I
n 2002, Bob Cashell came to the rescue of business leaders accustomed to dominating City Hall. In that year, unpopular and pro-business Mayor Jeff Griffin was stepping down. It was a climate in which a mayor independent of the business community was a real possibility. His fellow businesspeople prevailed on Cashell to move into the city and run. Even then, he nearly lost. But his handling of the job was widely admired, and he was easily reelected twice. He now has two and a half years remaining before he must retire under term limits.
You’ve got another six months with this Council. What would you like to get done in that time?
There’s a lot of priorities I have. … Getting Moana Springs, making that thing come to fruition and raising the funds for the new swimming pool, the different ball fields and upgrading those and getting the soccer fields and things, and really turning that back into some active property. Because back when I was starting off, I used to sponsor American Legion teams out there, playing baseball. ... I guess what I’m getting at is, right now you’ve got a Council you’re familiar with, you guys work like a well-oiled machine. You’re not going to have that advantage right away.
Texas native Cashell brought a wealth of public and private experience with him to the mayor’s job. Starting with a small Verdi truck stop in 1967, Cashell eventually was involved in operating numerous truck stops and casinos in two states and held more than 20 gambling licenses. He was elected to the Nevada Board of Regents in 1978, which he chaired, then became Nevada lieutenant governor in 1983. In that post, he chaired the state tourism and economic development commissions. He was elected lieutenant governor as a Democrat, but switched to the Republicans on Aug. 12, 1983. After leaving elected office, he served as Republican state chair. When he became mayor, there was a good deal of infighting and rancor on the City Council, and Cashell was given a lot of the credit for creating greater harmony. He accomplished this in part by personal missionary work among the council members and partly by making sure that all parties to city issues were given respect and were heard— though he sometimes lost patience with community gadflies who he believed wasted Council time. He was successful enough that sometimes there have been complaints about the Council being too harmonious and easily led. After this interview, during which we asked about his goals, he said, “You know, it’s not my goals. It’s the Council’s goals.”
No, I’ll have that. I’ve met just about all of the [candidates for Council]. I think there’s only one I haven’t met, and I intend to meet this next week. … I find some similarities in a lot of the people that are going to be coming on. They’ve got a lot of start-up time that they’re going to have to put in to get caught up on where we are and what the priorities are and what we’ve been looking at. And so we’re going to work on those and get those guys up to speed. We’re going to have to get them up to speed pretty quick because I don’t want to have to sit around here for two and a half years getting things up to speed.
The action figure of Mayor Cashell used in art here was created as a handout for the first game of the Reno Aces on April 10, 2009.
You do have two and a half years as mayor. How would you like to use that time?
Finishing some of the projects. You know, one of the things right now that I found when I asked Andrew Clinger to join our team—somebody with the financial background, and he’s
“ACTION FIGURE” continued on page 12
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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IN ROTATION
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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JULY 19, 2012
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RN&R
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