Visions of Future Cares Campus Hit Serious Roadblocks at County Commission
Jeanne Herman joins newly elected commissioner Mike Clark in blocking new projects, with their two votes enough for red lights on a board currently with just four members.
County officials have made promises of different phases to build up the Nevada Cares Campus, but this week those plans were dealt a serious blow.
The whole idea of having different phases at the Nevada Cares Campus with different layers of shelter and future supportive housing on site hit some serious road bumps this week with no votes from Republican Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman putting an abrupt stop to some of these plans.
Voting yes were Democratic Commissioners Alexis Hill and Mariluz Garcia, resulting in two to two votes, not enough to move motions forward.
Former Commissioner Vaughn Hartung abruptly resigned mid-March to take on a state-level position in the Department of Business of Industry, leaving just four commissioners to decide matters at County Commission meetings. Republican Governor Joe Lombardo is responsible for eventually appointing Hartung’s replacement from District 4.
After expressing concerns of a process being “jammed through,” Clark joined a silent Herman in voting against a lease agreement with Accessible Space Inc. for a three-acre parcel at the compound.
As part of the proposed deal, ASI would have built 120 units of on campus supportive housing and gotten to lease land for $1 per year over 30 years, which seemed strange to Clark.
Clark and Herman also put the kibosh on a proposed $28 million contract for work to start on a new security checkpoint, a case management area, a nurses locale, a warming station and dining facilities as part of a new proposed intake center. Their two no votes came just before the previously approved work was supposed to begin.
Clark says he will keep voting no on Cares Campus related matters until he gets more solid data on what happens to people who sleep at the campus, including on those who are said to be placed into housing, and whether they remain housed.
“Constituents ask me about expenses of the Cares Campus and want me to show them outcomes,” he said before voting no. “I have nothing to show.”
Our Reporting Highlights This Week
We also got a behind the scenes tour of Project 150 helping local high schoolers in need.
Our podcast is about a local teach-in about the Stop Cop City movement, and how it applies to Reno.
