Mariluz Was Missed
Voters, you really need to pay attention to what is going on at Washoe County Government. Yesterday, Agenda Item 10.E.1 approving the “Early Voting and Election Day locations.” It was mentioned by a public commenter that Appointed Commissioner Clara Andriola has a campaign office at Red Hawk which will also be one of the polling locations. Conflict? Could be.
Commissioner Hill and Andriola voted to approve the polling locations, and Commissioner Herman and Clark voted to not approve the polling locations.
Commissioner Alexis Hill: “So that motion fails two-to-two. It will be brought back at our next meeting to approve those locations.” Maybe a poor choice of words, but Hill was clearly upset.
We learned at the meeting the sample ballots are printed, and the commission needed to acknowledge these polling locations today. Chief Deputy District Attorney Mary Kandaras said, “these polling places need to be approved or there will not be voting.”
Commissioner Alexis Hill knew she was backed into a corner and was so angry she went on the record with her extremely questionable comment about bringing the item back to approve the locations. Does she know how Commissioner Mariluz Garcia will be voting at the next meeting? Would Garcia have been a vote to approve the locations? Might she have been uncomfortable with Andriola’s campaign office? We’ll never know.
Commissioner Alexis Hill: “This is a really irresponsible vote by the board. I am very discouraged and concerned about this. I would like to see us vote again on this and try to think with clearer heads. We’ve heard from the DA that this is not a concern. And so, just deciding you have a problem with a commissioner and their office location that is not appropriate. So Commissioner Clark I have you signed in.”
Commissioner Mike Clark: “I don’t know if, you said it will be brought back at the next meeting and we’ll approve it. Do you have a crystal ball how do you know it will be approved the next time?”
Commissioner Alexis Hill: We have to bring it back, on tied votes, they must go back.
Commissioner Mike Clark: You didn’t hear what I said, you said it will be approved then. How do you know for a fact that it will be approved. I find that offensive that you’re predicting the future. But let’s move on and see if we can fix this problem.
At this point Clark tried to ask and question from DA Kandaras and had yet another tussle with Hill interrupting him. At one point Clark inquired of Hill, “What are you, my mother?” Clark pointed out “every time I want to have a discussion and bring out some thoughts you are going to think for me.” He pointed out how Hill constantly interrupts him.
If this meeting could sink any lower, it did, when Commissioner Andriola offered to take sodium pentothal as long as it is administered by a trained professional swearing that she will not have campaign materials in view or near the polling place at Red Hawk, stating, “it is just an office.” If she does no ‘campaign business’ at the Red Hawk office then why didn’t she just offer to close it. Instead, she went the route of sodium pentothal?
Remember voters, this is Governor Joe Lombardo’s appointee. We’ve never heard a commissioner offer to be injected before.
It appeared, Commissioner Mike Clark, who almost always looks at each item as a business decision realized this would cost the county a whole lot of dough, and might impact voting in the primary, decided to throw DA Kandaras and ROV Burgess a lifeline and offered to change his vote, and voted in favor of approving the “Early Voting and Election Day locations.”
However, per ROV Burgess the Red Hawk location will not be on the list for the General Election in November, but then Andriola’s big challenge right now is getting through the primary.
Our suggestion to all the candidates running against Andriola in the primary and the two nonpartisans set for the general election is to drive by Red Hawk and visit her campaign office. Verify there are no campaign materials. If you see campaign materials take a photo, and as DA Kandaras stated on the dais this would be ethics violation to be submitted.
