The Push for Lily Baran to become the new Ward 3 Selected Council Member

Above a file photo by Rachel Jackson from previous Our Town Reno reporting about Lily Baran’s community gardening.

As of this writing, there were only 11 applicants for the initial part of the replacement process for the open Ward 3 City Council position which has a listed salary of $86,908.57, with applications due by Friday.

Some of the same advocates who have bemoaned yet another selection process voted for by Council members, rather than an open election to replace Oscar Delgado, are now voicing their support in person and on social media for Lily Baran, a community activist and gardener who has worked as staff during previous Nevada legislative sessions and for the Nevada branch of the ACLU. And why not?

Baran has served on various public local boards and committees, including the Reno Arts Commission. She’s a co-president of the RISE board which has done so much to help our unhoused. She was part of protests against police sweeps in the summer of 2021. She would bring the perspective of a renter, an artist, a woman of color, and of a single parent, to name just a few of her needed attributes.

Her motivation statement for the position (below) is to the point and eloquently stated.

Other Ward 3 residents with their hat in the ring include William Mantle, a progressive who finished fourth in the Reno mayoral primary in June with over 1,500 votes, and Chad Dehne, a regular public commenter at City Council meetings, who finished fifth in that same vote, with nearly 1,200 votes. Sean Savoy, a well-known figure in the community, who is the head of the Spiritual Care team at Renown Health, is also in the running.

There will no doubt be a rush of late applications coming in before closing. It remains to be seen if councilwoman Jenny Brekhus will participate in deliberations and voting this go round, and if she will have another closed envelope with her “so obvious she can predict them” winner before the final selection is made. Brekhus boycotted the choice of Kathleen Taylor to replace another outgoing council member, Neoma Jardon, which was finalized just a month ago.

Our Reporting Highlights This Week

Our podcast this week is with Meghan Ebert, another promising candidate, trying to topple the incumbent Bonnie Weber, in the normal November election cycle for the Ward 4 council seat.

We featured the Reno Gleaning Project which helped pick up fruit at the home of yet another council member Naomi Duerr, facing a reelection battle for Ward 2. The story is about making good use of excess fruit from local trees.

We published a Citizen’s Forum story about the value of volunteering for the Reno Burrito Project.

Our #keeprenorad section has a story about free clinics with art and skateboarding for kids at local parks.