the current political and economic climate.