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Reno Ward 1 Early Candidate Pool Talks MidTown

Alexa Ard

Reno's City Council seat for Ward 1 is up for grabs and, so far, three people are vying for it. 

Reno Public Radio's Michelle Billman reports.

Credit City of Reno
Reno Ward 1 Incumbent Jenny Brekhus

The Ward 1 seat is held now by Jenny Brekhus who will be filing for reelection Wednesday. The area includes a big chunk of the MidTown District, a growing corridor for new shops and restaurants.

Brekhus says she's proud of the support she and the city have garnered from small businesses in that area.
 
"Unlike a mall, individual businesses in these particularly older retail districts, they very much depend upon the public improvements and environment, from public safety to street trees, parking management," Brekhus explains. "They don't have a mall owner that they can just go to."
 
Political Newcomer Victor Salcido is running for the seat, too. He's a lawyer who lobbied to bring the ride-share company Uber to Nevada, and he wants to see less red tape for innovative businesses.
 
 

Credit Michelle Billman
Lawyer Victor Salcido filed to run for Reno's Ward 1 seat during the first hour of candidate filing on Monday.

"We ran into that a lot where it was a new type of technology that was changing the business model," Salcido says. "And so what I would like to see at the city-level, recognizing that it's not business as usual. That these new entrepreneurs are changing the dynamic of how businesses are structured, and government hasn't kept up."

Rich Van Gogh, who owns Liberty Fine Art Gallery, is also campaigning and wants to see structural improvements for MidTown and beyond.

"One of the things that I think we could do is a light rail or trolley. Reno originally had a trolley that ran up Virginia Street. I think we need to widen the sidewalks, and I think we need better lighting."

Candidate filing just got underway Monday, so this race could become more crowded before the March 18th deadline.

 

Michelle Billman is a former news director at KUNR Public Radio.
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