OCTOBER 06, 2016 | VOl. 22, IssuE 34
Power up Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. Statistical analyst Nate Silver’s website, FiveThirtyEight, lists a metric called the “voter power index,” defined as “the relative likelihood that an individual voter in a state will determine the Electoral College winner.” Until very recently, Nevada was listed second on that list. (At least once this year, it was at the very top.) The power ratings are adjusted based on recent polls, and Nevada fell a bit—at press time, down to sixth, right behind Pennsylvania—after the first presidential debate, the aftermath of which saw Clinton get a sizable bump in the polls. But the presidential race is still very competitive in the state, just as it has been in other recent presidential elections. Nevada is a hotly contested swing state. That’s why we got a lot of visits from the nominees. And here’s something Northern Nevadans need to remember: Clark County is likely to go blue, and the rural counties will likely all go red. So Washoe County will likely determine which presidential candidate will get the state’s electoral college votes. At this point, it’s hard to imagine a voter who might still be undecided. It seems like the two sides are fairly well entrenched— the outcome will likely come down to turnout. But there are also those undecided voters who are torn between voting for Clinton and voting for a third-party candidate. I can perhaps understand the appeal of voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, who won’t even be on the ballot here, but you get either of them away from the core issues of their respective parties and ask them difficult questions about foreign policy, for example, and they often appear out of their depth. And as the swing county in a swing state, we Washoe County residents have real voting power. And, just in case you never read Spider-Man comics, with great power comes great responsibility.
—Brad Bynum bradb@ ne ws r ev i ew . com
WC-1 Re “Stop making cents” (cover story, Sept. 22): I only got a few paragraphs into this when I realized how completely unrealistic the author was and while he may have heard some great anecdotal stories from parents here and there, he has never been a struggling parent. I have. Yes, Janet. A mother of two would have some difficulty scraping up 75 cents to take care of her laundry but the costs of our kids and school go way beyond that. Imagine if Janet had to find before- and after-school child care and activities for her four children every day because three of them were in double sessions? Mothers and families of multiple children already know the struggle of having kids in elementary that get out at 3:30 p.m., middle that gets out at 3 p.m. and high school at 2:30 p.m. The threat of double sessions is not just a threat, it is the reality of our situation here in the district. Our schools are overcrowded and it is already impacting parents like Janet with multiple children, before- and after-school programs, busing and gas to the Boys and Girls Club, and also with their students, who have classes that fall outside of school hours and do not have transportation to and from the school because the regular buses don’t run at those times. Fifteen years ago, before- and after-school childcare with transportation to and from the school ran me $400 a month for one child. Children’s Cabinet helped but it wasn’t much on my single mother income of barely above minimum wage. That was after being on a waiting list. Free breakfast and free lunch programs are often the only full meals some of the children get as parents hit up food pantries on the weekends. Plus, as a former low-income single parent I can tell you yes, we watched those nickels and quarters. but very few purchases overall were “taxable” items. Outside of groceries and rent, we thrift-shopped clothes and other items. Necessities like toilet paper, shampoo, etc., were bargain hunted through dollar stores and clearance racks. I doubt we spent much over $100, if any, since many months the extra after food and a home was less than that. So with WC1, I would have paid an extra 54 cents each month and at one to two pennies a purchase. I might have noticed a little but I damn well wouldn’t have minded. Thankfully now, our family’s monthly contribution under WC1 will likely be much more than 54 cents a month, but I don’t mind that either. Michelle Beck sparks
initiatives. Why? Because of waste and poor management, planning or no planning. Always they have a huge asking price each time. The architects of this constant assault on the taxpayers of Washoe County want huge increases in the taxes on us each time they put these issues to vote. Terminate these people who are the cause of the Washoe County failures and listen to the real issues. Many taxpayers are not willing to deal with tax after tax after tax. We are being beaten down with federal, state, local and quasi-governmental utility taxes. All governments are hurting and the middle class is whom they turn to for relief. We cannot continue to afford this constant tax bombardment from every governmental and non-governmental agency! KRNV totally picked on the opposition during their “town hall meeting” (Oct. 3) on WC-1. Shelby Sheehan was not a fair moderator as she has kids in school, and those kids are moving up through the school system. Here’s my answer to them: Ask for less! Every middle class individual must balance their checkbook and keep their budget within their spending ability. This school system does not seem to be able to grasp this concept. Instead of asking for 350 million in one voting year or an unlimited spending agenda in this voting year ... ask for $55 million or $75 million bonded increases. Ask for “sunset” increases that middle class folks, who are on a budget and fixed income, can afford and would probably support. Get real and understand the demographics. Brad Fronberg sparks
ERIK HOllAND
Horrible is my description of the town hall meeting seen on KRNV hosted by Shelby Sheehan. Liberals, and an agenda which include the hostess, are unacceptable. They stack the deck against the opponents of WC-1 and do not allow the same reply time as the overwhelming majority. Over the years, we have voted down the Washoe County School tax
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10.06.16
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