Photos/Riley snydeR
On the left is former Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen, and on the right is Tim Kuzanek—the candidates for Washoe County Sheriff.
Get ready for the storm As University of Nevada, Reno officials headed to the Reno City Planning Commission to present their vision for the heart of Reno, several things became almost immediately apparent. While the plan is indeed ambitious, radical even—for example, it eliminates new gaming licenses in the university district annex—it seems to lack some crucial housekeeping details, like how the university proposes to remove ongoing business concerns. There are pawn shops, T-shirt shops and tattoo parlors that exist in the space where the university wants to install more Norman Rockwell-friendly businesses. (It also hopes to exclude a medical marijuana dispensary that has already applied for use on the outskirts of the district.) The ability of government and quasi-government to remove going businesses is often limited to methods the public dislikes, like eminent domain. Another proposal that seems almost certain to raise eyebrows is that the university is asking permission in advance to close streets: “9th street and public streets, alleys and easements between 9th and 8th streets bounded by North Virginia Street and Evans Avenue may be abandoned and/or closed to public vehicular traffic to facilitate the objectives of the [University of Nevada Regional Center Plan].” There’s quite a lot in this document to be wondered at: http://tinyurl.com/n7rlj9g.
—D. Brian Burghart
Totally 80
Reno Little Theater is 80 years old. The octogenarian theater company is launching its new season with a birthday party scheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 11, at 6:30 p.m., at the company’s still relatively new building, 147 E. Pueblo St., which opened in 2012. “It’s really exciting for us to celebrate milestones, and when we were in our 75th [season], our focus was on getting this building open, so we really didn’t get to party as much as we were hoping to,” said McKenzi Swinehart, RLT’s director of programs and development. “So we decided for the 80th to make sure we had a good celebration.” The event will begin with a cocktail hour, including champagne and hors d’oeuvres. At 7:30 p.m., there will be performances from scenes and musical numbers from what Swinehart describes as “shows that have some kind of significance in RLT history that people might not know about.” This includes a duet from The Boyfriend, which, in 1958, became the first musical produced at RLT. The theater’s lobby will be decorated with items from RLT’s archive housed at the University of Nevada, Reno’s special collections, including dozens of old photos and newspaper articles and reviews. The performances will be followed by a dance party. Swinehart said that cocktail or vintage attire is recommended. For tickets or more information, visit renolittletheater.org.
Paid projects
—Brad Bynum
The Nevada Department of Agriculture recently announced awards for 14 projects to promote specialty crops in the state totaling just over $301,000. The funds come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and NDA public information officer Bob Conrad said that the goal is to “enhance the competitive nature of specialty crops” and to “increase the consumption of specialty crops at the local level.” There are a variety of efforts that will be funded through these grants, including a study to increase pumpkin production in the state with Lazy P Adventure Farm in Winnemucca; a project to increase online presence of Nevada specialty crops with videos featuring producers, growers and retailers; and a project to help specialty crop producers with food safety, farm planning and marketing. The full list of projects to be funded can be found here: http://ht.ly/CogAK. “In Nevada, agriculture is a small industry, but comparatively speaking, it’s one of the largest industries in the state,” Conrad said.
—Sage Leehey
8 | RN&R |
OCTOBER 9, 2014
He’s the sheriff Only a few weeks till early voting. Here’s how the race for Washoe County Sheriff is shaping up. If recent history is any indication, the margin of victory in the Washoe County Sheriff’s race will be lopsided. by Winners have trampled over their Riley Snyder opponents by an average of 40 percentage points on Election Day. But after a 20-point primary victory for former Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Allen over establishment-backed Tim Kuzanek, the stage is set for what could be one of the most competitive sheriff’s races in recent memory.
Kuzanek has played up his establishment credentials, often referring to his institutional knowledge and relationships with key local political players. Add in a renewed interest in police conduct and ethics after the recent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and the normally staid sheriff’s race has taken on a much more noticeable role than past years. “Allen’s victory, and the margin of that victory, really surprised the status quo set of candidates,” University of Nevada, Reno political science professor Erik Herzik said. Much of the attention comes from Allen’s unusual candidacy—the former Highway Patrol spokesman and Nevada Air National Guard veteran successfully challenged a
history of establishment candidates steamrolling their way to victory with his primary night victory in July. (Sheriff Michael Haley, for example, won 80 percent of the vote in 2006 and ran unopposed four years later.) Allen touts his experience with community-oriented groups like the Special Olympics and the Nevada Humane Society as evidence of how his administration would be run. He said the sheriff’s office needs to be filled by someone interested in being a community leader, not just a bureaucrat. “The only way I can make a difference is to hear concerns from the public,” he said. “And I’m not going to do that by sitting at 911 Parr Boulevard [the sheriff’s office and regional jail] every day.” His plans include forming a “green-ribbon” commission with deputies, community leaders and other interested parties to talk about important local issues, as well as assigning individual deputies to local advisory boards to better foster community relations. He’s also considering an annual “State of the County” address to improve the department’s visibility and transparency. Allen’s plan to alleviate lost positions after numerous budget cuts is to recruit around 60 community members and former deputies to volunteer and reduce workload. But Allen is without a doubt
the race’s outsider, especially when compared to Kuzanek. A 21-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, Kuzanek has worked his way up from patrolman to undersheriff, and wields a much wider array of endorsements, including state lawmakers of both parties, local advocacy groups, Reno Mayor Bob Cashell and Sheriff Haley. It’s understandable that Kuzanek has played up his establishment credentials throughout the race, often referring to his institutional knowledge and established relationships with key local political players. He’s noted his involvement in managing the department’s $83 million dollar budget, and his past as the department’s liaison to the state legislature. Kuzanek’s campaign has made him seem like the “boring, safe choice,” according to Herzik. By no means has Kuzanek shied away from his résumé, which includes helping the founding of a Reno counter-terrorism fusion center and overseeing the development and execution of the department’s current crime mapping and tracking system. Unlike the dramatic changes promised by Allen, Kuzanek argues that by electing him, voters will have a steady hand in place to continue the work of the sheriff’s department. “If there’s any desire to change for the sake of change, I don’t see that as being a benefit to the citizens of Washoe County,” he said. “I bring stability, and I bring the experience that provides the opportunity to be decisive in my role.” In terms of issues facing the sheriff’s office, Allen and Kuzanek are similar—both have similar views toward the sheriff’s office accepting surplus military equipment through the Department of Defense’s 1033 program, both share similar cautious views about medical marijuana, and both repeated rhetoric about the importance of community-oriented policing. Kuzanek and Allen additionally favor implementing a body-camera program for the sheriff’s office that would record police conduct and behavior. Though both signaled caution about the legal and budgetary issues that need to be worked out before such a program is implemented, both agreed body cameras are necessary for the future. The difference is in how each sees the role of sheriff. Allen sees it as a more prominent and public role, while Kuzanek sees it as a more bureaucratic and administrative-heavy job balanced with community outreach. “You have to know what the rules are,” Kuzanek said. “You have to lead the men and women of the agency
