I Scream, You Scream, Washoe County Thinks Senior Citizens Scream for Ice Cream
A few of us are getting a bit longer in the tooth and we don’t mean a sweet tooth, we mean we are all getting older and with age comes some sage knowledge. That knowledge lends us to know that seniors can’t be baited with food. It appears Washoe County government is treating seniors as if they were a child whose parents are baiting them with a cookie to do their bidding. The only difference is Eric Brown, the County Manager and Amber Howell, Human Services Agency & Senior Services are doing it to seniors with soft serve.
We were surprised when reading through the Washoe County Staff Report of September 13, 2022, the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds the county is doling out to various programs. It is like watching an old rerun of Oprah’s daytime talk show, ‘you get a car, and you get a car … ‘
While Washoe County seniors are getting a whopping $15,000 for a soft serve ice cream machine so, in the words of the county: “project will support the purchase of a soft serve ice cream machine to encourage participation in social activities.” It would seem other projects (seniors account for about 1/5 of the Washoe County population) are doing a whole lot better and getting a whole lot more ARPA funds.
Here is where the county is spending the leftovers:
· Northern Nevada Public Health - Mobile Outreach Vehicle Command Post - Project #22 gained an additional $85,498
· Juvenile Services - Multisystemic Therapy (MST) Pilot Program for high-risk juvenile justice involved youth – Project #34, in a total amount of $661,924.
· Office of the County Manager - Elections Translation and County Website Accessibility – Project #36, in the amount of $300,000.
· Washoe Wellness Center (an on-site fitness facility for use by county employees in connection with work) - $48,000
· Our Place Community Garden Fencing project in a total amount of $164,377 (an increase of $34,377 over the $130,000 allocated and approved by the Board on December 14, 2021),
9-13-2022 Staff Report by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd
The Washoe County Staff report is attached. You can look at where this batch of ARPA funds are directed. It would seem a pilot program, election translation, community fencing surrounding a free garden, and a wellness facility for Washoe County employees are all more important than the senior population.
The county could have used ARPA funds for senior housing since they are allocating money to Reno Housing Authority for Affordable Housing, but nothing is clearly earmarked for seniors.
We have yet to figure out why the purchase order from Cresco/Resco indicates a total of $26,302.00 for 2 machines. We thought it might be a typo or perhaps Washoe County is buying a soft serve machine for their Washoe Wellness Center so county employees can be ‘encouraged’ to socialize after working out.
Application Form Ice Cream Machine by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd