Hack; a rough cut, blow, or stroke
Monday, May 13, 2024, will be the first Community Homelessness Advisory Board Meeting since September 11, 2023. When we were sent these photos from a Nevada Wins Pac Gala $500 per seat dinner, with the keynote speaker being none other than Congressman Mark Amodei we were struct with the idea of homeless and an expensive Republican dinner.
Councilmember Kristopher Dahir has been in a public social media battle with Commissioner Mike Clark about the Nevada Cares Campus and Community Homelessness Advisory Board meetings. Dahir who expounds on how he understands the plight of the homeless might think about a ‘$500 per plate dinner’ vs ‘champion of the homeless’ optics.
Back on April 26, 2024, we wrote about a plea from Melissa Dahir asking for volunteers to walk for Kristopher Dahir’s re-election campaign, she said, “Kristopher just does not have the physical capability to walk like that these days.” Kris and Melis were asking people to hand out 10,000 flyers. Their hard-working Sparks neighbors/supporters needed to go door to door for them, we’re going to bet none of the people that Kris and Melis asked to walk for them were at this exclusive, ‘elite Republicans only’ $500 a seat, dinner. Guess Kris has the strength to attend a dinner with rich contributors and pay $1,000. We’ll be watching his Nevada Secretary of State Contribution and Expense Report in July 2024 for his accounting for the dinner, meaning did he pay or was he hosted and by who.
Paul Anderson also attended to hobnob with rich Republicans. Picon wonders if Anderson was able to catch a few minutes with Congressman Mark Amodei about his faux pas back on May 8, 2023, Picon reported on, when Anderson claimed at the Sparks City Council Meeting, on the record, that Congressman Mark Amodei, Senator Cahterine Cortz-Masto and Senator Jacky Rosen had all complimented what a great job Neil Krutz was doing on the Washoe County Lands Bill. Amderson used this defense to keep Krutz employed, citing political power players support for Neil.
Picon reported on Anderson’s claim and contacted the three political powerhouses who had no knowledge of their ‘supposed’ comments made to Anderson. Anderson corrected his faux pas months later, September 2023, when Krutz was no longer employed by the City of Sparks.
Are Anderson and Dahir those kinds of guys? Hanging out with rich folks at night sipping champagne, while expecting the regular folks, volunteers, to do all the heavy lifting during the day; putting up campaign signs, canvassing, door to door candidate knocking. You have only to look at their Nevada Secretary of State Contribution and Expense Reports to know they are ‘just those guys.” Developers, special interest, lobbyist money and it is interesting how many of these contributors have helped not only Kris and Paul’s Sparks City Council races over the years, but surprisingly Councilman Donald Abbott too.
Abbott, as a nonpartisan, should have a C&E that looks a whole lot different than Dahir and Anderson, but the same names keep coming up. Could that be the ‘leader of the pack’ in Sparks, Mayor Ed Lawson who is asking contributors to give to ‘his boys.’ What could happen to Lawson’s reign in Sparks if he is to lose say, one or two council seats and not have the backing of his ‘good old boys’ club.
We may very well find out this election cycle. Anderson is in ‘deep kimchi’ in his Ward 3 race with newcomer Brad Fitch breathing down his neck, knocking doors - running a grass roots campaign. Anderson’s other challenger Marie Baker, no novice to campaigns running against former Commissioner Vaughn Hartung in 2020, is going for an all out sign blitz.
Ward 1 with ‘only lost the Sparks Mayoral race by 689 votes in 2022’ Chris Garvey burning up shoe leather walking while Abbott rides around in retired fire and police vehicles bragging about his support by fire and police unions, The police union, that endorsed him, was the very one he left two six packs of beer for a few weeks back.
Then there is Dahir who has School Board Trustee Joe Rodriguez with his FULL support from the Washoe Democratic Party trying to unseat him. Hence, Kris’s real need to have people walk for him. While we question if it is stamina or just a ‘must get walkers’ need. The Republicans are not great at canvassing nor going door to door, so to volley back at the door knocking blitz by Rodriguez and the Democrats, Dahir is asking for help.
Dahir and Anderson went to this ‘big ticket’ dinner to get access to more money for their campaigns. Let's highlight the importance of practicing what you preach. If these rich politicos want to help Dahir and Anderson stay in office, they need to lead by example and show some skin in the game, not just contributions. Actions speak louder than words, especially when those actions involve showing up to canvass neighborhoods and engaging with the community. None of the dinner contributors will be knocking on one door, making one phone call, or going grassroots, which that alone might be why Dahir, Anderson and Abbott are so very vulnerable. Who supports them other than Mayor Lawson? Sure, they have a lot of ‘incumbent’ endorsements, but we hear the very organizations endorsing them are apologizing to their opponents, saying they had no other option. Abbott is so worried he got a shill candidate in his Ward 1 race, Nicolas Lee, but Picon will be commenting on that in the next week.
The Nevada Wins Pac Gala attendees will be sipping mimosas sitting pretty in their ivory towers while Dahir and Anderson ask the residents of Sparks to break a sweat on their campaigns. Believe us these contributors expect others to do the grunt work and won’t get a speck of dust or wad of gum on the bottom of their Louboutins.
We’ve written a lot about Kris and Paul and many of their comments have come back to us regarding their opinion of Picon. After our Picket Fence of Privacy article, when Kris & Melis were asking for walkers since Kris couldn’t’ walk as much as in previous campaigns. Comments were made Picon is shill journalists, pretend journalists, political hacks engaging in political theatre. While the last comment is a bit over our heads, perhaps Councilmember Dahir could ask Reno Councilmember Reese what it means, since he was the first elected to coin the phrase, but now Dahir is running with it.
We live by the creed “When in Rome” and since Councilmember Dahir thinks we are journalist hacks let’s ask a question that a hack might inquire. Councilmember Dahir we note you are again using a cane, your wife has asked for campaign help due to you not having the physical capability to walk, you leave events early, usually someone is with you to help you, to steady you along the election path, is there something you should be telling the voters of Sparks? Any health issues you are omitting?
Our point, in June 2024, after the primary Picon remains hopeful there won’t be an announcement from the City of Sparks Government about any sort of health issue Dahir might be faced with. We believe “there but the grace of God go I” and wish Councilmember Dahir only the best of health, but this is a political race, and he is in the public eye, and any hack journalist would ask this health question.
