Mutual Aid Expands and Fights Back
After the Sun Valley Karma Porch shared this Washoe County enforcement warning above, there was an outpouring of support for the free community pantry. People who deeply care in our community also took to email and letter writing, most notably to Brian Farmer, listed as a Code Enforcement Officer II in the Building Department of Washoe County. The activity immediately prompted an official tweet from Washoe County, saying they would still like “to work with this property owner to find a way to still serve her neighbors while being compliant with health and county codes.”
We recently reported about how Reno Soup for the Soul was prevented from doing community outreach near Record Street, after Record Street Brewing called over downtown ambassadors to force volunteers to move to a different location. When you start preventing those from helping others you know something isn’t right.
In the department of what also feels very wrong, the most important reporting we noticed this week was This is Reno quoting Reno PD Chief Jason Soto seeking a bigger budget, over 40 new positions, but no new social workers to help with outreach. Did Soto miss out on 2020? With the Derek Chauvin trial going on, you know if there’s a not guilty verdict, there will be trouble, lots of it, here and everywhere.
Back on the mutual aid front, we reported about a recent endeavor called Laundry to the People which gots lots of well deserved praise across our channels.
A note of caution was in the story from one of the founders though, and we couldn’t agree more: “From our conversations here,” explained Alex Muñoz “they feel like they are being gathered.” The Wells encampment is being encouraged now, but what will happen once the Nevada Cares Campus opens? Councilwoman Naomi Duerr got a tour of the new “super” shelter and took some pictures, and from her post, from the inside, so far, it looks like a not very inviting giant tent structure.
The next CHAB meeting will be Monday, and even though there’s a subcommittee now for those with lived experience, they aren’t on the panel for the main meeting. What’s on the agenda instead is to hear mostly from local law enforcement and their perspectives. Reminder that we will be holding our own community conversation, April 13th, 6 -7 P.M., if you’d like to listen to our own panelists, which also include Commissioner Hill, but several others with lived experience as well. There will be a Zoom: https://unr.zoom.us/s/85013826781 and also a Facebook Live via our page there, and for ours, the chat and public comments will be open.
