And Then there were Three for Ward 5
Dreams of becoming the new Ward 5 Reno city council member replacing Neoma Jardon were dashed this afternoon for over 30 applicants, while Kathleen Taylor, Elliot Malin and Alexander Goff moved on to meet and greet sessions next week, in a speedy process which will conclude in early September with the final selection.
Jenny Brekhus boycotted the process saying excuses of too much delay for a special election didn’t fly for her. Jardon is moving on as the new head of the Downtown Reno Partnership.
Her possible replacement Taylor is an insider’s insider, being the current City of Reno Planning Commissioner. She faced a negative review of being too pro-development during the public comment session that preceded the tabulation of Council ballots for this elimination round.
Malin is a Republican who does political consulting with a background as a lobbyist, another insider who has a good organization of social media supporters. Goff, a veteran, a recent failed primary assembly candidate as a Democrat and the chair of Reno’s Human Rights Commission, had a stirring description of his difficult childhood and would be our favorite at this point.
The candidate we were most hoping would get through to the next round Jackeline Duron spoke via Zoom of growing up unhoused. She did get one vote from Councilman Devon Reese, who said anyone saying the process was “already baked” were “flat out wrong.” No one knows how much the Council members spoke to each other before or during their voting though.
Earstin Whitten got some props from Mayor Hillary Schieve just before the vote for all his community work, but just one tally from Councilman Oscar Delgado.
Councilwoman Naomi Duerr urged those not moving on to “stay engaged,” and Mayor Schieve pleaded with them several times to serve on different boards and commissions.
Our Reporting Highlights This Week
On our Instagram we’ve been highlighting our new team for Fall 2022 including Ariel Smith (above), and why they want to report for Our Town Reno.
One of our new reporters Gaia Osborne went to the downtown library to get plenty of details and insights on the Community Court happening there every Wednesday morning.
We also caught up with Hagen Sandoval establishing a new local history show.