It is with deep sadness and great disappointment that I find myself forced to announce that I have had to give my notice to the town of Tonopah that I am leaving the mining park. It breaks my heart that I find myself left only with this option after all I have given to expanding and building up the Tonopah Historic Mining Park over the past seven and half years. I sacrificed a lot when I came back to Tonopah in 1999 to specifically run the mining park. I saw the incredible potential of the mining park as a means to bring tourists to this wonderful attraction and give a much needed boost to our local businesses through money spent in motels, restaurants, and other businesses. Simply put, the mining park became my obsession. I was dedicated to constantly improving the park experience and didn’t mind at all putting in more than 4200 documented unpaid overtime hours to make it happen. It was necessary to get projects done, put on special events, and to put the mining park on the national and international map. With such limited other resources, if I didn’t do the extra work, there just wasn’t enough time in the average workday to make things happen.

However, changes have occurred over the last couple of years that made me realize that my efforts were no longer appreciated by a few people and it became apparent, through different actions, that my continued employment at the park was no longer desired. In a number of statements made directly to me, it was obvious that there wasn’t much job security for either myself or the park’s part-time employee. The impression I was given was that because of the rapid growth of the mining park and its current high level of popularity, the current employees could be replaced by lower paid and less skilled and knowledgeable workers to save money. I have to disagree with that assumption. In the scope of the museum field, pay is already well below the Nevada average. Also, at the park, we serve as the goodwill ambassadors for the town. Not only to we give information about what the park offers, we also guide them to different places in town for their needs. Even more important, we provide information on the surrounding area, showing them campgrounds, ghost towns, and other interesting places in Central Nevada to help keep them in our area for a longer period of time. By giving them a pleasant experience at the park, visitors tell their friends and that positive word of mouth is an incredible advantage for Tonopah. Putting in people that don’t have the ability to easily work with visitors can have a devastating effect.

One of the new changes by the town at the park was that, as a part of the continued cutbacks, the only part-time employee would be cut and my work schedule would change to Wednesday through Sunday. I have been told repeatedly I would have to sacrifice my weekend visitation with my daughter because my off days of Mondays and Tuesdays would be mandatory. I am a devoted father. While my daughter Heather lives most of the time up in Carson City, I haven’t missed any of my scheduled time with her. It is already difficult enough for a divorced father thrust into this type of situation. It is completely unacceptable that I would be forced to either keep my job or abandon my child. For me, there is simply no choice here. My daughter is the most important person in my life. It is sad because I came to Tonopah with the mind set that running the mining park and making it the best it could be would be would be my life’s work. I so deeply loved this opportunity that I would never leave voluntarily.

The disappointing and frustrating part is that weekend visitation was the main part of the negotiations between the Tonopah Town Board, the Tonopah Historic Mining Park Advisory Board, and the Public Resource Foundation that brought me to the mining park. Members of these entities in 1999 can attest that my weekend visitations with Heather had to be acceptable before I would risk everything and take the job. I was clearly given a promise that is now being broken. I feel very deeply betrayed. While new work schedule has not been implemented, I can not take the risk since it can be started at any given time. I need to know that my visitation and employment status are both secure and those assurances were not forthcoming. Because the agreement concerning visitation has apparently been rescinded, I can not continue at the mining park. I choose to continue to be a father.

Another troubling factor was compensation. When I came to the mining park, I took a rather dramatic cut in pay but I was willing to do that because of my strong feelings about the mining park and my desire to work on this great project. While I do get the required 1% longevity, there hasn’t been an increase in my base salary in five years. This has made it increasingly difficult to survive financially. When I asked about a raise, I was told I wouldn’t be receiving any raises for the foreseeable future. That is one of the risks of being one of only two salaried employees for the town. Having been in the museum field for many years, I realize that it isn’t a profession one becomes wealthy on. However, I feel my experience, knowledge, dedication and devotion to the mining park should allow for an occasional raise to offset the constant increase of the cost of living.

It has been devastating to me personally to have all the years of such positive accolades about the mining park from thousands of visitors, local residents, colleagues and peers be replaced by the negativity of so few. It has been quite discouraging over the last couple years to be constantly told by my superiors that the mining park "is sucking the town dry." This tells me that there is no understanding about the intrinsic value an impressive and renowned museum has to the town. It is not about money, it is about prestige and having something unique that brings people into the town, to spend their money. While the mining park only makes money directly for the town from the grounds fees, the value of the mining park to the community is irreplaceable. Attendance at the mining park has increased more than 10 fold since 1999 and last year was a record year for entrance fees. The park has changed from an accidental tourist stop to a destination. It brings in people to spend money locally that otherwise would never visit Tonopah. The value of any museum is not on its actual profits it makes but its importance in promoting the local area and making everyone aware of the history a town has to offer. It helps to drive the local economy through its visitors.

During the past 8 years, the park has received over $1 million in successful grants I wrote, much more than the park’s entire budget during that same period. In addition, for the first three years at the park, my entire salary was donated. The park now has a wonderful reputation with the many granting agencies I have dealt with. I was honored when the Nevada Commission on Tourism named me grant administrator of the year. I highly value the confidence these agencies have in my ability to use their money wisely and get the most "bang out of their buck." These grants are written and received for specific purposes. When those purposes are changed after the grant is received, it threatens the park’s reputation and that is unacceptable.

As I regretfully leave the mining park, I am concerned about its future. There are changes in motion that I feel threaten the historical integrity and positive nature of the mining park. There have been changes implemented that I could not support because of their questionable nature. I will not compromise my hard earned integrity or morals, the park means too much to me. It is important that when planning future projects on the grounds, that they don’t damage or destroy the historical ambience of the park. Very careful thought and planning must be done first so that any potential conflicts and consequences can be addressed rather than being stuck with an unsatisfactory result that hurts the park. I truly hope the town’s threats to close the mining park just to save money never happen. It would be a tragedy for Tonopah.

Since one vacant part-time position was never filled and the existing one was cut from four days to two, I have been forced to close the mining park on days when either one of us has been sick or had other commitments. Recently, when my shoulder injury prevented me from working, the park ended up closed for four days during the week because of no backup workers. That is detrimental to a museum when you are closed on days that the park is advertised to be open. If you aren’t honoring your advertised hours, those disappointed visitors will talk. In this business, one negative comment takes away a hundred positive ones.

I am very proud of the rapid and continuous growth of the mining park. There is not one other town that can brag that their town’s museum has been named Best Rural Museum in Nevada for five years in a row. The multiple Governor’s Awards for Tourism Development that the park has received since 1999 are testament that we are continuing on a very positive path. However, I think the thing I most am pleased with are the breathless visitors, who after climbing back up the hill to the visitor’s center, are just so excited over the unique attraction we have. It is because of these people that it has been easy for me to spend so much of my own time up here late at night and on weekends to keep making their experience even better. There is nothing like the mining park anywhere. It is truly a one of a kind museum that can’t be experienced anywhere but in Tonopah.

That is why I am so heart broken that my time at the mining park has come to an end. This has been an opportunity of a life-time that I never expected or thought would be taken away from me. Taking this job was like a homecoming for me because Tonopah has always been my first Nevada home. That is why I came back because I saw the mining park as one entity in Tonopah that could dramatically help the town get back on its feet and put it back on the map. I always have felt that running the mining park was my professional destiny. As a museum professional long before I came here, I saw its uniqueness and relished the chance to take what was basically a huge property with an array of empty, decaying historic buildings and make it a showpiece attraction for the town of Tonopah. It was so much fun filling the buildings with exhibits and artifacts, restoring these historic structures, and publicizing our attractions, that I never called being the Director a job. It was a privilege. More importantly, I always considered it an honor to be able to completely utilize my talents and experience in such a wonderful and rewarding way.

While I am leaving the mining park, I am not leaving Tonopah. This wonderful little town is my home. I also won’t be completely leaving the park either. I look forward to continuing to donate my time working with our core of volunteers working on various park projects. The mining park is in my blood and its future and welfare will always be my concern and I won’t be afraid to raise my objections when I see something happening that is counterproductive to the future of the park. My years here have always been a labor of love and that will never end. I will miss meeting and greeting my friends and visitors at the park. It was a truly awesome experience and one that I deeply hate to see end. I thank the residents of Tonopah and the surrounding areas for their support and kind words over the years.