CARES Campus is the Safest Place in Nevada?
Washoe County Commissioners Clara Andriola and Alexis Hill enjoy a CARES Campus ribbon cutting.
We’ve posted this Dana Searcy email, at the bottom of the story, to the Washoe County Commissioners on our website, so the email is easier to read. Sometimes we post county emails on our Facebook page and readers have complained they are unable to read the small print. Commissioner Mike Clark forwarded this email to media, attorney Hawah Ahmad, and homeless activist Lily Baran.
Today's episode of "How Not to Run a Homeless Shelter But Pretend Everything's Fine," Dana Searcy graces the County Commissioners with an email that practically screams, "Nothing to see here!" (Though apparently there's plenty for the media to see, if they could get past the fence.)
Let's unpack this masterpiece of institutional obliviousness:
First, we've got a death that might be from November 11th that's still... undetermined. Six weeks later, and we're waiting for answers? What's the holdup - are they sending toxicology reports via carrier pigeon? This isn't "Blue Bloods" - though at least that show wraps up its mysteries in under an hour.
Then there's the magical case of the single sexual assault report since opening. One! Either the CARES Campus is the safest place in Nevada, or - plot twist - maybe those two former CARES Campus security guards spilling tea, off the record to remain employed by Allied Universal, about strategic evictions before reports can be filed might be onto something. But hey, can't have assault statistics if there's no one left to file a report, right? The bigger question, is an elected official, Sheriff Darin Balaam aware of this and turning a blind eye?
The crown jewel? Apparently, Washoe County needed the media to tell them drugs were being sold on campus. to start protocols. Imagine being paid above-market salary to manage a facility and finding out about its problems from the news. It's like hiring a lifeguard who learns about pool drownings from YouTube. We remember former Commissioner Kitty Jung complementing Dana Searcy at a 2022 commissioner meeting about how Searcy has “trained herself on the job.” Maybe some self-training was skipped.
Transparent Nevada from 2022 - Dana Searcy and her boss Ryan Gustafson make a whole lot more than a Washoe County resident median salary. Are Washoe County residents getting their money worth?
No wonder the press is kept at arm's length, allowed in only for carefully choreographed tours that make North Korean state visits look spontaneous. At this rate, maybe County Manager Eric Brown should just hire journalists to run the place - they seem to be the only ones who know what's actually happening.
Meanwhile, Commissioners Hill, Andriola, and Garcia are performing their best "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" routine, while Herman appears to be auditioning for "Clueless: About Homelessness." Commissioner Mike Clark keeps banging the drum asking since 2021 how much money Washoe County taxpayers have been bilked for buying, building, and running the CARES Campus.
Washoe County continues to showcase institutional incompetence, and now they are moving onto mental health, at what cost to Washoe County residents.
Washoe County Division Director Dana Searcy email to commissioners on December 27, 2024.