The Neighborhood Knocking Nightmare, “Meet Me in the Middle, Kathleen Taylor”

The joys of campaigning door-to-door as an appointed incumbent - that special blend of quizzical looks and backhanded compliments that makes grassroots politics so wildly entertaining.

Now, according to her Reno Gazette Journal Opinion, Kathleen Taylor is intimately acquainted with this ritual hazing, the developers' cherished appointed council princess gracing Reno's hallowed dais. After all, nothing spreads civic cheer like a quasi-elected figure touting her benefactor's agenda.

Voters ask, “When were you elected?”

Appointed Candidate, “I was appointed,”

Voter, “By who?”

That is the killer question and where the campaign either soars or splats.

Considering who are the biggest supporters of Appointed City Councilmember Kathleen Taylor, developers, we imagine her time at doors has not been pleasant if she has been transparent.

A group of us have been walking for a number of candidates and have hit doors in Ward 1. From the voters we’ve canvassed we’re hearing they think Taylor was elected and wants to be retained. Now we’re not calling anyone out because the voters we’ve been talking to could be confused, they might think there are now two-year terms on the Reno City Council. It could happen.

What we’ve learnt while knocking on doors, voters don’t think they can fix government anymore and they have given up. They simply hope the Reno City Council don’t ruin their neighborhood. Of late, something that did pique voters’ interest was the ridiculous zoning code charade last fall “Zoning Code Clean-Up,” voters now think it was a smoke screen to plunk more units in neighborhoods hiding behind Assembly Bill 213 passed in 2023. The homeowners and renters we’ve been talking to are worried about more and more units being allowed and what will happen on their already overparked streets, AKA in city talk, density bonus for infill projects. Neighbors are also worried about proposals to allow duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes to be constructed all around them.

Speaking of which, the dais deftly punted the hot zoning potato for duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes at the May 9, 2024 meeting, they moved that down the Cronyism Road for now. Good show for not supplying the final combustible “density for infill” log on Taylor’s campaign bonfire just weeks before the primary election.

The incumbents didn’t want to risk their elections by voting on that hot potato agenda item. Devon Reese, along with appointed Kathleen Taylor and Miguel Martinez knew passage could spell curtains for the council’s Concrete Trio. Be aware voters the agenda item will return when the elections are over and the “developers-get-what-they-want” threesome are working hard/raising funds/sending mailers to be back on the dais (Reese, Taylor and Martinez). A fleeting campaign interregnum for Reno's Residential Demolition Renaissance.

The Barber Brief reported:

There was not only discussion of these proposed changes but many statements about public process and the City’s overall approach to planning, in short, a City Council majority DID NOT support the following:

·         Allowing more categories of housing projects (including affordable housing) to proceed “by right” (without a conditional use permit/public review).

·         Allowing duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes in SF-3 and SF-5 zoning districts.

·         Allowing affordable projects to be built two stories higher and/or to be exempt from requirements for parking or minor/major deviations to setbacks.

As a result, none of the above initiatives will be pursued at this time.

This Is Reno reported:

Council member Kathleen Taylor said she was in support of speeding the review phase and all other proposals involving affordable housing. She pointed out that the projects would still need to meet all requirements and codes to move forward. “We’re getting caught up in the fear of the unknown,” Taylor said. 

Council member Miguel Martinez said he agreed with Taylor, noting he’s hearing from constituents that more affordable housing is needed. He said many of these types of projects would be approved by right in his ward. 

It was interesting in the Reno Gazette Journal opinion quasi authored by Taylor, (reads more like campaign staff wrote it and then threw it to AI for a spiff-up), brought it round to her family so she could cover for voting for every development project that came in front of her, nice try to use her children to mask her votes:

“As a proud mother of two daughters who are about to enter a new exciting chapter of independence, I am saddened that they cannot afford to live in the community that gave me so much. I have supported every affordable housing initiative brought to the City Council, knowing even if we do everything within the City’s jurisdiction, it still will not be enough.”

Taylor’s daughters must live elsewhere. A sacrifice we’re sure throngs of Reno constituents can't wait to replicate, if it means preserving the sanctity of their neighborhoods from Taylor's "Infill All-Henge." Don’t be snowed, Taylor may be knocking on doors but she sure isn’t talking to voters about her close ties to developers.

There is no “meeting in the middle” with Taylor, a vote for her is a rubber stamp for every developer to get their project approved. Will voters swoon over charms like unvarnished entitlement, insulting PR spin, and breezy generational economic alienation, and actually elect Taylor. We’ll know soon enough.

Check Taylor’s voting record, not only on the Reno City Council but when she was a Reno City Planning Commissioner. There is no “middle” for Kathleen Taylor, developers all the way, once elected she will merrily upzone the rabble into oblivion once more.