Schieve's Crisis Response: Too Little, Too Late, Too Performative

Mayor Hillary Schieve has heroically drawn her mightiest weapon—the strongly worded letter—after Renown already closed the Crisis Care Center doors. With the timing precision of someone showing up with a fire extinguisher after the house has burned down, the mayor is now "questioning" Renown's decision to shutter vital mental health services.

Never mind that Renown, with its considerable resources, chose to axe the program rather than find alternative funding. Remember it just opened in February at the Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health campus. Never mind that a proactive mayor might have gotten involved before the closure was announced. Schieve told the Reno Gazette Journal she has worked on this for seven year. The important thing is that citizens can rest easy knowing their mayor has mastered the art of political theater—expressing outrage after the fact while conveniently avoiding any responsibility for failing to prevent the crisis in the first place.

Washoe County employee Julia Ratti didn’t seem nearly as upset as Mayor Hillary Schieve the Crisis Care Center had closed.

Perhaps next we'll see a strongly worded letter about the Titanic sinking or a stern rebuke about that unfortunate dinosaur extinction. At least the letter should photograph well for her social media accounts.

“Herself’s” letter.