You know the old saying: “If you want to see what happened and who benefited, follow the money.” You might be surprised by how difficult that can be, especially when a county appears either completely incompetent or corrupt. After all, they have the books. It’s a bit like putting crooks in charge of a bank and then asking for an accounting at the end of the day, week, or month. How honest do you think that accounting would be?

In Washoe, we face a similar challenge. While we have some truly incredible people working for the county, there are a few bad apples that spoil it for the whole bunch. I know hundreds within the county system, and they, too, are frustrated with the status quo.

To give you an idea, let me share a brief experience. Back on June 20th, I requested an accounting of where the money went for certain vendors. They had 5 days to respond.

So the “staff” responded within 5 days, and said they would get us the data by 8/7/23!

Then the same “staff” says I’ll receive some records OR a status update on 9/13/23!
Folks, that’s nearly 3 months for something we can do in seconds.

What are they hiding? I think we know.

Anyone from a lemonade stand owner to someone at Vanguard Holdings knows that even a basic bookkeeper can produce such a report quickly. So, are the people at the county’s office inexperienced, inept, or corrupt, or is there someone preventing the release of information? Whatever the reason, our rights are being infringed upon.

So, where is all the money truly going? How can one justify spending, as we’re told, over 130 million dollars on a “homeless circus tent” and an additional 17 million annually to operate it for just 600 people? If we got a transparent account of the finances, how many of our public servants might be pocketing more than their fair share? I believe we’ll learn a lot this year. Stay tuned.

Beadles

P.S. One would hope the DA’s office would be on our side, defending our rights. But it’s troubling to know that they’re tasked with protecting these same public servants. So, when we seek justice or answers, the DA’s office acts as a gatekeeper, prioritizing those in service over us. Does anyone else find this arrangement backwards? I know our founding fathers certainly would.