If Mrs. Brown is behind the wheel, should we be scared?
Last year, Picon reported on Washoe County Manager Eric Brown’s wife, Melody Brown, who had a bit of a kerfuffle with the Sparks Police Department in May 2021, and ended up being arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). It appeared that Mrs. Brown received preferential treatment due to her hubby being County Manager Eric Brown. Mr. Brown has some pull with the budget at the Sheriff’s Office and when Mrs. Brown was booked it seems Sheriff Darin Balaam let Mrs. Brown wait for her hubby to come pick her up. No long hours in sitting in the jail, just a mugshot and out the door. Bet if you get a DUI you get locked up, agreed?
Mrs. Brown was given a ‘slap on the wrist’, possibly due to County Manager Brown’s position and her ‘Silver Fox’ criminal attorney. Mrs. Brown put it on the record she would clean up her act and do the ‘right thing’, giving back to the community – so is part of her giving back being on the board of Artown? Now remember, Washoe County is a MAJOR sponsor of Artown. Mrs. Brown has no degree, has no background in art, no background in non-profits, we could go on but why. Sure appears as if her appointment to the board was due to Manager Brown’s position.
In our report last year, when we received the Sparks Police Department’s body-cam from her arrest, we paused when Mrs. Brown kept pointing out her husband was the County Manager. That is why, when we had a reader alert us to another Sparks Police Department complaint about Mrs. Brown and her erratic driving in April 2023, we decided to ask for comment and author this story for our readers to weigh. Needless to say, we had no response from Brown or the County. We did however verify with Sparks Police that her vehicle was called in as a possible “1055”, which we are told is police lingo for DUI.
In the April report, it would seem Mrs. Brown was unable to maintain her lane and stopped in the middle of the intersection of Vista and Golden Triangle on April 27, 2023. Picon did some sleuthing and learned Mrs. Brown attended a fundraiser that same evening for Appointed Commissioner Clara Andriola at former Washoe County Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler’s home.
Berkbigler, a Republican, Andriola, maybe a Republican, and Brown a Democrat, is an odd mix. Why was Mrs. Brown at Marsha Berkbigler’s home for a fundraiser for Clara Andriola? Eric Brown reports to Andriola along with the other commissioners. We can’t know if Mrs. Brown gave Andriola a check until January 15, 2024, because that is the first campaign Contribution and Report due from candidates. We do find it very interesting that Berkbigler is making rumblings about running against Alexis Hill and Manager Brown is chumming it up with her and Adriola.
Picon also ponders if Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman had Mrs. Brown show up at one of their 2022 fundraisers. We checked their C&E Reports for 2022, and no monies from Eric Brown or Melody Brown appear on their reports. Perhaps Herman and Clark had ‘dry’ events? All we can say is Mrs. Brown had reportedly been at Berkbigler’s home this day in April 2023, and later got a Sparks Police Department complaint call about her erratic driving on the way home to Wingfield Springs. It would seem stopping in the middle of an insertion with a green light is fairly dangerous, and indicative of impaired driving.
Fast forward to another more recent event Mrs. Brown attended, where she was overhead talking about a party she was planning to attend at Marsha Berkbigler’s home. While we don’t know who this party was for, we know one thing and that is County Manager Eric Brown attended the party with his wife. How do we know? Photos don’t lie and Picon has no problem paying sources for information.
Why should our readers be interested in this dribble? Because former Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler has announced she is seeking to regain her commission seat in District 1 against sitting Commission Chair Alexis Hill in 2024. Hill beat Berkbigler in 2020. In 2023, Hill is working closely with County Manger Eric Brown to keep the citizens silenced at meetings and not allowing Commissioner Mike Clark to get public comment on the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners Agenda. Where do Manager Brown’ loyalties lie?
Politics begets strange bedfellows, and none stranger than those in this story.