Letters

Office politics

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

I started a new a habit a few weeks ago. On Wednesdays when there’s a Reno City Council meeting, I sit in the council chambers and do my editing. I used to go to a lot of council meetings back when Jeff Griffin and crew spent so much time selling out Reno’s future and ignoring the will of the majority by blowing up the Mapes Hotel and silencing the train whistles by spending hundreds of millions of dollars—and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a calculation of the final total compounded interest—by putting the trains in a trench. It was unquestionably the mayor and council using their power to benefit a chosen few at the expense of others.

I’m not going to the meetings because City Council has become my new beat. I learned a long time ago that this paper does better steering the dialog outside of government. I’m just there because I like to see how the political culture works, to gain insight into who’s pulling the strings and how they’re pulling them. I want to be able to attach attitudes to the names I sometimes see in the local media.

But it’s a different place, and not just because City Hall is a different building. It has a completely different vibe. Back in the day, there used to be real animosity among factions that would play out in public. Even after Bob Cashell came into office, I’d get the impression that he was demanding consensus, and I’d hear through the grapevine that he could be more than intimidating behind the scenes.

But this council is a different thing. Mayor Hillary Scheive’s more than cordial to everyone. All of the councilmembers seem smart—and I can’t think of time previous that I could say that. Jenny Brekhus and Paul McKenzie are the two most likely to seem off the chosen path, although they generally vote with the pack. In fact, it seems as though the team is arranged with how much the councilperson is in alignment with the mayor and city manager Andrew Clinger. Frequently, their questions suggest prior intelligence. There must be quite a pile of information passed in those caucus meetings to have so little discussion at the table. —D. Brian Burghart brianb@newsreview.com

No do-overs!

When the voters overwhelmingly defeated the margins tax in 2014, freshly re-elected Gov. Brian Sandoval gave himself another stab at increasing taxes by forcing a huge tax increase through the Legislature. Now Sen. Harry Reid has joined Gov. Sandoval in preserving the new tax package against a challenge. It’s interesting how Reid and Sandoval have teamed up to govern against the will of the people of Nevada.

Since Brian Sandoval gave himself a do-over on the huge margins tax, is it unreasonable for the rest of us to ask for a do-over on his re-election? Robert R. Kessler Las Vegas

U.S. peacemakers

Re “Lineup of losers oppose Obama” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Aug. 20):

It is being reported that Netanyahu wanted to attack Iran several times in the past decade. He was denied by the military and other cooler heads in Israel. Instead of giving up, Netanyahu has persuaded the weaker minded politicians in Washington, D.C., to take up his cause and deny the Iran nuclear treaty, so in a few months or years there will be a reason to attack Iran. Securing Israel’s (or any other democracy’s) right to exist is a good thing the U.S. is doing, but all we get in return is manipulation by a few people in Israel seeking war to have undue influence over the policy decisionmaking process of Congress.

The U.S. has enough enemies in this troubled world without being manipulated into fighting other countries’ battles for them. Many of the countries holding funds belonging to Iran have indicated if the majority of countries brokering the nuclear deal treaty approve the lifting of sanctions, they will release the money. Iran gets the money and that will leave the U.S. on the sidelines without inspectors going into Iran and leaving the verification process to Putin and the other approving countries.

Dewey Quong Reno

Them Carson kids

I was doing my laundry at the Launderland on the corner of Winnie Lane and Carson Street last Saturday. A young, maybe 8-yearold, kid yelled out, “Out of my way, B***H! Out of my way, N***A!” while slamming the gears and yanking the wheel on the race car game. Am I old or is this what they teach kids in school these days? The mom and her two other kids just laughed when I shook my head in disgust— spoiled kids and lazy parents with no manners, morals or conscience these days.

Gene Maguire Carson City

Hey Kool-Aid!

Re “Lineup of losers oppose Obama” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Aug. 20):

Are you trying to convince people that being nuked by Iran is a good deal? I am always surprised when I find that anyone believes anything Obummer has to say is truth, or that he has America’s best interest [at heart] at all, ever! Maybe you are OK with giving those who yell, “Death to America!” $150 billion in order to fastrack our own destruction! I’ll bet we will be the ones who are incinerated in 10 years or less—way less.

Michelle Aime Clements, California

No thanks for your service

Wildlife Services, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, exists to kill predators. For instance, Nevada Wildlife Services killed 3,013 coyotes in 2014. They killed 1,614 from January-July 2015. Methods include trapping, aerial gunning, shooting, sodium cyanide, eradication of pup dens. Wildlife Services killed about 76,611 coyotes nationwide in 2012. This killing is paid for by our tax dollars.

The agency claims it is preventing depredation upon livestock herds. There is ample evidence that this justification is inaccurate at best. There is new scientific proof that, over time, our native predators will be unable to sustain their numbers. On Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Nevada Museum of Art, we are fortunate to have Brooks Fahy, director of Predator Defense, screening the award-winning film: “Exposed,” which tells the truth about Wildlife Services, their excesses and abuses. Brooks directed the film, and he will take Q & A that evening. There may be other guest speakers. And, in a decision that will have repercussions for the USDA’s Wildlife Services program across the country, a federal Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 3 that the agency must now face court review and lawsuits. Nevada Wildlife Services will face this review.

Trish Swain Sparks

Occupational schooling left behind

Re “Working poor left behind” (Feature, August 13):

I don’t believe the Nevada Legislature should be funding parents to send their children to private or charter schools. In the 1980s I raised five children as a single parent. Their high school was Hug. They all graduated and went on to higher education in othe rstates. I have two social workers (one with a master’s degree), a court reporter, a mechanic and a jewelry store owner. The failure of Nevada schools is because of Nevada, itself.

New dorms for the university are being built while nothing is being done for the public schools.

If I was a carpenter and was to build a two story house, if the first story wasn’t strong, then the second story would fall down upon itself. And that’s what’s happening to Nevada’s education. This breeds crime.

Another thing. Before a student can learn a trade in Nevada, he must have a GED or a diploma. What happened to vocational schools? Not all students are high school or college material. Why are they being denied an education? Helen Howe Lemmon Valley

Rocked and rocked hard

Re “What? What?” (Editor’s Note, Aug. 13):

I would hope that some of the “yet to be hearing impaired,” and now brain dead idiots who pull up next to me in traffic with their window-rattling, automobile boom boxes will read your comments. However, I have serious doubts that they still have enough gray matter left in the blank space between their ears to accomplish this.

Maybe you should consider not attending the ear-blasting, and ever-publicized heavy metal concerts that the RN&R continually advertises.

I am 78 years of age and will just say, “Good luck and join the crowd.”

Dan Archuleta Sparks

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