Early voting in this year’s primary election begins Saturday, and many voters have already received their mail ballots.
So on Wednesday, May 13, KUNR Senior Correspondent Bert Johnson moderated a mayoral forum co-hosted by the League of Women Voters. Around 100 community members came for a chance to learn about the candidates running to be Reno’s next mayor.
Among the candidates who attended were former Lieutenant Governor Kate Marshall; Ward 1 Council member Kathleen Taylor; Corinthia Yancey; Jesse Razo; Ward 5 Council member Devon Reese; George “Eddie” Lorton; and Tim Ross.
Johnson asked each: What do you see as the biggest challenge facing our city, and how will you address it?
The candidates’ answers have been edited for length and clarity.
Marshall: I don't think you can talk to any mayor in the entire country and ask them what is the most important issue, and they wouldn't say the same thing, and that's housing. Housing is personal to me. Growing up, every time the rent went up, we moved. If all you're doing is building units, you're not strengthening Reno, you're straining it, and you risk unraveling the magic that we have. And multi-family and apartments belong along our major routes, so that the residents are connected to services and to businesses, and you strengthen the economy there. In Vegas, they're building 240 homes priced at $180,000 to $225,000 on city-owned land. We can do it better.
Taylor: We can't build a park, we can't give sewer credits, we can't add more police, we can't add more fire — we cannot do anything if we are not in a solid fiscal position. The City of Reno has had a $24 to $26 million deficit for the last two years. That number is going to continue to grow and compound year after year. It will be $40 million in five to six years. My solution to that is first, we have to talk about regionalization. We have to work with Sparks. We have to work with Washoe County to see where we're duplicating services. That's the number one thing that we can do to get our budget where it needs to be. The other thing that we can do is we can reorganize and we can consolidate some of our own programs within the City of Reno. We have got to make sure that our fiscal house is in order before we do anything else, and that's my number one priority.
Yancey: Well, my biggest issue that I've seen so far is — I have to agree with Kathleen — is the budget. To me, the budget, it needs more of a redefining structure that can help facilitate proper distribution of our budget, of the people's money. And at this point, [from] what I've seen, as mayor, sometimes you have to step into rooms and you don't smile. You get straight to the action and give results. As mayor, that's my goal — is to actually bring results and facilitate our money properly that can hit key issues like public safety, housing, even our youth programs. When you facilitate those things and you focus on that, that can alleviate some of our bigger issues. So, hitting one key can actually help for all.
Razo: I believe that to change, we first have to change the mayor system that we're under. I think that as a population here in Reno, that we've outgrown it. And so, addressing this issue, it begins to set the stage. It begins to set the stage to declare the city as a safe haven. It's a safe haven. As we've seen the heavens and we've seen the holy city come down from the heavens. And then we have all our current issues, but the vision engulfs the city. And it begins to pave the way to open the gates for all nations and all languages to come to the Biggest Little City in the world. Long live Nevada. Amen.
Reese: I think there is something that connects all of us, and that is the land we live on, [and] the Truckee River. It's why my vision has been boldly about the Truckee River, because I think it's something that whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, whether you're rich or poor, black or white, you can see a greater vision for that area. What we have to be, is realistic with one another, and knit ourselves more closely together in fellowship, in the kind of extended kindness that I think is important to our region. These are not policy choices. These are about who we want to be as people. When I knock on doors, people also have the same sense. And so it's been great to talk with people about it. But there is this overwhelming sense that that's what we've got to do is just get closer together, talk a little less about policy, don't talk over one another, and make those opportunities happen for all of us
Lorton: We can identify problems, but let's come with some solutions. I have solutions for affordable housing, so get out your pen and paper. You know how we're approving every apartment complex in the world? Well, from now on, we won't approve them unless 20 percent of them are affordable housing, as defined by the Reno Housing Authority. For every contract we make, we're going to have oversight. If you don't have oversight, you don't have a contract. And you hire experts in each field so we can have oversight and run it like a real business. But the thing about the city, there are other things that are out of control, and it's quality of life issues. Then you'll have money to spend on those, if you have the right person in there that is a businessman that can run it like a business, and we'll have money for parks and recreation, but I have the solution, and we'll clean up the homeless, too.
Ross: We all deserve a quality of life where we can live in a city, work a job, pay our rent, but that has to start with a budget. Yes, we account. Yes, we look into the audits, we do the audits. But are we looking into where our staff is? Are we using the right people in the right places? In the last six months with our budget, we've heard, “Okay, we're balanced, we're not balanced, we're balanced, we're not balanced,” in these $25 million a year shortfalls. And then trying to figure out how to charge the regular community members and the citizens. Yeah, we could probably all, many of us can afford another $1.50, $1.80 a month. But should we have to? Have we investigated that thoroughly enough to find out that that's what we have to do
Editor’s note: John Wayne Zink and Greg Nuttle were also invited to attend, but didn’t show up.
