💼 Cosmetic Reform or Power Grab at Washoe County Government?
Concerned Citizen Speaks Out About What the June 25 Washoe Commission Meeting Means for Taxpayers
As advertised, the June 25 Washoe County Commission meeting was intended to provide a critical examination of the internal dysfunction within the county government, specifically the County Manager’s office. A $30,000 consultant report from Raphtelis was billed as a fix for broken systems and fractured leadership.
But for engaged citizens like Penny Brock, who shared with me, and who has attended nearly every commission meeting since 2022, what unfolded was anything but reform. From her perspective—and that of many taxpayers—the report fell short, overlooked the public, and may have exacerbated the issue.
🚨 A Report About the Commissioners—Not the County Manager
Penny was blunt: “This was supposed to be a review of the County Manager’s office and why it’s dysfunctional. Instead, it turned into a critique of the commissioners.”
That pivot matters. The public has voiced serious concerns about County Manager Eric Brown, including delayed records requests, rising staff costs, opaque communication, and budget mismanagement.
Yet none of that was addressed in the consultant’s recommendations.
More troubling? The consultant never interviewed members of the public who’ve dealt with the County Manager’s office directly.
🧠 Fewer Meetings = Fewer Voices
Among the most controversial recommendations? Reducing the number of Board of County Commission meetings from three to just two per month.
Penny and others are not having it:
“Citizens already don’t have enough time to comment. Sometimes, we can’t even speak on agenda items. These meetings run until 5 PM, sometimes 8 PM. If they drop to two a month, are we going to start adjourning at midnight?”
More meetings aren’t a nuisance—they’re the minimum that we expect from our county government. Washoe is a county with rising taxes, homelessness issues, and ongoing redevelopment fights. Cutting meeting time in half looks less like reform and more like a retreat from responsibility.
🗣️ Speech Under Siege: Free Speech Isn’t a Political Option
Another issue raised by Penny: Chair Alexis Hill’s track record of limiting public comment.
Initially, public comment time was removed from agendas for several months.
Commissioner Hill regularly gaveled down critics, which was against the rules.
Recesses were called by Hill mid-comment when speakers challenged the board.
Now, Commissioner Mariluz Garcia reportedly wants to scrap Commissioner First Comment, too—an open forum where even elected officials can speak freely.
These moves are more than procedural—they strike at the heart of First Amendment protections: the right to petition the government and speak freely without fear or silencing, something that Hill and Garcia don’t seem to be in favor of.
“The Commissioners on this board don’t like freedom of speech,” Penny said. “They don’t want criticism—they want control.” She’s not the only one that feels this way.
👨🏫 “Orientation” or Indoctrination?
The Raphtelis report recommends a new commissioner orientation program, run by Washoe County staff.
Sounds harmless. Until you realize it could be a tool to “train” elected officials to stay in their lane and follow the staff’s lead instead of representing the people who elected them. The tension between Commissioners and Staff is real.
Penny warned that this could be a Trojan horse for bureaucratic influence over new, independent voices on the board.
📜 Open Meeting Law? What’s That?
The consultant, Jonathan Ingram, also proposed governance retreats for commissioners. But here’s the problem: Nevada’s Open Meeting Law prohibits quorum discussions behind closed doors.
“This consultant didn’t know NRS,” Penny said. That’s not just bad advice—it’s potentially illegal, and it raises the question: Was this $30,000 report even grounded in Nevada law?
📢 The Public Has Questions—And Still No Answers
Nowhere in the Raphtelis report was there mention of:
Public records request delays
Transparency failures
Commissioner pay raises
Or the real-world frustrations of Washoe County residents
From where Penny sits—and for many of the voters—this wasn’t a reform report. It was a strategy memo for staff to centralize power and minimize public interference.
🧭 Whose Government Is It?
Washoe County residents didn’t show up to this meeting to request fewer meetings, to get silenced during comments, or to request less access to government. They asked for honest leadership, more transparency, and accountability from their elected officials, as well as results from the hired county staff.
Instead, they got a slick PowerPoint with the wrong solutions and a cover-up.
If this is reform, it’s the kind that consolidates control, not the type that returns control to the people.
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