Washoe’s Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday voted to retain Commissioner Alexis Hill as board chair and Commissioner Jeanne Herman as vice chair. Both initially took on the roles in March 2023 following the resignation of then-chair Vaughn Hartung.
The board chair and vice chair are responsible for working with the county manager to set the agenda for each commission meeting, and the chair is also responsible for running commission meetings.
A number of people providing public comment, along with Commissioner Mike Clark, advocated for Commissioner Herman to be elected as the board chair. As the longest-serving commissioner on the board, she had earned the position, they said. Clark has also regularly complained during board meetings that, as chair, Hill refuses to add his requested items to meeting agendas and has removed public comment from the beginning of meetings.
Commissioners Mariluz Garcia and Clara Andriola, however, said they were more interested in continuity with the board. Garcia noted that Hill had yet to serve even a full year as chair.
“That does not follow the board’s rules of treating each other with respect, Commissioner Clark.”
Andriola added that she didn’t feel Herman was ready to take on the role of chair.
“I would love to see Commissioner Herman be the chair, I just don’t think she’s ready at this point,” Andriola said as several community members remaining in commission chambers booed. “She has only attended 20% of the meetings in terms of agenda review, and I think that’s something I was really surprised about. I’d like to see that change so when [the board chair election] comes up again, she’ll have that opportunity and have really a good handle of what those responsibilities are.”
Garcia agreed, adding that Hill consistently attends meeting agenda reviews and responds to emails, whereas Herman often does not.
“Here we go again,” said Commissioner Clark. “Jeanne’s been aced out. Sandbagged.”
Clark continued on with an attack on Andriola, saying her decision to support Hill as chair was political suicide.
“This is not political,” Andriola said. “The business that is at hand is important … for everyone, for Washoe County. I have immense respect for Commissioner Herman. She has had opportunities [to be chair] and chose not to at that time… You should not be making any vote based on retaining a seat.”
Herman had little to say about the allegations that she was mostly absent for agenda reviews. She noted that she had only been vice chair for “a few months” and that she was only able to call in, often with her camera off, for agenda review meetings.
The motion to retain Hill as chair passed 3-2, with Commissioners Clark and Herman voting no.
During the final commissioner remarks of the meeting, Clark continued his attack on Andriola, saying she represented herself as a Republican to get appointed to the board by Gov. Joe Lombardo, but her voting record has her voting 85-90% of the time, with “the other party.”
Clark pledged to door-knock in Andriola’s district leading up to the election to share her voting record with residents.
“That does not follow the board’s rules of treating each other with respect, Commissioner Clark,” Hill said.
“I know what disrespect is,” Clark retorted. “I’ve been disrespected plenty of times,” he added as he walked out of the meeting.
Commissioners also voted to accept the resignation of Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez, who resigned on Jan. 2 after less than two years on the job. Rodriguez will remain in her position through March 15 but is on leave through that date.
Deputy Registrar Cari-Ann Burgess was approved to temporarily take on the duties of the registrar of voters through March 15, after which she will become interim registrar of voters until a new registrar is hired. Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve the appointment, with Commissioners Clark and Herman voting no.
