Follow-Up to EDAWN Story “Knuckleheads… funded by that Beadle fellow”

Our reporting last week about an email from EDAWN employee Katy Simon Holland to Councilwoman Bybee has created quite a stir. This sort of email is important for the public to see, hence why Picon Press finds plenty to write about in public records.

Following the article, we heard back from Charlene Bybee, who said in part, “My response was not conducting politics.,{sic} I expressed my personal opinion. Whenever someone new actively participates in our election process, it’s natural for there to be questions. That’s why I reached out to Mr. Beadles earlier this summer to introduce myself and talk about our shared goals for the Sparks community and he hasn’t been available to speak with me. I look forward to a conversation when he returns my call.” Attached is our correspondence with her.

We reached out to Robert Beadles for comment, and he said, “If shes (Bybee) trying to get ahold of me she has not tried very hard.” Beyond that, Mr. Beadles suggested we look at her voting records to see if Charlene Bybee works for the people or herself. 

Katy Simon Holland’s boss, Mike Kazmierski, responded several times, including a confirmation that she violated policies and he said, “…I can assure you that she will not do this again.” Despite this stern and public rebuke of Katy Simon Holland’s actions, we have yet to hear back as to why he was copied on the original email and why the email indicated it was her and Mike’s request to Councilwoman Bybee. His response simply makes it appear as though Katy Simon Holland was thrown under the proverbial school bus.  

Picon Press also spoke with Jeff Church, current Washoe County School Trustee. Mr. Church was incredibly surprised by the email from Katy Simon Holland and agreed with her assessment, that without any other conservative on the board he is blocked from any agenda item. Mr. Church said that in his two-years on the board he has never had any of his items make it to the agenda.

Mr. Church went on to explain that an op-ed which ran in the Reno Gazette Journal from Sarah Mahler, the Chair of the local Democrat Party, was forwarded on School District email by Victoria Campbell, the public information officer. That email contained a link to the story penned by Sarah and included derogatory comments about Church, including, “Even if just one of these challengers wins, Trustee Church will have anally to get his counterproductive motions on the agenda.”  The op-ed ended with an invitation to a fundraiser hosted by Beth Smith for the incumbents. The incumbents include Ellen Mintetto, Joe Rodriguez, and Adam Mayberry. If the verbiage of this op-ed sounds familiar, it echoes the suggestion from Katy Simon Holland as to the need to prevent Jeff Church from having a second on the board. Did Katy also offer her draft op-ed as talking points for the Democrat Chairwoman?

Church also explained the previous superintendent, Kristen McNeil was on the board of EDAWN as is the current Superintendent, Susan Enfield. This appears very troubling, as we still have no explanation from Mike Kazmerski as to why Katy Simon Holland’s email suggested he was also asking Councilwoman Bybee to use her influence on appointed boards to support certain candidates running for political office. We have asked Victoria Campbell and Superintendent Enfield for comment.

When we reported last week, the email from Katy Simon Holland was missing an attachment. According to her, she authored an op-ed for the Reno Gazette Journal regarding the upcoming school board elections. In the email, she said she was waiting to send to it the RGJ, “Until I get it cleared by the School District.” We have submitted a public records request to determine who is authorizing a nonemployee to publish an op-ed. We further wonder if the RGJ is aware that Katy Simon Holland is planning to use their forum, designed for opinion pieces, to publish an orchestrated and school district vetted article that appears to be politically motivated? We have included her “draft OpEd” for our readers review, following a request for the attachment from the City of Sparks.

We have also reached out for comment from Katy Simon Holland, and we will update the story as needed.

img20220921_16222342 by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd

img20220921_13595820 by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd