The Washoe Board of County Commissioners tomorrow will revisit major spending for Nevada Cares Campus improvements and review of election processes. This comes just a couple weeks after commissioners, in a split vote, voted down those same measures. Because the vote was a tie, the measures failed to pass.
Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman voted against the agenda items. One was the approval of a lease agreement with Accessible Space for a three-acre parcel at the Nevada Cares Campus site.
The agreement would provide the land for $1 per year over 30 years. In exchange, ASI would build 120 units of specialized supportive housing for people transitioning out of homelessness.
The two commissioners also voted against a $28 million contract for Clark/Sullivan Construction to proceed with work on the intake center planned at the Cares Campus. Funding for the work was approved by commissioners in December – including by Herman – and the work was slated to begin March 29.
That did not happen after Clark and Herman voted against the funding.
What’s changed between the March 28 meeting and tomorrow’s meeting is Gov. Joe Lombardo’s appointment of Clara Andriola to the commission. Andriola replaces Vaughn Hartung who took a state job and quit his commission seat.
Clark cited a lack of data on outcomes of the Nevada Cares Campus as the reason for his no vote. He appeared to read from a prepared statement prior to the vote.
“I don’t think I can vote in favor of anything until I see some outcomes,” Clark said. “I don’t want to know peoples’ names, addresses or any other information. But I do want to know, out of the 40 people who’ve been placed in housing, how many are still in the housing they were placed in. I don’t understand why a commissioner can’t have the information.
“Until I get it I’ll have to vote no on anything associated with the Cares Campus,” he added.
Commissioner Herman made no comment on either agenda item. The reintroduction of the agenda items was by commission Vice Chair Alexis Hill.
“Staff needs direction on these items,” Hill told This Is Reno. “It’s the responsibility of the chair to sure we give staff direction and keep the business moving forward.”
