Speak No Evil: Commissioner Alexis Hill’s Selective Gavel Censorship

Alexis Hill doesn’t care about free speech, and over the last year she’s proven it monthly with her gavel, however no more so than this last month with the dustup over $10,000 and an alleged swastika. The people Hill decided to chastise have now turned against her and are supporting her opponent. Is it deserved, our guest columnist thinks so: 

Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill — aka Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee — unsurprisingly has a flexible (aka malevolent) relationship with the First Amendment.

You’ll recall Her Gag Orderness —oops, Commissioner Hill — consistently tries to prevent or limit (sometimes successfully) people and organizations whose speech she disagrees with from speaking before the Commission or having items placed on meeting agendas. She treats this founding principal of our democracy as her personal plaything.

Consider her recent effort to rescind the $10,000 donation Commissioner Mike Clark made from his discretionary funds to Reno Toy Run, supported by a local consortium of motorcycle groups that conducts an annual toy drive for children in need.

At the June meeting in which the Commission approved the donation — a process that lies at the core of political free speech — a member of one motorcycle group appeared in a jacket with a swastika on the back.

The member said the symbol was a bent cross (another example of free speech, even if divisive). Hill declared, without proof, the symbol was a Nazi swastika, and so she tried to claw back the donation.

In the lead up to the July vote in which the Commission affirmed the donation (and, by extension, the principle of free speech), “reporter” Ben Margiott of KRNV-Fox 11 TV ran a story on the controversy, which was framed not as a free speech issue (which it was), nor as an attempt by Hill to deprive kids in need of toys (which it also was), but as a brave fight by Hill against supposed bigotry.

The timing of the story has invited appropriate speculation. Did Margiott share an image of the jacket with Hill and Washoe County propaganda staff in an effort to craft a story favorable to Hill, in a violation of fundamental journalism ethics? Did County propaganda staff coordinate with Margiott? Or did they take Margiott’s information and run with it?

The story appears to be part of a larger effort by the County (including County Manager Eric Brown) to position Hill as the face of the Commission or a force on it — even as she runs for re-election. Such efforts, we don’t need to remind readers, run afoul of Nevada law, which requires public officials to refrain from political activities.

But Commissioner Hill doesn’t care. The First Amendment, in her view, exists to serve her campaign. Free Speech for Me but not for Thee.