Washoe County’s Club Med

At the recent Washoe County Board of County Commissioner meeting, December 12, 2023, the annual review of County Manager Eric Brown was a topic of discussion. It is worth noting that Manager Brown’s compensation is slightly below that of Las Vegas County Manager Kevin Schiller, who was previously a Washoe County Assistant County Manager.

 Considering that Las Vegas is the 11th largest city in the United States, there should be scrutiny regarding the slim difference between Manager Brown's compensation and that of the Las Vegas County Manager. This highlights the disparity in income between officials in different regions of Nevada. Considering the significant difference in population size and economic activity between Washoe County and Las Vegas, the closeness in compensation seems questionable.

 With the exception of Commissioner Mike Clark, who did not submit an evaluation for Manager Brown’s annual review, and when we asked, will not go on the record as to why. The rest of the commissioners provided Manager Brown with highly positive reviews. The unanimous approval of his performance raises questions about the validity of a 100% rating from Commissioner’s Hill, Garcia, Andriola, and Herman, as it suggests that there are no areas for improvement. Additionally, Commissioner Alexis Hill’s proposal for a 10% bonus for Manager Brown may raise concerns about the allocation of taxpayer money, all $33K of it.

 Picon found it odd at a Reno City Council meeting earlier this year Mayor Hillary Schieve proposed the very same 10% bonus for City Manager Doug Thornley. Mayor Schieve worked with Commissioner Alexis Hill at the City of Reno, perchance a coincidence that Hill proposed the same 10%, we think not. Hill might have pondered if residents of Reno put up with a $20K bonus for Thornley, then a 10% bonus for Brown might not be a difficult pill for residents of Washoe County to swallow. As these discussions regarding Manager Brown’s performance and compensation continue, it is important to consider the implications of taxpayer-funded bonuses and the potential discrepancies in managerial compensation across different cities/regions of Nevada.

Think about this, taxpayers in Washoe County have paid out $53K in bonusses to County Manger Eric Brown and Reno City Manager Doug Thornley in 2023. We wonder how many residents received a bonus this year and how much. Was your bonus even close to what Brown and Thornley received?

Our question, for all these taxpayer monies being paid to County Manager Brown, what will be his legacy to Washoe County.

Under Brown’s direction, the Cares Campus has transformed into what some have described as a ‘Homeless Club Med.’ An all-inclusive homeless facility, this is a no barrier shelter where you have the amenity of a prolonged stay. The county is building 50 housing units and Accessible Space is building 120 units so campus guests will move from the tent or safe camp to campus housing. This has raised concerns about the perpetuity of the situation and its impact on the community and cost to taxpayers.  As Catrina Peters, Data and Policy Specialist to the County Manager wrote on July 28, 2022, “Cares Campus – we are going to focus on putting all our resources towards this app and making the best case possible that while other more conventional affordable housing programs may be lower cost per unit, granting funds into this project would allow us to operate Supporting Housing in perpetuity.”  

One of the contentious issues surrounding Manager Brown’s tenure is the lack of transparency and detailed statistics on the homeless population within Washoe County. The communications team at Washoe County is doing a terrific propaganda campaign working with Reno Gazette-Journal, The Wall Street Journal, ABC7 San Francisco pitching positive stories about the Cares Campus. Expounding that ‘Reno’ has cut the unhoused population in half.

Commissioner Mike Clark commented about a response he had read from Washoe County’s Daily Media Report regarding a media request a few weeks ago, when a reporter had asked about employment among the homeless population, or ‘unhoused.’ They were looking for employment statistics. Washoe County replied, “We don’t have a means to query data on anyone in Washoe County without a fixed address. We do have information on income for people at the Cares Campus, but we don’t collect detailed information on full time versus part time employment.” Can anyone explain to us what the heck that means? Do they have data or not.

Another point of interest is the extent to which Washoe County, as mentioned in the Reno Gazette Journal article, shares in data collected from the Built for Zero initiative. Data sharing plays a vital role in creating a comprehensive understanding of homelessness and in designing effective strategies to address it. Built for Zero is a comprehensive and ambitious effort to end homelessness in communities. Its core principle is to gather accurate and detailed information about every individual experiencing homelessness, including their specific circumstances and needs, moving away from broad generalizations and stereotypes. Would this not include employment data?

Washoe County celebrated a significant milestone with the allocation of a $21.9 million Homes Means Nevada Affordable Housing Initiative in 2022. This money paved the way for the construction of 50 units of perpetual homeless housing, making a crucial step in advancing  Manager Brown’s vision of addressing the issue of homelessness in the region. The icing on the cake came with the award of a $15.8 million grant to Accessible Space, with plans to build 120 additional units on a $5.5K Washoe County Cares Campus parcel acquired from the Reno Housing Authority which Accessible Space has leased back at $1.00 per year. Commissioner Mike Clark mentioned Commissioner Clara Andriola ‘corrected’ him at a November 2023 meeting when he was discussing his discomfort using taxpayer dollars for building these projects. Andriola took the opportunity to point out this was a Home Means Nevada Initiative and is at ‘no cost to taxpayers’ in Washoe County. Clark commented it is all ultimately taxpayer dollars unless Andriola can show him what business the government is in making money, like manufacturing a widget.

Additionally, Clark called for an increased consideration for taxpaying blue-collar seniors who rely on pensions, savings, and social security to support themselves. With the rising cost of living and inflation, it is crucial to ensure that these individuals are able to maintain financial stability and he wants to see the county do more. Clark commented about the amount of money being put forth by Manager Brown for 1,700 homeless individuals vs 100,000 seniors in Washoe County. Clark said, “It just doesn’t add up to me.”

 Picon is getting our sunscreen and flip-flops ready to see how Brown’s Club Med turns out.