Washoe County's Latest Recipe: How to Serve Cold Sandwiches with a Side of Incompetence

The folks delivering Meals on Wheels are telling seniors why they are getting cold sandwiches but Washoe County remains mum.

Turns out Washoe County forgot one teensy detail while shutting down the 9th Street kitchen - actually getting permits for the backup plan. Yes, folks, in a building that LITERALLY HOUSES the Northern Nevada Public Health, they couldn't get their permitting ducks in a row. You can't make this stuff up.

So now, our seniors are being served the "Washoe County Special" - cold sandwiches for FOUR STRAIGHT DAYS. Oh, and no soup because they don’t have the permitting to cook it.

What Washoe County is delivering to seniors via Meals on Wheels. Would you eat this?

On Monday, January 13, 2025, Commissioner Mike Clark asked Washoe County’s Human Services Director Ryan Gustafson about the permitting, while presenting him the sandwich Clark was served at the Sparks Senior Center. Gustafson’s response was, "We're working on it." Translation: "Oops, we messed up but don't want to admit it."

Meanwhile, County Manager Eric Brown (you know, the guy who just got that cozy $34,000 bonus) is presumably too busy counting his extra cash to notice seniors are getting the cold shoulder - literally.

The real kicker? This isn't just about sandwiches - it's about basic human dignity. Our seniors built this community, and now they can't even get a hot bowl of soup because somebody couldn't be bothered to make sure all the necessary paperwork was complete and approved?

Picon is thinking about starting a petition to urge Washoe County’s $34,000 man-County Manager Eric Brown to rehire former Human Services Director Amber Howell, this would have never happened on her watch.