Sublime to the Ridiculous
In the midst of all the controversy surrounding the Washoe County Republican Party voting on a resolution that they no longer consider Commissioner Clara Andriola a Republican, it has come to our attention that Governor Joe Lombardo is allegedly upset with Picon. However, the truth is that we have never even had the chance to meet the man. It is said that he is irate because we have been shining a light on some questionable actions of his Appointed District 4 Commissioner, Clara Andriola, as well as his failure to thoroughly vet her prior to her appointment. Come on Governor, you should have taken the time to interview all applicants and provide an equal opportunity for everyone. It is apparent that Lombardo’s staff allowed the governor to face pressure from various builders, special interests, and lobbyists in Washoe County. We do not hold the governor responsible; his staff should have stepped in and slowed the process down; however, it is clear that Andriola’s performance is akin to that of a counterfeit designer bag – it may appear appealing initially, but the flaws become evident in due time.
For years, Washoe County had operated without an invocation, but Commissioner Andriola made it a priority to include an invocation on the commission agenda. What the heck could the other four commissioners do but approve Andriola’s idea on June 20, 2023.
Who wants to piss-off God, or more to the point, organized religion in Washoe County, the folks vote. Commissioner Andriola’s initiative to introduce the invocation raised some eyebrows, with speculation it was a move to gain favor with religious organizations. At a recent Republican Women event, Andriola defended the decision by pointing out that the agenda item was approved by the other commissions, seemingly deflecting responsibility for the addition of an invocation. Was Andriola pandering to religious organizations to gain votes, we’ll let our readers decide.
On January 16, 2024, the commission was faced with Jason Miller the founder of Reno Satanic, hailing Satan during the invocation. Unfortunately, Commissioner Andriola wasn’t there to witness the expressions on the residents of Washoe County faces, who had packed the commission chambers due to a later agenda item, no Andriola has skedaddled off the dais prior to Commissioner Alexis Hill having the chance to announce Miller’s name. Picon has asked for public records to learn who had ‘informed’ Andriola that Reno Satanic was performing the invocation, but we have been put off by Washoe311 until March 5, 2024. We have decided to move forward with this article only in the spirit of the records we did receive.
Picon asked for the applications submitted to perform the invocation and we were given the documents rather quickly. One application is from Bruce Parks who is the Chair of the Washoe County Republican Party and Central Committee. Has being a Republican become a religion? This was just too delightful not to make public, since Bruce Parks is also the Chair of Commissioner Andriola’s Spanish Springs Citizen Advisory Board, and Picon has written about Parks attending Andriola’s fundraiser and having chats with her. Another odd application is from Roger Edwards who speaks at many a commission meeting as a “Citizen Lobbyist” apparently attempting to throw dirt at Commission Chair Alexis Hill in her mission to make lobbyists register with Washoe County.
Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, we await the invocation from both Mr. Parks and Mr. Edwards and remember Chair Hill’s comments to KTVN Chanel 2 News Nevada on January 17, 2024, regarding Mr. Miller’s satanic prayer, “As long as you don’t say anything profane or inappropriate or disruptive, then you certainly can speak … and he followed those rules.”
When we reached out to Commissioner Mike Clark for comment he said, “Commissioner Andriola is why we had a Satanic invocation, and she should have stayed the course with the other four commissioners who sat through it. Certainly, Roger and Bruce should have a chance to speak. As should any resident of Washoe County, we opened up the opportunity for an invocation and hence everyone should be able to apply, and all commissioners should sit and listen.”
Circling back to Governor Lombardo and his appointee, we don’t blame the governor, but we urge him next time, to do some additional research so he avoids being ‘sold’ a counterfeit bag.
