Kathleen Cares! When Did That Start?
The June 12, 2024, City of Reno Government City Council meeting had everyone on the edge of their seats, especially during the discussions surrounding Agenda Item D.2 - Allocation of Contingency Funds for Fiscal Year 23/24. It felt like an episode of Survivor as we awaited the fate of the allocations.
Mayor Hillary Schieve's impassioned “hunger games” rant about 'ward-only voting after the legislature failed to advance the city’s charter bill in 2023 sparked some comic relief. It's worth noting in 2023 that the bill's failure was due to an attempt to maintain the 'at-large' seat, held by Mayor Schieve's ally, Devon Reese. It's clear that the legislative body wasn't swayed by Schieve's lobbying to keep the at-large seat, and her buddy Reese firmly planted in it. The question to be asked and we believe it has been answered is if Reese hadn’t been the at large councilmember would so many Renoites have trekked to Carson City to give comments during the hearing. That is what nailed the coffin of ending the “at-large” seat.
Back to the council meeting, it amazes us what a silly little thing like a primary can do to an “Appointed” City Councilmember such as Kathleen Taylor. The voter turnout in Ward 5 soon to be Ward 1 during the primary election is abysmal. It’s as if Ward 5, soon to be Ward 1, gave up, or perchance they are simply as confused as everyone else is over the renumbering of the wards and decided not to vote to air their grievance. Not a wise move folks.
Taylor obviously didn’t want to vote for the Emergency Horse Fencing Allocation but really what choice did she have. Kill more horses, injure more residents, cause more mayhem, or go with the flow, something Taylor seems incapable of. Taylor gave it the “old college try” to shift the vote so the fence might not be approved, or more monies being allocated for it, heck even “we wrote it for you so read it” Appointed City Councilmember Miguel Martinez tried to help her out with a comment about waste. Martinez needs to take a look at his numbers, primary votes in Ward 3 was second to Ward 1s turnout, running just a tad behind his buddy Taylor. Could it be the whole appointed thing?
The council did approve $315,000 for the South Reno Horses Emergency Fencing. It was time and needed to be done.
Taylor's claims at the council meeting starkly contrasted with the sentiment expressed by residents at her Neighborhood Advisory Board Meeting, the night before, June 11th. While she mentioned residents' fear for their safety, public comments revealed a different narrative. Rather than fear, residents were expressing frustration with issues such as car noise and gunshots. It's evident that downtown residents are seeking effective solutions from the City of Reno, and none have materialized until recently, could that be due to the election? We heard that the City of Reno has no one for the folks who live downtown at The Montage, Palladio, Arlington Towers, etc. to call after hours and that is when the bad actors come out, so who can they talk to when the events (AKA noise, gunshots, etc.) are taking place.
At the Reno City Council meeting Taylor said, “Last night at “MY” NAB I had 40 people saying they were not feeling safe in the streets because of gunshots and things that were happening in the alleyways.” No, Kathleen, we heard residents saying they didn’t think the City of Reno was doing their job. Oh, wait that would be the Appointed City Councilmember hand-picked by Mayor Hillary Schieve, No-Longer-At-Large City Councilmember Devon Reese, and former-leaving-under-a-cloud-of-questions City Manger Doug Thornley not doing her job, that she was appointed to not elected to.
Why would Taylor try to put a spin on the downtown residents being “afraid.” We dare you to watch the NAB meeting because we sure didn’t get that vibe. We got that the residents are fed-up and are going to hold the City of Reno’s feet to the fire and finally make them do something productive downtown. After 38-minutes of the NAB public comments, Councilmember Taylor spoke about the importance of the “nighttime stuff” and “nighttime enforcement.”
Might we ask what “stuff” means, what does it encompass? Is it a new technical “elected” term coined by Taylor. Meaning I don’t know how to fix the “stuff” so I’m going to call it “stuff” so people can’t really figure out what I can’t fix.
Hey, Kathleen look at your election results, voters have figured it out. It's clear voters are looking for concrete plans and solutions, particularly during the 2024 election.
Our advice Kathleen, get a new team to run your campaign. Your primary messaging just didn’t work. It would seem ‘animal-centered-events’ didn’t pull at voters’ heartstrings during the primary. We know from your comments on the dais you don’t much care for horses, or the people of Reno.