Republican’s Might Wanna Saddle Up
Picon generally avoids reporting on rumors, however this story has been repeated enough times, that it makes sense considering the actions of former Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung. The rumor is not the basis of this story, instead it seems to affirm the outcome of Hartung’s exodus and sets the stage for a relatively unknown to be apponted.
The rumor is as follows:
A group of high-placed developers, builders and lobbyists went to Hartung in February 2023 and asked him to resign from his commission seat as of June 30, 2023. Why would they do this? They knew Hartung was at his wits end with Mike Clarks push for transparency and governance by the people and he was considering resigning anyway. These influencers wanted to give a hand-picked appointee the gift of incumbency and to stick it to local activist Robert Beadles. This cabal wanted to ensure Beadles would not have another county commissioners’ ear and thereby maintain their power with the commission. It seems ironic; these developers, builders and lobbyists were seeking to do exactly what they have accused Beadles of doing.
There were only two problems with their plan:
1. It angered Hartung.
2. They didn’t have a fully developed candidate to take his place.
Hartung and the Gov
It would seem this cabal was not aware of Hartung’s long-time friendship with Governor Lombardo’s wife, Donna. We heard Hartung asked the Lombardo’s for a job, and one was offered.
Following the flight of former Washoe County District 4 Commissioner Hartung to the governor’s office, special interests lobbied the governor to appoint Clara Andriola, as the hastily found option. Andriola, who is registered as a Republican, was reportedly brought on to ensure influential builders did not lose their asses.
The builders were supposedly beside themselves after the commission voted 2-to-2 on an additional $28 million spending orgy for the CARES homeless campus. They needed an additional vote to ensure Clark Sullivan Construction did not lose their reported $14 million in pre-purchased materials, presumably purchased when Hartung was a planned ‘yea’ vote on the additional spending. Vaughn’s exodus was also fiddling with County Manager Eric Brown’s desires to build a bigger, no barrier homeless campus.
Is Clara Andriola a Republican?
Appointee Andriola did not disappoint, as she cozied right up and voted with Commissioners Alexis Hill and Mariluz Garcia. Despite extensive public comment opposed to more spending on a couple thousand homeless guests, Andriola voted with the Democrats on the commission to spend more.
Some will question, is voting to approve homeless spending a partisan issue? Apparently, it is, just look at the 2-to-2 vote. By any measure, Clark and Herman are staunch righties and Hill and Garcia are devout lefties. So this sort of spending grinds directly at the rift between parties on the issue of homelessness.
Many of the constituents in Mrs. Andriola’s district presumed she would be a reliable conservative vote on the commission. So far, she has been anything but that. We have readers who have complained that she refuses to respond to emails or calls and that she refuses to discuss her plans for a run in 2024, but we hear she has been asking for campaign donations.
In what appears to be an in-kind donation, the County has featured Andriola in a video splash to help her connect with her nearly 100,000 constituents in her district. Picon sure does not recall Mike Clark or Jeanne Herman being offered such a splash. In fact, we think county leadership is all-in for the new commissioner. She also released a poll, since direct communication seems to be dead. In fact, she failed to respond to our request for comment.
The aftermath of endorsements
Picon understands and embraces cooperative governance in all matters, however there are matters central to each party’s platform and the “Republicans” erased the lines in 2022. As our readers may recall, Bob Lucey lost his seat to firebrand and former Assessor, Mike Clark. Instead of supporting Clark when Lucey lost, he backed the democrat opponent, Keith Lockhart, even buying him the cover of Arrowcreek Magazine, Lucey’s homebase. The endorsements across the wide isle may end up being heavy saddles to carry well into the future.
Wendy Leonard, the apparent darling of Sheriff Darin Balaam, ran against Jeanne Herman as a “Republican” and when she lost, the Sheriff’s de facto support to went to far-left writer and yoga man, Edwin Lyngar. We did not reach out to Balaam for comment, our previous requests were never answered.
Leonard left seniors revulsed when she publicly accused Herman of allowing a local activist to violate her rectum. We pause and consider that Lyngar authored some bizarre and disturbing writings about his son’s penis and Leonard talked about an 83-year-old woman’s rectum, yet Balaam never wavered in his support. Sheriff Balaam never pulled his support for either failed candidate, both of whom he endorsed. Instead, Balaam returned donations from activist Robert Beadles after pressure from special interests. Balaam has reportedly now been bridge-building since neither of his endorsed candidates prevailed.
While Marialuz Garcia’s mannerisms and facial expressions seem to show a deep dislike for Mike Clark, we witnessed Clark leave the dais of a commission meeting and shake hands with his former opponent, Keith Lockhart. Has Garcia made such a gracious effort to connect with Denise Myer? The answer is no.
The Washoe County Central Committee
Andriola will be faced with a partisan race, gearing up soon. Her voting record will be on display, and her district leans conservative, just ask Marie Baker who ran against Hartung in the 2020 election. Andriola will no-doubt rely heavily on her Reno Rodeo association for support, many Rodeo folks are Republicans. Let us not forget, in her prior life Clara was a lobbyist for Associated Builders (ABC), a builders lobbying wing and training center. We certainly believe she will garner support from developers with deep pockets, however she will probably not garner much union support. Last we knew, ABC is a non-union outfit.
While the media seems keen on attacking any Republicans who stick together to push their agenda, the Democrats rarely step outside their party’s stranglehold on free thought and they get a pass, even praise, for solidarity. Picon will call out any politician or elected who conducts themselves contrary to transparent and ethical governance. We are equal opportunity exposers. This article is not meant to lean right or left, instead we bring the truth as we know it, and shine light on what the politicians don’t want you to see.
The Republican party has struggled in the last two election cycles, not only to win state and national seats, but in their ability to coalesce around matters normally Republican. In fact, these struggles have led to sweeping changes in the Washoe County Republican Central Committee. As the sole group in Washoe County, authorized by the State GOP and National Republican Party, they enacted by-laws and a platform that Republican candidates must follow or face a lack of endorsements by local, state, and federal Republican Party groups.
In September 2022, the central committee authored a Resolution, condemning six “Republican” politicians for their endorsement of Democrat candidates. Among the outed politicians were Sheriff Balaam and Sparks Councilman Dahir, the latter who was then additionally disavowed and is no longer recognized as a “Republican.” Picon believes 2024 will provide some insight as to the power of the local Republican Central Committee, given the last condemnation proclamation occurred right before the 2022 mid-terms.
We had a chance to interview Bruce Parks, the current chair of the Washoe Republican Central Committee. Mr. Parks, an outspoken and active community member, was instrumental in defending what he sees as the “Republican Brand” in a series of by-law revisions and resolutions. Mr. Parks, a regular at Commission meetings and the chair of the Spanish Springs Citizens Advisory Board (CAB), was able to secure a meeting with appointed Commissioner Andriola last month. Picon finds it odd Parks would have to push to get this meeting, given his proximity to constituents and the party that will decide if Andriola is elected to this appointed seat. As a politician, it would seem Andriola would be wise to seek allies such as Parks.
Parks met with Andriola on May 22, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. in her county office. She was accompanied by Alexandra Wilson, her assistant (who is also the assistant to Clark and Herman). According to Park’s account, he provided Andriola with the by-laws of her party, and she immediately handed it back, saying, “We aren’t discussing politics” and explained she would only engage in discussions about county issues. Fair enough, it was her agenda and her meeting, however we find it strange she did not offer an alternative meeting location in the future, to avoid discussing “politics” in a county building. We reached out to appointee Andriola for comment, and she did not respond.
Parks seemed unphased by her lack of interest in garnering support from the local party leader, instead saying, “I want to continue to meet with Commissioner Andriola” and “my intent was to help her as a commissioner.” This was not the first time Parks and Andriola met, he was also present at the exclusive party held at Governor Lombardo’s Mansion to celebrate her appointment.
Parks said they had a productive meeting, discussing topics related to the CAB, Washoe County Library Trustee appointments and the Planning Commission. Parks also said he will evaluate Andriola as a politician over time, and Parks recognizes she has only been on the commission for three-months. Parks went on to praise the counties neighborhood HUB outreach. The HUB is a service provided by Washoe County to engage citizens at the neighborhood level, namely surrounding projects being discussed in a neighborhood. If you haven’t checked it out, here is the link. https://neighborhood-washoe.hub.arcgis.com/
Mr. Parks included, “She followed our meeting up with a letter and I responded in kind.” Picon thinks that is a nice touch, however we continue to be perplexed by her lack of communication. We have no doubt Republican party officials will be keeping tabs on Andriola’s voting record as 2024 approaches.
Politics at the Senior Advisory Board
In a strange twist, Picon also learned about Denise Myer and her struggle to garner Andriola’s support for appointment to the Washoe County Senior Citizens Advisory Board.
The Senior Advisory Board District 3 seat has been vacant since before December 2022. In December, Myer applied for the vacancy. A qualified candidate with a master’s degree, she seemed like a logical choice. The Advisory Board appeared supportive and in February 2023 her appointment was on the agenda. In push from some vocal democrats, the agenda item was pulled by Hartung and the seat remains vacant to this day.
Donna Clontz lobbying the board to kick the can in February.
Is it possible Marialuz Garcia is opposed to her appointment, given Myer also ran for the District 3 seat won by the Elko native? And that Andriola is being wooed by Garcia to block Myer’s appointment for political reasons?
Since Picon has seen Ms. Garcia openly displaying a disdain for fellow freshman commissioner, Mike Clark, at the commission meetings, we now wonder is Denise Myer is similarly situated with the controversial Commissioner? Picon would remind readers the Senior Advisory Board is non-partisan, so we are unsure why the county is seemingly making it a political issue.
Appointee Andriola reportedly told Denise Myer that she would consider “all of the qualified applicants” for the appointment on the volunteer board, neglecting to explain how that is possible when only one candidate for District 3 is on the list, Myer. Andriola also reportedly said to Myer, “You don’t know you are the only candidate.” Well, if there is another candidate for the position, produce the evidence Washoe County. Instead, the county responded to our request and tried to cover for the data-driven commissioner, have a read.
We too wondered if commissioner Andriola was confused since there are multiple applicants for the alternate seats. We might mention to Commissioner Andriola, “Point of Order” with only one applicant for District 3 what is to consider? The Washoe County Senior Advisory staff is also recommending Myer.
According to Commissioner Mike Clark, he verified that Denise Myer is the only applicant for District 3, and he is hopeful her appointment will be agendized later this month. As were finishing this story, the county all but confirmed Myer as the heir apparent for the Senior Advisory Board.
Maybe the county was (before we started sniffing around) growing wise to allowing alternative voices at the table. Just look what happened when former Commissioner Bob Lucey refused to appoint Larry Chesney to the Washoe County Board of Adjustment. After years on the planning commission, as a volunteer, and being first-hand witness to county shenanigans, Chesney created Picon Press. In a way, the County birthed Picon Press and we find that ironic.
Picon Press will be eagerly watching to see if Denise Myer is marginalized and excluded based on politics, by the very commissioner who is apparently afraid to discuss politics, Clara Andriola, at the behest of the inclusivity Commissioner, Marialuz Garcia.