BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS WASHOE COUNTY, NEVADA

TUESDAY 10:00 A.M. SEPTEMBER 9, 2025

PRESENT:

Alexis Hill, Chair Michael Clark, Commissioner* Mariluz Garcia, Commissioner Clara Andriola, Commissioner

Evonne Strickland, Deputy County Clerk Kate Thomas, Interim County Manager Michael Large, Chief Deputy District Attorney

ABSENT:

Jeanne Herman, Vice Chair

The Washoe County Board of Commissioners convened at 10:01 a.m. in regular session in the Commission Chambers of the Washoe County Administration Complex, 1001 East Ninth Street, Reno, Nevada. Following the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our Country, Deputy County Clerk Evonne Strickland called roll and the Board conducted the following business:

25-0627 AGENDA ITEM 3 Invocation.

International Fellowship of Chaplains Pastor Nancy Bazner provided the

invocation.

25-0628 AGENDA ITEM 4 Public Comment.

Mr. Terry Brooks recited an original poem regarding politics and race in historical and current instances of discrimination.

Chair Hill thanked Mr. Brooks and remarked that it was great to see him.

*10:09 a.m. Commissioner Clark arrived at the meeting.

Mr. Drew Ribar greeted the Board. He referred to the rules outlined at the beginning of each public comment item. He described that his intended topic of discussion was not initially to speak about the Constitution and free speech, but his motivation had changed. He stated that citizens were supposed to have free speech in the United States (US) and the State of Nevada. He suggested that the wording of the public comment rules appeared designed to eliminate people’s ability to submit comments. He believed the restrictions stipulating that speakers should not name individuals or use explicit language during the allotted three-minute comment period seemed unconstitutional. He noted that

an interruption of his time to speak similarly appeared unconstitutional, particularly disruptions from the Board of County Commissioners (BCC), as the Board enforced the restrictions on people’s comments. He greeted Chief Deputy District Attorney (CDDA) Michael Large and mentioned that he had not seen CDDA Large in a while. Mr. Ribar requested that CDDA Large investigate the limitations placed on speakers, since Mr. Ribar thought that subtle restrictions were bad. Mr. Ribar explained that he had initially planned to discuss elections, which he thought was a topic on the meeting’s agenda. He reported that the Supreme Court of Nevada had decided on his case but had not given him a writ of mandamus. He noted that it was determined that Washoe County violated the State Constitution and Nevada State Law during the previous primary elections. He acknowledged that the Commissioners had participated in elections, and he asked them how they would feel if their name had been omitted from the ballot. He stated that during the canvassing of the election, the District Attorney’s (DA) Office threatened to arrest members of the BCC for not voting the way the DA desired. He noted that voting was a form of speech, and he postulated that attorneys threatening to arrest elected representatives of the government signified a problem. He speculated that changes might come during the upcoming election for the position of DA. He stated that it was the Board’s job to uphold all citizens’ constitutional rights and ensure that citizens could maintain their liberty, harm no others, and speak personal truths. He thanked the Board and hoped they would have a good day.

Mr. Nicholas St. Jon displayed a document, copies of which were distributed to the Board and placed on file with the Clerk. He explained that the document before the Board was a detailed summary of an election integrity report for the 2024 general election. He noted that the report included several things he wanted to point out to the Board. He stated that he had looked at downloads from the Secretary of State’s (SOS) databases and found that 33,038 records dated between May 24 and May 29 were missing. He explained that nothing had been done after he gave the list of missing documents to the Registrar of Voters (ROV) Office, and he had not heard anything from them since. He had expected that hearing about 10 percent of the voter rolls going missing suddenly would alarm someone or create a desire to investigate the matter. He reported that he downloaded the databases every day of the election cycle for nearly a month, from October 19 to November 16. He noted that 11,412 records were added to the active voter rolls throughout that period, with 3,510 removed during the active election cycle. He reported that 604 individuals within those 3,510 removed records ultimately voted during the early voting period, on Election Day, or with mail-in ballots. He explained that he had downloaded the cast vote records from the 2020 elections, which comprised 264,333 votes. He noted that the highest number he could source from the polling books, Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS), and the voter rolls was comparatively just over 260,000 votes, meaning approximately 4,000 votes were missing. He stated that he downloaded the cast vote records immediately following the election in November 2020, as well as in March and June of 2025. He reported that 1,679 records had been added since November 2020. He asked where the integrity of the cast vote records was and inquired why 1,679 records would be added. He emphasized that all the numbers within the cast vote records had been changed, which he described as a big deal. He noted that one of the primary topics within his document was that 6,333 people were flagged as having already voted, representing 2.4

percent of the electorate. He acknowledged that there was no information on how many individuals attempted to vote in person after their mail-in ballot was turned in. He reported that 20,000 people were listed in the voter database who did not have a record on file with the tax assessor’s database. He indicated that much more was included within the document he gave the Board.

Ms. Maureen McElroy greeted the Commissioners and displayed a document, copies of which were distributed to the Board and placed on file with the Clerk. Ms. McElroy introduced herself and thanked the BCC for giving her the time to speak before them. She acknowledged that the BCC meeting would include a quarterly report from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) and expressed gratitude that the report was standard practice in the County. She opined that the report presented vital information that Commissioners and members of the public should be regularly apprised of. She detailed a continuing increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) apprehensions and detentions. She asked that the Board consider agendizing a separate regular hearing or report from the WCSO about how jail facilities were being used to support ICE and how information about ICE detainees at those facilities was being documented and made available through the WCSO’s information systems. She stated that there was a significant amount of justifiable fear and growing distrust throughout the community about local ICE activity. She requested that the Board commit to being overly transparent about any changes to law enforcement practices or facilities involving ICE, such as matters similar to the recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant. She emphasized the importance of retaining community trust in the WCSO and the entire County. She opined that recent events represented an opportunity for Commissioners to acknowledge how fearful and concerned the community was. She encouraged the Board to recognize how necessary transparency was at that moment to assuage community concerns and reduce rumors and misinformation. She thanked the BCC for their attention to the matter.

Ms. Pam Darr greeted the Board and introduced herself. She said she could not think that day and apologized to the Commissioners. She had not intended to speak during the meeting but had changed her mind after nearly hitting a homeless person in a wheelchair who was blocking the entrance. She stated that homelessness was multiplying substantially everywhere she went. She referred to a broader situation related to many millions being present locally, which had been occurring over the previous four years. She noted that the federal government was working on the issue, and she hoped that the County would collaborate with federal agencies. She speculated that many people who came to the area did not have homes when they relocated and were likely sleeping on the street. She described the issue of homelessness as a mess and emphasized the need to deal with the matter. She noted that near where she exercised, there were unhoused individuals who had been helped by the Homeless Outreach Proactive Engagement (HOPE) Team, for which she expressed gratitude because of their wonderful work. She explained that the people helped by the HOPE Team often returned to that area, particularly those who kept to themselves and walked throughout the area frequently. She described one of the individuals within that group of returning unhoused people as angry and hoped they would not be among those who came back to the area. She described the situation as a cycle and reported

that she often saw unhoused individuals moving northward on Vista Boulevard and Sparks Boulevard. She asked where they might be going, as they had no resources in that region. She acknowledged that the homeless try to find places to hide clothing to keep dry in the event of rain, as changing into dry clothing could prevent pneumonia, sickness, and death. She stated that many unhoused individuals die while living on the streets. She recounted visiting Los Angeles, California, in 2015 for a reunion, where she spoke with a priest who told her that 12 unhoused individuals died in public places every day. She emphasized that those statistics were from ten years prior and asked how many were dying currently due to the elevated number of homeless people. She opined that there was an immigration issue that needed to be addressed and that discussions on the topic needed to be open. She noted that Storey County faced the same issue, as it had spread. She requested that a workshop meeting be held where people could bring ideas. She emphasized that the homeless were people, and the weather would soon worsen. She recalled that snow had fallen the day after others had advised that the many unhoused individuals near the Walmart off of Pyramid Highway be left alone because they were nice. She recalled that a foot of snow had fallen the following day. She reiterated that the weather would change for the worse and stressed that something needed to be done. She thanked the Board.

Ms. Susan Walls greeted the Board. She recalled that during a public comment she made before the BCC on October 19, she mentioned that she was the daughter of a Mexican immigrant who was in the US as a lawful, legal resident. She explained that while she did not know the genesis of her father’s family coming to the Country, she understood that her father did jobs involving strenuous physical labor as a farm and factory worker until he no longer could. She stated that the detainment, arrest, kidnapping, and disappearance of immigrants in cities and rural areas across the Nation was continuing and escalating rather than abating. She reported that masked, armed individuals claiming to be ICE agents who would not properly identify themselves were taking those actions without warrants or for any apparent reason aside from the color of an individual's skin, the language they spoke, or the work they did. She said that ICE agents were terrorizing communities unnecessarily under the guise of a national emergency caused by a substantial influx of immigrants. She disagreed, stating that was clearly not why those actions were being taken. She noted that the vast majority of those detained and countless other immigrants were individuals who had come to the US to escape oppressive conditions and seek a better life for their families. She emphasized that they were not criminals as others might suggest. She stated that those immigrants performed difficult and important jobs that most individuals born in the US either could not or were unwilling to do, and they paid taxes that supported services that most of them would never be able to partake in. She reported that many immigrants had initiated the necessary measures required to become lawful, legal residents, which required following an arduous process. She explained that those immigrants were trying to do the right thing despite the lengthy and unwieldy process, which generally took many years and often failed to yield a positive result. She expressed concern about the current and future actions in the County. She speculated that the Sheriff would use funds from the DHS, if the Board approved their use, in order to create a confidential space to interview ICE detainees. She said that would be a change or improvement to the area utilized for that purpose for over 30 years. She opined that while improvements to aging facilities were always welcome, she was concerned that the

facility’s improvements for ICE use would promote increased enforcement and detention activity locally. She acknowledged that, despite the Sheriff not actively participating in the 287(g) program at that time, accepting DHS funds opened the possibility that the WCSO would be coerced into participating. She explained that there had already been other coercion efforts, for which lawsuits had been filed by the Attorney General and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). As an interested and concerned resident, she requested that the Board place an item on the agenda of an upcoming BCC meeting for further discussion and understanding of the improvements to the Washoe County Detention Facility and WCSO's cooperation with ICE. She thanked the Board.

Mr. Oscar Williams spoke on Agenda Items 12 and 16, and expressed his opposition and concerns regarding the proposed zoning in Lake Tahoe. He thought that rezoning would benefit developers, and he felt that parking lots would replace the beauty of Lake Tahoe. He believed that increased congestion could lead to safety issues and would create more car accidents and pedestrian injuries. He suggested that there would be issues with evacuations in the event of a large forest fire. He referenced an incident earlier in the year when an unexpected storm struck Lake Tahoe, where, without notice, the lake’s conditions became dangerous, and people drowned. He questioned what would happen in a similar emergency, such as a devastating fire that could potentially destroy Incline Village within a few hours. He thought that if density were increased, evacuations would be difficult, which would put many lives at risk. He noted that higher density could impact the quality of the lake. He believed that visiting Sand Harbor required a reservation and paying a fee. He said that if more people moved to the area, and public access became restricted, it would be unfair to the taxpayers, who would no longer be able to enjoy those recreational areas. He opposed the rezoning and the addition of higher-density housing around Lake Tahoe, and he hoped that the Board would vote against those agenda items. He explained that he was unsure whether the Board had other obligations since they had previously voted to increase density in Incline Village at the request of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), which he believed was a separate issue. He felt that the BCC had a right to a vote that was protected speech under a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court. He added that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) had ruled in favor of the case Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan, which involved the approval of the Lazy 8 project. He explained that Michael Carrigan, a Sparks Councilman, had a campaign manager who was a lobbyist for the Lazy 8 project. He said that there was a conflict of interest and that the case had gone back and forth through various courts. He believed that the same decision could apply to elections and the certification of the canvass of a local election recount under the Nevada Constitution, Article 4, Section 20, where he argued that the BCC had the right to regulate and control local elections. He stated that under the rulings of Nevada Commission on Ethics v. Carrigan, no one could delude or deprive lawmakers of their vote. He hoped that the BCC would exercise its vote appropriately when considering the rezoning at Lake Tahoe.

Ms. Abbey Pike, Washoe County Extension Educator at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) Extension, displayed a document, a copy of which was placed on file with the Clerk. She announced that the first Washoe County Healthy Kids Festival would take place on September 13, 2025, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Neil Road

Recreation Center. She described the event as a free, farm-to-table educational experience for children ages three to eight and their families, though children of all ages were welcome. She noted that the festival would be hosted by the Nevada Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Education (SNAP-Ed) and supported by volunteers from various departments and community organizations. She expressed appreciation for the support of the BCC and the ongoing partnership between Washoe County and the UNR Extension and welcomed the Commissioners and community members to attend.

Chair Hill said that she would ensure that information about the Washoe County Healthy Kids Festival would be shared.

Mr. Ed Powell appreciated and welcomed the regularly scheduled interactions between the BCC and the WCSO. He encouraged the WCSO to apply the same procedures and protections to all individuals involved with the Washoe County Detention Facility, particularly in the inmate search area. He cautioned the WCSO against becoming complicit with the masked abductions and disappearances, which he associated with ICE techniques. He urged that ICE techniques should not be normalized in what appeared to have been a budgeted army of secret police. He felt that ICE techniques were illegal, unconstitutional, and un-American. He hoped to return to being a Nation of laws and not men.

Mr. Charles Elliott introduced himself as a 78-year-old lifelong resident of Washoe County. He stated that he had many thoughts to share regarding elections. He mentioned that he had attended numerous meetings following the 2020 and 2024 elections, and added that if election processes were not corrected, he would likely attend BCC meetings after the 2026 elections. He expressed that he was ashamed of Washoe County and the BCC. He stated that members of the Board were aware of their actions and added that they would be judged by God. He felt that the Country was being driven by lawfare and dominated by legal professionals and believed that there were more lawyers than nearly any other profession. He thought that, due to the vast number of legal professionals, citizens in Washoe County, the State of Nevada, and the US were afraid to speak out for fear of being sued. He explained that as a free Country, the US was founded on the word of God and the Founding Fathers. He claimed that Washoe County ranked last in the Nation in education and thanked God that President Donald Trump would work to address the issue, and he hoped that the Washoe County education department could be reformed. He stated that ICE had operated for many years under lawful orders and statutes which had been upheld by many presidents, SOS, and Attorney Generals. He suggested that previous statements regarding ICE were not truthful. He mentioned that patriots and Bible-believing Christians were working to restore the Country after being invaded and divided. He felt that what the Country had experienced was a shame, but thought that, in the end, patriots and Bible-believing Christians would prevail.

Ms. Sandee Tibbett displayed a document, copies of which were distributed to the Board and placed on file with the Clerk. She asked that the BCC focus on the subject line of her document. She urged the County to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines and adopt hand-counted ballots to restore trust and transparency in elections. She

acknowledged that while mail-in ballots were convenient, they created vulnerabilities that undermined confidence in the electoral process. She indicated that research highlighted how mail-in voting systems allowed ballots to enter the system without adequate validation, and could potentially inflate voter rolls with unverified entries, which she felt had occurred in Washoe County. She believed that moving to same-day in-person voting using paper ballots and voter identification would ensure that every vote cast was securely counted under direct supervision, and would reduce opportunities for fraud or error. She said that same-day in-person voting using sequentially numbered paper ballots, counted in each precinct under video surveillance, would ensure every vote was traceable, verifiable, and secure from being hacked. She shared that the State of Nevada had been recently hacked. She suggested that the Automatic Signature Verification (ASV), ballot marking devices (BMDs), and ImageCast Precinct 2 (ICP2) vote center ballot scanners being implemented in Washoe County had significant flaws that undermined election integrity and transparency. She explained that ASV was subject to algorithmic variability and human review, with error rates of up to 20 percent that could disenfranchise voters or accept invalid signatures, compounded by secretive proprietary software. She noted that BMDs cost between $3,000 and $7,000 per unit, not including maintenance. She shared that BMDs were vulnerable to hacking, software glitches, and voter errors, with barcode-based ballots, which risked discrepancies that voters rarely verified. She said that ICP2 scanners could be hacked with physical access, could misread ballots due to calibration issues or malfunctions, as reported in Antrim County, Michigan, in 2020, and could limit public auditing. She urged the BCC to consider her recommendations to strengthen Washoe County's election integrity. She suggested that the Board request specific data on ASV error rates and rejection policies to evaluate their fairness and transparency. She advised the BCC to ask for a detailed cost breakdown of the BMDs and ICP2 ballot scanners in the County's budget to compare with a cost-effective hand-counting alternative. She urged the BCC to advocate for a pilot program of a proven hand-counting method in a small precinct, as successfully done in Nye County, Nevada, and Gillespie County, Texas, to demonstrate its transparency and viability. Lastly, she thought the BCC should promote voter education on verifying BMD printed ballots and ensuring ICP2 scanners were audited using hand- counted samples to detect potential errors.

Ms. Janet Butcher displayed a document, a copy of which was placed on file with the Clerk. She read from a document, which was placed on file with the Clerk, regarding her concerns with the number of canceled BCC meetings during 2024. She described an unsettling interaction she had witnessed between a member of the public and a Commissioner, which she hoped would be addressed. She expressed her concern that ICE agents were being put into difficult situations and were being doxed. She said that ICE agents feared for their lives, their families, and their loved ones. In response to public comments about ICE agents wearing masks, she explained that masks were worn for their protection. She felt that some individuals were in the US illegally and emphasized that there was a legal process that should be followed.

Ms. Joni Hammond emphasized the importance of elections. She noted that on October 25, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Congress statutorily designated a single day for the election of members of Congress and the

appointment of presidential electors. She indicated that Election Day was confirmed in text, precedent, and historical practice as the day on which ballots must be both cast by voters and received by state officials. She stated that the Mississippi statute, which allowed ballot reception up to five days after the federal Election Day, was preempted by federal law. She explained that Judicial Watch filed a federal lawsuit against California on behalf of US Representative Darrell Issa to prevent state election officials from extending Election Day by seven days beyond the date established by federal law. She noted that California counted ballots received up to seven days after Election Day. She felt that the Fifth Circuit action was a historic victory for honest elections. She mentioned that Judicial Watch's President, Tom Fitton, stated that federal law defined Election Day, not Election Week, and suggested that California and 17 other states, including Nevada, should take note of that. She indicated that the recently filed lawsuit against California, for counting ballots received up to seven days after Election Day, carried even more urgency and strength. She stated that Washoe County received and counted ballots after Election Day, and she questioned why the County did not comply with the Fifth Circuit ruling instead of facing a potential lawsuit from Judicial Watch. She thought that Washoe County could and should serve as an example for counting Nevada paper ballots on Election Day. She acknowledged that she had heard that the process was too complicated and could not be done. She explained that the process was not complicated, and added that France, Ireland, and Canada used only hand-marked paper ballots. She believed that Washoe County could do the same.

Ms. Eileen Ecklund reiterated some of the concerns previously raised regarding ICE's presence in Washoe County, specifically about the agency's relationship with WCSO. She hoped to receive answers from the WCSO about that relationship, whether it had changed since the new administration took office, and what steps the sheriff was taking to ensure public transparency about ICE detentions in the County. She expressed concern regarding the responsibility for oversight of ICE detainees within the County jail, which included how detainees were booked, monitored, and how their families, loved ones, and attorneys were informed of their status. She wondered who determined how detainees were treated while in custody. She felt that the proposed jail renovation would expand ICE's capacity to operate within the community and detain larger numbers of residents. She believed that the relationship between the WCSO and ICE should be reviewed, and she expressed concern that ICE had become a rogue agency and operated above the law under the current administration. She suggested that every day brought increased reports of masked and heavily armed ICE agents terrorizing communities across the Country, and had torn individuals away from their families without warrants or due process. She questioned whether the community would become complicit during the activities by turning away and pretending that it was not happening, or if the community would take a stand against them. She hoped that, before accepting the grant funding for the WCSO renovations, the BCC would consider her questions and would insist on having greater transparency from the WCSO and its relationship with ICE.

Ms. Susan VanNess expressed opposition towards the ROV’s election plan for 2026 because she felt it undermined the integrity of the democratic voting process and directly violated President Donald Trump’s March 25, 2025, executive order to preserve and protect the integrity of American elections. She believed that patriots should be

committed to free and fair elections and thought that flaws should not persist. She opined that the proposal flagrantly disregarded Section 7 of President Trump’s March 25, 2025, executive order, which mandated compliance with National Election Day. She said that allowing postmarked mail-in ballots would extend tabulation to June 16, 2026. She asserted that all votes were required to be cast and received by Election Day except for uniformed and overseas voters. She felt that extending the voting deadline invited fraud and eroded public trust, highlighted by the 2024 Supreme Court ruling, Republican National Committee v. Wetzel. She believed that strict cutoff enforcement would ensure every vote was timely and legitimate. She speculated that there was an absence of citizen verification measures in the 2026 Election Plan and that it mentioned over 103,000 voter registration updates, but ignored President Trump’s March 25, 2025, executive order that required documentary proof of US citizenship on registration forms. She said that there was no oversight without access to federal databases from the DHS and the US Department of State (DOS). She felt that heavy reliance on mail-in ballots in 2024, with plans to continue, lacked enhanced integrity standards.

Mr. Donald Fossum displayed a document. No copy was submitted for the public record. He believed that the Board paid for busloads of foreign invaders to justify their fake or unjustifiable consensus. He recalled that in 2017, he received five election information materials for people who did not live at his home. He said that he showed the letters to the County, ROV, and KOLO 8 News after contacting Vice Chair Herman. He indicated that KOLO 8 News displayed his interview during a news conference, then buried it, which he thought was the mainstream media playing along with the Board’s agenda. He noted that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would investigate Nevada’s processes. He said that the election count needed to occur in one day, with the results provided the same evening, without any excuses.

Ms. Penny Brock displayed a document, a copy of which was placed on file with the Clerk. She was disappointed that public comment was not allowed during the ROV presentation because she had witnessed many issues. She said that according to the Myers Report she submitted, Nevada was the lowest-ranked for election rules in the whole world. She was not surprised that the DOJ would be investigating the State and indicated that the investigation may lead to Washoe County because the DOJ was investigating a few Missouri counties. She believed that if the DOJ audited the County, it would include the County Manager and the ROV. She asserted that President Trump would lead a movement to cease mail-in ballots because of inaccurate, expensive, and controversial voting machines. She mentioned that the US was the only Country in the world that allowed mail- in voting, while others stopped due to voter fraud. She said that President Trump strongly opposed Democrats because they cheat at levels never seen. She opined that the State was merely an agent for the federal government for counting and tabulating votes.

Mr. Paul Lenart indicated that he had been a Washoe County resident since 2007 and a Nevada resident since 1998. He noted that he previously lived in Mississippi and did not come to Nevada with millions of dollars. He said that ICE had existed for a long time; however, he wanted to know what constituted a selected group of vigilantes becoming official federal government representatives with the power to arrest. He did not

believe that ICE was recruiting the best agents and thought that most of them could not pass a physical. He speculated that the requirements to become an ICE agent had become diluted and wondered about agents’ moral character and psychological stability.

Mr. Forrest Rusert believed that remodeling the WCSO’s ICE facility was disappointing. He speculated that ICE was acting as a terrorist organization that should not be invited into homes. He wanted real solutions and not expensive lies that attacked people. He asserted that the WCSO should not fund ICE activities.

Mr. Adam Schifferdecker urged the BCC to reject the Homeland Security Grant (HSG) because he believed it did not serve the needs of the County residents. He said expanding ICE presence in the community did not create safety and that tying local law enforcement with immigration enforcement created mistrust. He felt that victims of domestic violence, workers experiencing abuse, and witnesses to crime would hesitate to contact the WCSO. He opined that it was a serious moral and legal concern to partner with ICE and that ICE practices would become normalized within the County. He indicated that ICE tactics were unjust and not what the County should stand for. He asked the Board to create programs that built trust, strengthened families, and improved public safety.

Ms. Alicia Powers agreed with Mr. Powell and Mr. Schifferdecker. She expressed deep concern regarding the recent escalation of ICE operations in Nevada and indicated that there was an increase in arrests of people without criminal records. She believed that democracy relied on the rule of law, including adherence to constitutional rights that could not be overridden under the guise of enforcement. She said that ICE challenged the foundation of the First, Fourth, Eighth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments, which gave the people of the US specific rights designed to protect them from tyranny. She asserted that due process demanded that no one be deprived of their liberty without fair legal procedures and that the community’s sense of safety and welfare should be considered. She recalled the closure of Broadacres Marketplace, a vibrant center serving over a thousand small businesses and Latino communities in North Las Vegas, which demonstrated the economic and emotional toll of ICE presence. She claimed that ICE was inherently inhumane and tore apart families, separated children from parents, disrupted households, and left communities uncertain and fearful. She urged the Board to uphold and protect the rule of law, preserve the US Constitution, ensure due process, and safeguard the well-being of families and the shared community.

25-0629 AGENDA ITEM 5 Announcements/Reports.

Interim County Manager (ICM) Kate Thomas announced that the County’s upcoming community preparedness days would be held in each of the Commissioners’ districts and led by the Emergency Management (EM) team in partnership with the Commissioners. She reported that the series was community-focused events to empower residents to prepare for emergencies and disasters with interactive and hands-on demonstrations and activities. She relayed that the first event of the series would begin at the Lazy Five Regional Park in the Sugarloaf Pavilion on September 20, 2025. She noted the residents did not need to live in specific districts to attend the events.

Commissioner Garcia reported that the Fostering, Adopting, and Mentoring (FAM) Fest would take place on September 14, 2025, at the Sparks Marina to raise awareness about FAM. She thought that the event was great for all community members and noted it was open and free to the public. She urged anyone interested in the programs and opportunities, or those who wished to help and support children in need, to attend the event.

Commissioner Andriola reiterated the community preparedness days and the Second Annual FAM Fest, which ICM Thomas and Commissioner Garcia had previously mentioned. She believed that the Fam Fest was an incredible opportunity for everyone to create awareness regarding FAM. She thanked ICM Thomas and Assistant County Manager (ACM) David Solaro for researching and updating the County invocation process. She encouraged anyone interested in providing an invocation to apply.

Commissioner Clark thanked the public commenters for speaking, regardless of their viewpoint, because he felt that the Board should hear the community's needs. He recalled a public comment made about an event taking place after a Board of County Commissioners’ (BCC) meeting regarding a Commissioner. He requested that upgraded cameras and microphones be placed in the hallways of the Washoe County Administrative Complex so that people felt protected in case anything disrespectful or untoward occurred. He reported that he had a thumb drive containing evidence of a situation that had occurred a week previously, along with a statement from a community member. He said that anyone interested in learning more about the occurrence could place a public records request (PRR).

Commissioner Clark asked Chief Deputy District Attorney (CDDA) Michael Large if there had been any items on the agenda since he replaced former CDDA Mary Kandaras that would cause a Commissioner to be arrested based on their vote. CDDA Large informed Commissioner Clark that he was not prepared to go over every agenda item from the last few months; however, he did not recall anything that would warrant an arrest. He said that each Commissioner had taken an oath and had fiduciary obligations that followed the law, the Constitution, and the ordinances of the County.

Chair Hill thanked the staff who organized the State of the County and relayed that the videos presented at the State of the County meeting were located on the Washoe County website. She encouraged those interested to watch the videos to understand what the County was working on. She said that the Board would attend a retreat around the new year and hoped the community could participate. She was looking forward to continuing important initiatives.

‌PROCLAMATIONS

25-0630 6A1 World FTD (Frontotemporal Degeneration) Awareness Week (All Commission Districts.)

Commissioner Andriola read the proclamation.

Northern Nevada Public Health (NNPH) Communications Manager Scott Oxarart clarified that although he worked for NNPH, he was on his lunch break and was speaking to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) as a volunteer. He said he was an ambassador for the State of Nevada for the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (FTD), and he thanked the Board for helping him to bring awareness to the disease. He noted that he had guests at the meeting who were also impacted by the disease. He disclosed that he became an FTD awareness advocate because of his father, who passed away two years prior from FTD. Mr. Oxarart described his father as a great man and a 40-year Nevada resident who took pride in his Basque heritage. He added that his father worked at International Game Technology (IGT) for 25 years. Mr. Oxarart shared multiple stories of how FTD transformed the personality of his father from a caring, loving person to someone nearly unrecognizable both physically and mentally. He explained that his family did not initially have a proper diagnosis, which made the actions and remarks of his father difficult to understand. He conveyed that inappropriate social behavior was typical of FTD and was challenging for caregivers, which was one of the reasons Mr. Oxarart provided for his dedication to increasing FTD awareness. He noted that a recent interview former actor Bruce Willis had with broadcast journalist Diane Sawyer also helped promote FTD awareness, and he theorized that it would help if there were more opportunities for caregivers to talk through challenges with people who had experience with FTD. He shared his goal to implement a support group and added that he was looking for volunteers to help facilitate it. He encouraged people to consider that severe personality changes could be caused by something other than depression or a psychiatric condition. He mentioned that FTD could affect people in their 20s but was usually seen between ages 40 and 60. He advised that people with any concerns should consult a neurologist and their doctor to find out more information. He recommended visiting the website of the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration to find more resources.

Chair Hill thanked Mr. Oxarart and stated her admiration for his work. She was impressed by what he had done to increase FTD awareness and she divulged that, based on what she had learned from him, she advised a friend to look into whether her mother was being affected by FTD.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Garcia, which motion duly carried on a 4-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman absent, it was ordered that Agenda Item 6A1 be adopted.

25-0631 AGENDA ITEM 7A1 Presentation and Update on FY 25 Fourth Quarter Status Report for the Washoe County Regional Detention Facility by Captain Stewart and TJ Mills, to include security of the jail, conditions of confinement, staffing and medical care of inmates housed at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff. (All Commission Districts.)

Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) Captain John Stewart conducted a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed slides with the following titles: Jail Status Report;

Medical Information; NaphCare Medical Data (two slides); ADP; Average Length of Stay; Total Bookings; FY 24/25 4th Quarter Jail Data; Inmate Assistance Program.

Captain Stewart directed Commissioners to look at the information on the ADP slide. He pointed out that the average length of stay was almost the same for Quarter 4 (Q4) of fiscal year (FY) 2025 as it was for Q4 of FY 2024. He said that many of their FY 2025 statistics closely matched numbers reported from the previous year. He showed his FY 24/25 4th Quarter Jail Data slide and noted that the number of incidents of inmate battery was down from 21 to 17. He attributed the decrease to employees maintaining improved facility control, being present, and engaging in active enforcement within the facility. He stated that the number of incidents of staff battery by inmates was the same as last year, and 49 fights were averted compared to 30 in the previous quarter. He wanted to utilize the presentation time, unless the Board had questions, to have WCSO Senior Office Specialist TJ Mills share information about The Bridge; a program Mr. Mills oversaw. Captain Stewart viewed the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting as a good venue for the community to learn what the WCSO did for inmates. He communicated that The Bridge gave a lot of resources to the inmates and Mr. Mills did a great job overseeing it. He recalled that some Commissioners had attended graduations for inmates who participated in the Getting Ahead While Getting Out program, which Mr. Mills also led.

Chair Hill advised that Commissioners would wait until after the presentation to ask questions.

Mr. Mills continued the PowerPoint presentation and reviewed slides with the following titles: The Bridge at Washoe County Sheriff’s Office; Our Vision; The Challenge We Faced; Commitment to change; Screening Tool; Screening Tool Results (two slides); Updated Programming; Community Collaboration; What’s Next (FY25/26); Questions?.

Mr. Mills thanked the Commissioners for the opportunity to present. He recalled that approximately one year prior, he had the privilege of sharing an ambitious vision for transforming reentry resources at the WCSO. He said that he was excited to be back to update the BCC on how the WCSO had not only upheld their commitments, but exceeded them and continued to grow as a force to help the community. He conveyed that The Bridge team believed deeply in the principle that it was better to prevent the next crime rather than having to punish it. That belief drove everything they did. He reviewed his Our Vision slide and described that the WCSO contributed to The Bridge’s vision through pre- release reentry programming. He elaborated that their pre-release reentry programming sought to provide structure, tools, and support to assist their participants when they were released back into the community. He stated that the WCSO was guided by their definition of successful reentry and their goal to reduce recidivism in the long-term. He specified that the levers they provided to reduce recidivism in the long-term were meaningful support through employment, education, and pro-social relationships. He clarified that the program was not about helping bad people who had done bad things. It was about facing the fact that almost every person in WCSO custody would be released back into the community, and it was better for everyone if those individuals were equipped with the tools to succeed.

Mr. Mills showed his The Challenge We Faced slide and spoke about the challenges that were present when he was hired two years previously. He said the challenges primarily stemmed from the lack of a formal funding structure, which led to the department being staffed on a rotating special assignment basis. He explained that meant staff were pulled from other departments in the facility and brought in for terms of one to two years. He revealed that the constant churn resulted in lost institutional knowledge, social capital, and consistent program design. He disclosed that early in his employment with the WCSO he sometimes questioned the rationale for things that were not ideal, and consistently received the answer that things were being done the way they were because they had always been done that way. He determined that processes had become outdated, programming was scattered and misaligned, and most importantly, the department lacked appropriate tools to measure the efficacy of any of their efforts on an individual or a systems level.

Mr. Mills showed the Commitment to change slide and said that he entered his role with a directive to change the department and engage more resources to help the community. He believed that he brought two perspectives that aided in his mission. The first was lived experience, which he recalled sharing with the BCC the prior year. He elaborated that he spent a great deal of his younger life as an inmate in the WCSO detention facility, so he knew what it was like to desperately need to change but not know how. The second perspective was a systems-level perspective. He communicated that because of a great deal of help from amazing people in the community, he started to turn his life around. He started a career in construction and was able to help start a private construction company that became very successful. He described that at that time in his life, his days consisted of rapid transitions between construction work, running his business from his laptop, and pursuing a Master of Business Administration (MBA) through the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) during night school. He summarized it as a crazy, chaotic time in his life during which he learned many valuable lessons. He said there was no option to fail, because if he and his wife did not succeed, they would not have been able to provide food for their family. He commented that they approached the business through the lens of continuous process improvement, and he took that perspective with him when he met Sheriff Darin Balaam and started his work with the WCSO. He hoped the importance that Sheriff Balaam placed on reentry was clear to the Commissioners. Mr. Mills said Sheriff Balaam directed him to rebuild the department in the right way and empowered the staff every day to help the community. Mr. Mills advised that directive necessitated careful evaluation of the evidence, because the staff were unaware of their knowledge gaps. He said they looked to peer-reviewed, evidence-based research on what worked in reentry and learned that they needed to change. He described that they developed a clear-cut, step-by-step framework to bring about that change, which was first presented to Sheriff Balaam and the executive staff and then to the BCC. He informed that the framework was met with widespread approval, and he and his team committed to becoming evidence-based, data-driven, and holistic. He elaborated that evidence-based meant that they implemented what was shown to work, data-driven meant that they made decisions after data was gathered rather than before, and holistic meant that they aimed to treat the entire set of needs of their participants. He summarized that it was a blueprint, not just a mission statement.

Mr. Mills showed the Screening Tool slide and explained that for The Bridge, and for any effective reentry program, a screening system was foundational to understand participant needs. He said that his department used the metaphor of a hospital emergency room to help them internalize the way their booking department and facility should operate. He described that when someone went to a hospital exhibiting symptoms of a heart attack, that was a problem. He added that if there were unaddressed underlying conditions that led to the heart attack, even if a patient was stabilized and returned to the community, it was likely that they would return, possibly sicker. Similarly, when someone arrived in the WCSO booking department and was about to lose their freedom because it was alleged that they committed a crime in the community, that was a problem. If there were underlying needs that were unmet while that person was in WCSO custody, it was likely that person would return to prison, possibly in poorer condition and leaving the community worse off than before. A screening tool told the WCSO what they needed to treat. He revealed that their first step was to partner with some of the preeminent minds in that field of research. He said that they met with many research departments all around the Country to identify the right tool for their detention facility, but despite the existence of excellent, validated tools, none fit the needs of the WCSO. In many cases, the poor fit was because the tools were resource-heavy and needed a culture of investigative or motivational interviewing akin to a social work culture, which was not inherent in the WCSO facility at that time. He communicated that rather than giving up, they built our own tool in the form of a digital self-assessment that measured self-perceived needs across multiple domains. He explained that the assessment was administered on the inmate tablet system, and results were incredible so far. He reported that they launched the tool in March 2025, and more than 550 participants had completed the assessment to date. Given the WCSO average daily population, he calculated a 95 percent confidence rating that the results were reflective of their population with a plus-minus 4 percent margin of error. Moreover, given the homogeneity of jail populations in any given community, he theorized that the findings were not just reflective of the participants who took the survey, but more broadly represented the jail population in the community over time. He revealed that what was especially important about having obtained statistically significant results was that they met the threshold to inform policy and funding decisions. He shared that his team authored a comprehensive research report which they started to share locally and nationally. He added that the response was overwhelming, and he predicted that the screening tool would change how reentry resources were delivered. He disclosed that the next steps were for the WCSO team to partner with a research agency to validate the tool and create a predictive model, which would enable them to predict participant outcomes and further impact the community.

Mr. Mills shared the first of his Screening Tool Results slides and reviewed a selection of the insights already gained. He highlighted one of the questions that he felt offered a powerful insight; 88 percent of participants self-reported that immediately prior to incarceration, they did not have gainful employment. He showed the second of his Screening Tool Results slides and pointed out that 74 percent of participants in The Bridge self-reported not having stable or independent housing immediately prior to incarceration. He theorized that finding indicated a tremendous opportunity for cross-agency collaboration. He said there was an opportunity to not only identify the needs of program

participants but help develop comprehensive case plans and community wraparound services to support individuals leaving custody. He recommended connecting people to those services in advance rather than waiting for them to leave custody and then having the community deal with the effects, which were often quite negative if the needs of the person were unmet. He noted that the comprehensive research report he previously mentioned contained detailed statistical analysis as well as narrative analysis that outlined the full scope of need.

Mr. Mills showed the Updated Programming slide and asserted that programming had to be reimagined to meet the needs identified. He explained that the first step was to undergo a capacity mapping exercise because every action taken in a detention facility had the potential to severely impact other departments. He emphasized the importance of safety and security. He described that the capacity mapping exercise took approximately six months and provided his department with a thorough understanding of their resources and capacities as well as a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of their programming at that time. He divulged that they learned that some of their programming was ineffective and they were faced with the harsh reality that to get from where they were to where they needed to go, some drastic changes were required. He said they phased out ineffective legacy programming and sought evidence-based programming to take its place. They learned that 25 percent of their prison population did not have a high school diploma or equivalency. He viewed that as an opportunity to meet a need within the facility that could have significant positive impact in the community. He and his team sought out a partnership with Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), which he described as revolutionary. He commented that TMCC fundamentally changed adult basic education in the WCSO facility. He reported an increase of more than 250 percent in instructional hour opportunities for students in The Bridge and added that High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) pass rates and measurable education gains grew exponentially. He saw that as a real impact that would make its way back into the community. He informed that his department learned through capacity mapping that 40 percent of their jail population had children, many of whom lived in the community, which identified another tremendous area of need. He shared that they already had a partner, UNR Early Head Start, doing great work in their facility, but the program initially only offered services to expectant mothers who were incarcerated. He said that the partnership was expanded, and they now offered services for all incarcerated parents with children ages 0 to 5 in the community. He announced that they served 90 families in the community during the past year, which exemplified evidence-based community wraparound care that positively impacted generational cycles of crime and incarceration. He described that the program offered concurrent services to the incarcerated parent, the child, and the primary caregiver in the community.

Mr. Mills advised that the mapping exercise revealed that 30 percent of the County jail population was ineligible to attend in-person programming due to the nature of their classification status. As a result, nearly one third of the population had been denied vital resources because the previous programming model was all in-person. To address that need, Mr. Mills and his team partnered with a national agency that had been developing and delivering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for more than five decades. The

program was launched on the inmate tablet system and available to the entire population. Mr. Mills stated that the results were remarkable. He reported that to date, there were more than 400 CBT programming graduates and over 5,000 inmate hours accrued by individuals in housing units working on prosocial CBT on their tablets. He spoke about the importance of good partners, and highlighted Chaplain Travis Sharpe as a remarkable example. Mr. Mills described that Chaplain Sharpe developed, monitored, evaluated, and delivered the in-house curriculum. Mr. Mills said that Chaplain Sharpe was a teacher and instructed WCSO staff about models of fidelity and how to adhere to the models to ensure results. Chaplain Sharpe taught students that real change was possible, and people had not given up on them. Mr. Mills mentioned an upcoming graduation ceremony and said he would love to see the Commissioners attend. He summarized that it was a powerful example of the change that was possible when people got involved with students at the WCSO facility.

Mr. Mills showed his Community Collaboration slide and opined that the WCSO was one small link in an important reentry chain. He said that his team knew that they could not be effective alone, so to make a broader and more positive community impact, they sought out more than 80 partnerships in the last year with local, State, and national partners across a variety of sectors including education, workforce, clinical research, and criminal justice research. He believed that effective collaboration was essential for any meaningful, long-term change. He admitted that significant challenges arose in the past year, including a Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) determination that changed regulations about commissary funds and gutted the funding source his team relied on. He added that TMCC’s adult basic education fund was completely dismantled overnight through a federal determination. He acknowledged that federal determination was since overturned, but he observed that the results of the initial action were devastating and programming ceased to exist. He expressed his relief that the TMCC program had since resumed. He described that UNR Early Head Start had to change their program model and their name because Head Start was being dismantled nationally. Mr. Mills determined that his department had a significant role in supporting their partners and encouraging them to continue to pursue their work because it was important and they were having a true impact in the community. He affirmed that despite the challenges, his team was not going to slow down. He felt like they could not. He described that in the next year, they would work to validate and refine the predictive screening tool that they built. He stated that the tool was becoming a national model and the WCSO was leading the way in effective reentry practices. They planned to engage the UNR statistics lab as a partner, but he stipulated that if that did not work out, many research agencies had asked to partner with the WCSO. He conveyed that they had become a national leader in the field and wanted to scale what worked, be good stewards, and get the tool into the right hands so it could help people all over the Country. He shared that scaling the TMCC partnership meant pursuing an ambitious program in which people could earn vocational certifications pre-release to assist them in obtaining gainful employment post-release. He hoped to expand into new funding sources to bolster the home visiting program and wanted to assist families to achieve housing stability. He said he and his team had proof-of-concept with their remote programming and planned to expand it with peer-led, evidence-based reentry programming that began pre-release and continued post-release, which would be free for the participants. He described that he and his team had an opportunity to present and propose new ways to

effectively define and measure reentry success to the Nevada Attorney General’s Office. He explained that his team did not strictly rely on recidivism rates to determine program effectiveness. He viewed recidivism rates as a poor metric to indicate whether or not a program was successful. He shared that the WCSO had opportunities to provide subject- matter expertise and lead discussions. He noted that a long-term goal of the WCSO was a community reentry center, which he described would be a place for individuals leaving the facility to connect with wraparound care that would help them succeed. He recalled that Sheriff Balaam implored program graduates to go to the WCSO and ask for whatever help they needed rather than be brought in through the back doors in handcuffs. Mr. Mills said that the community reentry center would be open to anyone from the community, and people could come in, ask for the help they needed, and get it. He added that anyone from the community who was able and willing to provide help could be of service at the community reentry center. He offered to answer any questions Commissioners had.

Chair Hill asked if anyone had questions about The Bridge program and recalled that some Board members had attended graduations.

Commissioner Garcia remarked that Mr. Mills was a success story. She was inspired by how far he had come, what he had built, and his continued innovation. She thanked him and the WCSO for their work on The Bridge and the national impact it would generate. She asked him to provide more information about what a community reentry center entailed. She wondered what he had seen in other jurisdictions and what the vision was for the County.

Mr. Mills responded that many mentors provided guidance to the WCSO. He shared that the WCSO called and emailed many corrections centers and research departments around the Country, and one that was especially helpful was Salt Lake County. He said the program in Salt Lake County was very progressive and piloted a reentry center in their detention facility that just opened. He described that there was a hallway with a number of resources that everyone walked through when they were released, at which time they could access the resources offered. He informed that inmates at the facility in Salt Lake County were polled over the period of a month about what factors stood in the way of successful community reentry. Mr. Mills reported that staff learned a lot from that polling effort, including details like inmates needing a way to charge a phone at the time of their release to enable access to resources. After learning about the needs of their participants, the Salt Lake County criminal justice agency launched a reentry center in partnership with Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Mr. Mills advised that the launch went well, but the grant funding ran out. He shared that Salt Lake County planned to open a brick-and-mortar facility on site in partnership with Salt Lake County social services, and he thought the facility opened in September 2025. He said case managers would be at that new facility to provide comprehensive case management and assessments that could create a link to community providers. He noted that the community providers were also on-site at the facility and representatives could help establish relationships.

Commissioner Andriola said that she looked forward to the upcoming graduations. She added that she had previously attended graduations. She applauded the

leadership Sheriff Balaam provided, which she surmised created the opportunity to build The Bridge and, hopefully, the community reentry center. She highlighted a statement on one of the slides Mr. Mills showed that proclaimed Built to work and built to prove it. She felt that statement exemplified the commitment of Mr. Mills and his team. She recognized Chaplain Sharpe, TMCC, and the trainers who provided information and tools to help people succeed and not return to incarceration. She found the graduations powerful and spoke about visiting with graduates of The Bridge who shared that having the support from the program gave them a sense of pride that they did not previously have. She summarized that education was critical, but having somebody believe in you was evidently important also. She thanked Mr. Mills for changing his life and giving back in the highest way possible.

Commissioner Clark thanked Mr. Mills for his report. He opined that it was important for the Commissioners to hear details about the work and for the overview to be on the record so the public could understand what was taking place in the department.

Chair Hill pointed out that the reentry center was part of the intercept model, which she recalled the Commissioners discussed during strategic planning and the State of the County message. She expected that the Board would want to continue discussions, see how they could support the WCSO with the model, and explore how they could find funding for a reentry center. She viewed the reentry center as essential to ensuring that people were not homeless or going to a hospital when they left the jail. She wanted the County to help individuals find a way to be successful and continue to contribute to the community.

Commissioner Garcia explained that because Agenda Item 7A1 was about jail status updates, she wanted to speak to WCSO Undersheriff Corey Solferino about questions that Commissioners received in the form of public comments and emails over the past couple of weeks. She thanked Mr. Mills for his excellent work and noted that she did not want to deflate what he shared, but she hoped to also utilize the meeting time to address questions she was asked by constituents. She stated her support for law enforcement and the WCSO and said that she had seen firsthand how willing and transparent they were in their communication with the public. She disclosed that she had personally spoken with people who conveyed that the open lines of communication with the WCSO were wonderful. She wanted to provide Undersheriff Solferino with an opportunity to talk about transparency and communication regarding the work the WCSO did with the United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She spoke about a Latino stakeholder meeting the WCSO was holding that day at 1:00 p.m. She revealed that a large group of Latino leaders from the community would have access to County staff and get to tour the detention facility and ask questions. She viewed that as an example of the efforts the WCSO made to welcome engagement and answer tough questions. She observed that people were nervous because of stories featured in the headlines of local and national news that left people feeling like they could not trust law enforcement, which she saw as bad for the community. She summarized that the questions she received over the last few weeks related to needing clarification about the booking department and how information was shared. She asked if there was a separate booking

system for ICE detainees, and how information was shared between the WCSO and ICE.

Undersheriff Solferino said the topic raised by Commissioner Garcia was important. He added that he did not want to take time away from the presentation and work being done by Mr. Mills and his team. He spoke about the reason for Sheriff Balaam’s absence from the meeting, which was that he was attending a line of duty death funeral for Reno Police Department (RPD) Sergeant Ernest Kazmar. Undersheriff Solferino asked for a moment of silence to honor Sergeant Kazmar.

Undersheriff Solferino read a prepared statement that he thought would clarify many questions people had. He emphasized that communications of the type he would read were important to Sheriff Balaam, who would have attended the meeting if he was not attending the funeral. Undersheriff Solferino read the statement and contributed additional context. No copy of the statement was provided for the record.

WCSO respectfully submits this statement to clarify and formally acknowledge our partnership with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under the umbrella of the United States Marshals Service contract. ICE is one of several federal partners utilizing bed space within the Washoe County detention facility located at 911 Parr Boulevard. Under our intergovernmental agreement, the federal government compensates Washoe County at a rate of $160 per inmate, per day for housing of federal detainees including those under ICE custody. These individuals are federal prisoners, housed in our facility under contract with the US government. Their housing is fully funded by federal resources, not our County taxpayers. Federal regulations, including those enforced by the US Marshals Service and Department of Homeland Security mandate annual audits in contracted detention facilities. These audits review compliance with federal standards for policy, for procedure, for medical care, for cleanliness, for food service, for linen exchange, programming, inmate services to just name a few. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office also maintains compliance with the Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 211 regarding local correctional institutions, which governs local jail operations, ensuring consistency with State requirements.

Undersheriff Solferino mentioned that warrants, holds, and detainers were three completely different things. He thought it was important to clarify that, and he supposed that people were sometimes unclear about the terminology and different ways the terms were used. People would often refer to a detainer or a hold.

The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office does not hold inmates based solely on ICE detainers. What happens is consistent with federal and State law under Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations and NRS 248. We require a valid judicial warrant for detention absent a declaration of probable cause.

Undersheriff Solferino explained that meant the WCSO could only receive two types of individuals. He outlined that a declaration of probable cause related to individuals who were arrested on a federal warrant or on local, State, or federal charges

and then booked on such. He specified that ICE could place a detainer on an individual that was in custody on local charges. Once that individual satisfied local charges, whether through remediation, time served, transfer to another jurisdiction, or the case not being filed, ICE had 48 hours to gather those individuals with detainers or holds. He mentioned the terms detainer and hold were used interchangeably. He said that in some circumstances, individuals were released from custody without a federal judicial warrant. Undersheriff Solferino supposed that some people might have observed an old declaration on the WCSO website regarding the 287(g) program. He described that the program gave access to immigration enforcement and immigration databases to individuals who went through the ICE training program. He informed that 287(g) work was done under the purview of the federal government but was paid for by the State. He clarified that the WCSO had never participated in the 287(g) program.

Once a federal warrant is executed and local custody is resolved, individuals are transferred into federal custody and are no longer forward-facing to the public.

Undersheriff Solferino theorized that those cases could lead to numbers that did not seem to match. He provided a theoretical example of an individual in custody who was arrested on local charges. If there was an ICE detainer for that individual, it indicated that ICE wanted to speak with them. Following an initial interview, ICE would determine whether they wanted to apply for a federal warrant and take the individual into federal custody. He explained that when local charges were satisfied and a federal warrant from ICE was issued, those inmates were no longer forward-facing. Their classification status could change to in-transit, federal custody, or both. He advised that ICE had full control to determine where in the Nation those individuals were sent, but the WCSO had a contract with ICE so individuals would go through the same booking process and procedures. He said that because of the Code of Federal Regulations, those inmates were no longer forward-facing to the public and people would not be able to do an inmate search to locate those individuals.

Federal ICE inmates being housed absent local charges, including those in transit or awaiting federal proceedings, are not forward-facing to the public. These individuals are held exclusively under federal authority per our contract with the US Marshal’s Office. This distinction is critical in ensuring that the Sheriff’s Office remains compliant with both constitutional requirements of due process and the federal contractual framework. The Washoe County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to transparency, compliance, and responsible stewardship of County and federal resources. Our partnership with the Department of Homeland Security ensures that Washoe County maintains a secure detention facility while upholding both federal statutory obligations and NRS.

Undersheriff Solferino expressed appreciation for the Board’s continued support of the WCSO. He confirmed the stakeholder meeting Commissioner Garcia announced, and stated that more conversation about ICE and the WCSO would occur at that time. He mentioned that there was a grant in process, which he admitted he did not want to discuss and was not fully prepared to do so, but he acknowledged that the grant

was submitted and subsequently approved at the State level through the Department of Emergency Management. He advised that it was awaiting federal review. He informed that if a grant was awarded, the item would be brought back to the BCC for a comprehensive report and a question-and-answer session. He said that the Sheriff invested a lot of work with his communications team to make answers available to questions the public had about the grant. He added that the grant, if awarded, would not add space for ICE operations. It would remodel space that had been used by ICE for over 30 years. He reported that ICE currently had a desk in the space, but the remodel would enable confidential conversations to take place in a more appropriate interview room with the privacy and dignity that individuals deserved when they were in custody. He felt that the lack of privacy was particularly problematic on days when there was a surge in the jail population, for example when there were large events in town. He informed that there could be upwards of 50 to 100 people in the intake lobby on those days. He offered to answer any questions the Board had.

Commissioner Garcia expressed her thanks for the statement Sheriff Balaam provided and the details Undersheriff Solferino added. She said the information addressed some of the feedback she had received about how the existing space did not always allow for privacy to be respected, which provided a counterargument to some reports and concerns about the WCSO facility and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant under review. She expressed that the greatest number of questions she received related to detainers and holds. She asked where people could go to get answers specific to bookings, detainers, and holds. She discerned that the frequently asked questions (FAQs) information posted by the WCSO on their website primarily addressed questions about the DHS grant. She recognized that a select group was invited to the detention facility that day, but she wondered what the best process was for the general public to access transparent information.

Undersheriff Solferino responded that the DHS was the best source of information. He advised that he reviewed information from the DHS in preparation for the meeting that day and fact-checked details about detainers and holds because it had been a couple of years since he was formally in charge of the jail, and he wanted to ensure that nothing had changed. He noted that subject matter experts from the WCSO were also present at the meeting to confirm the charges being applied were the ones that had been in place for several years. He explained that the DHS specifically defined what a hold was, what a detainer was, and what a federal issued bench warrant was. Undersheriff Solferino thought the terms hold and detainer could be used synonymously for the purposes of the BCC. He stated that they were the same thing. He described that if an individual was in custody on a local charge, but ICE wanted to have a conversation with them, ICE would place a detainer, a hold, or both. After the individual satisfied local charges, ICE had 48 hours to respond to that hold or the individual would be released from custody if no judicial warrant was produced. He mentioned that the DHS had information on their webpage that provided extensive information about each category, including relevant federal requirements.

Commissioner Clark expressed his thanks for the information provided. He said it was important for Commissioners to hear exactly what was happening at the jail, and it was important to have it on the public record so people could understand. He also supposed that at a later date, somebody could review the record and learn exactly what took place.

Chair Hill conveyed that she had received input from community members that was similar to what Commissioner Garcia shared. She thought it would be helpful to add the information Undersheriff Solferino shared at the meeting to the FAQ page on the WCSO website. She voiced that there were concerns that due process was not being followed in some parts of the Country, and she thought the community had the right to know what was happening within the walls of the local detention facility. She wondered if there were any changes in crime reporting or witness cooperation due to ICE collaboration. She asked if any WCSO practices had changed in recent months to align with administrative changes at the federal level.

Undersheriff Solferino advised that nothing had changed in the WCSO collaboration with ICE. He communicated that the current relationship with all federal partners was consistent with the relationship before the current administration, and he expected that it would continue after the current administration. With regard to the broader implications of the fear and anxiety some citizens experienced due to the ICE enforcement climate, and any related reduction in the rates of people reporting crimes or being friendly with the WCSO, he theorized that much of what was seen outside of Washoe County was sensationalized. He thought there was a very supportive group of individuals in the County, including a Sheriff’s Office that listened to their community. He said he had not observed a reduction in friendliness towards the WCSO, nor was he aware of a reduction in crime reporting rates. He acknowledged that Mr. Mills advocated for evidence-based practices earlier in the meeting, and Undersheriff Solferino did not want to merely guess as to whether people were cooperating with the WCSO or communicating fully about things that were happening. He advised that he did not have any data to support an increase or decrease in reporting, but he disclosed that it was being talked about. He communicated that the WCSO remained committed to building public equity and continuing forward-reaching community engagement and programming, which included presentations at UNR. He informed that many UNR faculty members were invited to partner with the WCSO in teaching opportunities. He believed that it was important to know if people felt comfortable talking to law enforcement, if they worried about reporting a crime due to their immigration status, or if they were afraid to come forward for other reasons. He stated that many WCSO commissioned officers and other employees taught at the local university, and he thought those partnerships encouraged people to come forward, ask questions, and trust law enforcement. Without that information, he determined that an entire demographic of crime was potentially happening in the region but was missed because people did not feel comfortable enough to come forward. He concluded that was the principle of community- oriented policing and what the WCSO wanted to represent in the County.

Chair Hill asked if the WCSO communicated people’s immigration status to ICE agents when they were booked on a different charge.

Undersheriff Solferino surmised that Chair Hill wanted to know how ICE obtained information about people in WCSO custody, and she confirmed that was her question. Undersheriff Solferino explained that ICE had the same access to the forward- facing public platform as anyone. He described that when somebody was booked into custody, ICE could use the WCSO booking database to conduct a name search through the ICE databases to identify any individuals with whom they wanted to speak.

Chair Hill summarized that, as heard through public comment, there were real concerns in the community about immigration enforcement. She was glad that the Sheriff was opening the WCSO later that day for a group of constituents. She thought it would be good if the County could continue to answer related questions with an FAQ website that people could easily find. She acknowledged that some information might be on the DHS website, but she felt that select information was opaque for the community, and it was tough to point to federal sources of information when those seemed to change daily. She said she would send Undersheriff Solferino some of the questions she had received from community members, and she hoped that she and Undersheriff Solferino could collaborate to address them. She expected a robust discussion when the DHS grant went before the BCC, so she felt it would be best to wait until that time to continue the conversation. She knew the topic weighed on community members who saw events occur in real time. She reported being told by constituents that things were not as they were before, and she thought that made it tough for community members to maintain trust with the County. She said it was important that a jail function to ensure that everyone in the community was safe, and she understood that the County did not intend to go after people and make it a scary place to live. She summarized that it was important to find the right balance.

Undersheriff Solferino thanked the Board for the opportunity to address information and misinformation that people might have heard. He offered that if the WCSO did not fill in information voids, the voids would be filled in for them by others. He said that he and Sheriff Balaam wanted to provide that information to the public and help answer questions. He stated that comments from the meeting that day were now on the record, and he would work on adding some of them to the FAQ website. He informed that all individuals had the opportunity to make a phone call with their booking, but in some cases, an inmate might not have immediate access to that call for security reasons or if the person was in transit. He summarized, for community members and family members who were worried about the location of their loved ones, that after the booking process was solidified, unless the inmate was in transit to another facility, those individuals were afforded their constitutional right to a phone call. He added that those calls could be made free of charge when individuals were booked into the WCSO intake lobby.

Chair Hill said the discussion would continue. She expressed her appreciation for the WCSO team and for Undersheriff Solferino’s patience in providing answers.

Commissioner Clark thought that it was important for County citizens to know that Sheriff Balaam personally provided assurance that WCSO deputies were not

encouraged by management to single people out and go after them. He understood that WCSO deputies were doing their normal business, in which people of interest to ICE sometimes came on the radar. He acknowledged that things might be happening on a national level that got people’s attention, but he felt confident that the WCSO did not target people. He asked if it was factual and fair to state that nobody in WCSO management was encouraging deputies to be vigilantes and track people down.

Undersheriff Solferino confirmed that was correct. He said immigration enforcement was the job and responsibility of the federal government. He explained that the WCSO was a federal partner, and because they had federal contracts regarding federal prisoners and housing of prisoners, the WCSO had a unique nexus with ICE. He stated that the WCSO did not target individuals for immigration enforcement. He communicated that the WCSO had a robust number of teams, including patrol and regional teams that went after human trafficking, sex trafficking, drugs enforcement, habitual criminals, and felons in the area irrespective of their immigration status. He affirmed that there was no condition or direction of the WCSO or the Sheriff to do enforcement solely on behalf of immigration status.

Commissioner Clark understood that the WCSO was not profiling individuals. He said that if the WCSO had interactions with someone because of their activities, the responsibility was on that individual; the WCSO was not searching people out. If that was a fair statement, he wanted it on the record so County citizens could understand that WCSO was not intentionally going after people.

Undersheriff Solferino confirmed that was correct.

Chair Hill advised that the discussion would continue, and she thanked Undersheriff Solferino for making himself available.

11:56 a.m. Commissioner Garcia left the meeting.

25-0632 AGENDA  ITEM  7B1 Presentation by Registrar of Voters Andrew McDonald and Deputy Registrars Addie Vetter and Reggie Greer to present the State of the Registrar of Voters Office. Voters. (All Commission Districts.)

Registrar of Voters (ROV) Andrew McDonald and Deputy Registrars Addison Vetter and Reginald Greer conducted a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed slides with the following titles: State of the ROV; Old Mission Statement; New Mission Statement; Organizational Chart; By the Numbers; Innovation; Bulk Registration List Maintenance; Mail Ballot Processing; Vote Centers; Site Criteria Examples; Vote Centers Heat Map; Poll Worker Recruitment and Training; Warehouse and Logistics; Engagement and Education Efforts; 2024 Legislative Session; Future BCC Items; 2026 Primary Election Timeline (two slides); Thank you. Mr. McDonald thanked the dedicated ROV staff who worked through the 2024 elections and appreciated the community that voted. He read the ROV’s new mission statement on the New Mission Statement slide and reported

that it had been updated to be more concise. He believed that the new mission statement reset the values of County employees and voters.

Mr. McDonald noted that he wished to change the significant instability in leadership that occurred over the past several years. He said that the ROV was focused on rebuilding intentionally to strategically ensure the ROV was a place of excellence for both the staff and voters. He reported that critical roles and long vacant positions were filled with capable and talented individuals who were chosen selectively and strategically. He said that he built a team grounded in purpose-driven work, with each member bringing a sense of commitment to their role. He noted that the ROV’s Office was budgeted for 19 full-time employees (FTEs) and currently had one business technologist and one office assistant vacancy.

Mr. McDonald read the breakdown of votes per political party from the By the Numbers slide and said that there were about 344,000 active registered voters in Washoe County. He noted that the ROV’s base budget for all three elections since 2020 remained at $5.5 million with 19 FTEs. He mentioned that almost 35,000 public calls were received during the 2024 election cycle. He said that the ROV’s Office processed over 103,000 voter registration updates and recruited over 1,000 poll workers with only three staff members. He indicated that 78 poll worker training sessions occurred and over 2,500 pieces of election equipment were deployed during the 2024 election cycle. He mentioned that 186 voting centers were opened, with 64 of them being early voting centers. Twenty- two Election Day locations were open with 189 mail ballot drop boxes. He reported that the office processed 11 petitions, 9 of which were conducted during the active election, and explained that over 393,000 ballots were tabulated, with 41.8 percent being in-person ballots and 58.2 percent mailed in. He said that there were 113 election integrity violations filed with the Secretary of State (SOS), with 34 currently open. He reported there were 95 attempted double-vote investigations, with 20 ongoing with the SOS.

Mr. McDonald relayed the information on the Innovation slide regarding updated internal technology and systems related to real-time language translation services, website improvements, and centralized department internal operational services. He said that the ROV’s updated website should be completed by December 31, 2025. He noted that the ROV was researching the use of an artificial intelligence (AI) call agent that could potentially answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) more accurately and in a timely manner.

Ms. Vetter reported that the voter list maintenance was the highest department priority because it would allow the ROV to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls. She said that the procedure included actions such as inactivating voters and canceling voters in compliance with statutory and federal deadlines. She indicated that the Bulk Registration List Maintenance slide relayed the actions taken last year by the ROV for those who did not vote in the 2024 election or update their records prior to 2024. She read from the Mail Ballot Processing slide and said that the ROV was working to improve all facets of mail ballots prior to 2026. She said that a new mail ballot sorter was acquired prior to the previous general election, and that the implementation of automatic signature

verification (ASV) for the 2026 election cycle was being researched to increase departmental efficiencies. She explained that the manual signature verification process, ballot processing stations, documentation, standard operating procedures, and quick reference guides were also being reevaluated.

Ms. Vetter indicated that the 2024 processing procedures were closed, and about 762 boxes of election material were sent to retention. She explained that staff visited the retention facility and verified all boxes were accounted for and would remain until the destruction deadline. She expressed appreciation towards over 100 County staff members who assisted with the mail ballot processing. She said that a shift scheduling tool was implemented through Microsoft Teams to allow staff to schedule online instead of email, which was more efficient for ROV employees. She said that there would likely be fewer staff available to volunteer next election cycle because there were many elected departments up for election. She relayed that the ROV’s Office participated in four Statewide mock elections and would continue to do so that year. She said that the mock elections allowed the office to test the procedures and processes in place and find more ways to be efficient for 2026.

Mr. Greer referred to the Vote Centers slide and said that every vote center contract expired after the last election cycle. He believed that the expired contracts created an opportunity to ensure that all vote centers were in the right accessible locations. He indicated that the ROV created a heat map, located on the Vote Centers Heat Map slide with the help of Technology Services (TS). He said that the Site Criteria Examples slide, contained the information provided to TS to create an innovative map that displayed orange circles that represented early voting centers, green circles for Election Day locations, and blue circles for areas where centers were in demand. He noted that the map did not display the entirety of the County but provided an example of the Reno and Sparks area. He said that the ROV wanted to ensure locations displayed as dark blue had vote centers.

Mr. Greer read from the Poll Worker Recruitment and Training slide and said that poll worker training historically occurred in Building C of the Washoe County Administrative Complex; however, that room was currently undergoing construction. He noted that the ROV’s Office was looking for a larger room that would allow them to train more people with fewer sessions; otherwise, it would take about one month, in collaboration with Human Resources (HR), to train everyone. He relayed the information on the Warehouse and Logistics slide regarding the storage of election equipment and reported that the ROV had outgrown its current warehouse space and ballot processing area. He recalled that tables and machines were pushed out of the way to intake ballots from the vote centers, which halted efficient processes.

Mr. McDonald indicated that the office had created new programs that focused on voter engagement and education efforts. He said that, since May, an ROV booth had operated at seven community events listed on the Engagement and Education Efforts slide. He noted that the goal of the booth was to register voters, sign up poll workers, locate vote centers that the County could partner with during the upcoming election cycle, and engage and educate citizens about voting. He reported that the ROV’s Office had attended

about 24 weekly naturalization ceremonies for new citizens since the beginning of the year, while creating a new program in collaboration with the Washoe County School District (WCSD) to educate young future voters on election equipment and mail ballot options.

Mr. McDonald explained that the office had tracked and responded to over 50 election-related bills with fiscal reports, operational impact statements, and analysis. He reported that six bills were passed during the 2024 Legislative Session, which were outlined on the 2024 Legislative Session slide. He indicated that the ROV recently spoke to the Washoe Tribal Council for the first time and was committed to collaboration. He noted that he would return to a future Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meeting with agenda items such as the extension of the voting system contract and upgrading the ballot marking devices. He said that the new technology would allow for a full-length ballot to be placed in the hands of the voter at the voting centers. He pointed out that he was looking into migrating the ROV to the State’s mail ballot print vendor as a cost avoidance to the department. The final items for future BCC approval were the ratification of the interlocal agreement between Washoe County and the SOS for Voter Registration and Election Management Solutions (VREMs) and the creation of interlocal agreements with the Cities of Reno and Sparks to allow the County to run city elections.

Mr. McDonald explained that the 2026 primary election would begin soon, and that the ROV would be accepting judicial candidate filing appointments in November of 2025 for the January 5, 2026, filing start date. He referred to the 2026 Primary Election timeline on the 2026 Primary Election timeline and the 2026 Primary Election timeline Cont. slides. He indicated that, due to the June 19, 2026, holiday, certifying the final canvass would take place one day early on June 18, 2025.

Chair Hill pointed out the hard work performed by the ROV’s Office. Interim County Manager (ICM) Kate Thomas echoed Chair Hill’s comment and said that a lot of work was performed off-cycle and that a very capable and talented team ensured everything was ready for the upcoming election.

Commissioner Andriola appreciated the transparency and quarterly updates provided by the ROV’s Office. She asked Mr. McDonald what the individual political affiliation breakdown was for those who voted in person versus through the mail. Mr. McDonald indicated that 100,900 Democratic Party votes, 77,400 Republican Party votes, 41,200 Nonpartisan votes, and 9,200 minority votes were cast through the mail, while 48,400 Democratic Party votes, 72,600 Republican Party votes, 32,500 Nonpartisan votes, and 10,600 minority votes were cast in person.

Commissioner Andriola thanked Mr. McDonald for his preparedness and expressed that she enjoyed the new ROV mission statement and asked who created it. Mr. McDonald indicated that it was a collective effort between himself, Ms. Vetter, and Mr. Greer. Commissioner Andriola believed that the mission statement captured the essence of the ROV and mentioned that an individual could spend a semester learning to write vision and mission statements.

Commissioner Andriola thought that it was normal to want to understand all components of the election equipment to ensure integrity. She said that the County was researching the Center for Internet Security (CIS) to validate an auditable standard of controls. She relayed that the CIS was a globally recognized nonprofit organization devoted to making the connected world safer and that the CIS accepted Washoe County to participate in an election pilot program. She believed that conducting the program would allow for complete transparency and a reset of the ROV. She requested that Mr. McDonald conduct a presentation on the pilot program’s details and how the team was working on compliance and oversight with CIS. She thanked Mr. McDonald for his leadership and looked forward to the pilot program. She expressed appreciation towards ICM Thomas’s leadership as well as the hard work, conversations, and validity to meet the highest level of security while building trust. She hoped that a CIS representative would be in attendance when Mr. McDonald presented the program. Mr. McDonald thanked Commissioner Andriola and Chair Hill. He thought it was great to be chosen for the pilot program at no additional cost to the County to ensure that voters felt safe and secure. Chair Hill thanked Commissioner Andriola for her work and indicated that it was important that voters felt their vote was safe.

Commissioner Clark thought it was unfortunate that Vice Chair Herman was not in attendance because she had been involved with voting integrity for many years and had a lot of questions. He indicated that Vice Chair Herman requested agenda items on many occasions to no avail and recalled that she wanted information from other counties regarding their data and processes. He asked why the presentation noted that there were about 49,000 more votes than voters within the County. Ms. Vetter indicated that the 393,035 ballots cast were cumulative over the presidential preference primary (PPP), primary election, and general election. Commissioner Clark wished to know how many individuals voted without the PPP numbers included because he did not want to see all three elections totaled together. Mr. McDonald indicated that the information would be available at the next presentation. Commissioner Clark requested that the information be put on the County website as soon as possible so that constituents would have the information.

Chair Hill noted that Commissioner Garcia had a family emergency and would not be present for the remainder of the meeting. She believed Commissioner Garcia would have had her own comments and praise. She asked if the voter verification cards were related to the cards mailed in May. Ms. Vetter said that the cards mailed in May were explicitly sent for undeliverable ballots from the general election. She reported that the verification cards for undeliverable ballots were handled separately from the inactive voter verification cards. Chair Hill asked if someone would be unregistered to vote if they voted in 2022. Ms. Vetter indicated that people who did not vote prior to 2024 would potentially be listed as inactive after the 33-day deadline. She said that those listed as inactive could still vote in person to update their registration; however, they would not be mailed a ballot. Chair Hill asked if a provisional ballot would be provided. Ms. Vetter explained that they would be updated from inactive either in person or online and would not be given a provisional ballot.

Chair Hill asked if people who updated their real identification (ID) driver's license with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) were switched to nonpartisan automatically. Ms. Vetter noted that anytime a voter updated their registration at the DMV, their voter information would be automatically sent to the ROV. She explained that existing voters could retain their previously chosen political party, while a new voter would be listed as nonpartisan and receive a letter from the ROV asking for political party confirmation.

Chair Hill expressed excitement regarding working with the WCSD to help children understand how to vote. She understood that the ROV had a lot of pressure from the public and thought that informative discussions with the Board, practicing transparency, and conducting website updates were essential because the community would better understand what the ROV did and help foster trust. She appreciated the ROV's work and was excited to see the new voting locations selected based on the created heat maps. She relayed that the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority (RSCVA) and the Board were attempting to assist the ROV in finding great locations to ensure no one was waiting in a long line to vote. Mr. McDonald indicated that lines were unwanted and the goal was to have more equipment, staff, and processes, which would cost more money. He reported that early voting or voting on Election Day, when more equipment was available, would assist with the line lengths. Chair Hill thanked Mr. McDonald for his efforts and noted that early voting was important.

Commissioner Andriola recalled a previous presentation for The Bridge at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) program and indicated that their motto was to build to work and build to prove it. She expressed excitement about future opportunities, which would provide transparent and auditable proof of the work performed. She looked forward to the ROV’s next presentation and thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication. She expressed gratitude towards the families of ROV staff who sacrificed time with their loved ones while they were working on the elections.

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS – 8A1 THROUGH 8C2

25-0633 8A1 Recommendation to accept LifeSet Implementing Partner Incentive Program from Youth Villages, Inc., a private foundation, as an Award Amendment in the amount of [$9,000.00; no county match] retroactive to July 1, 2025 through November 30, 2027 to reinvest the funds into the LifeSet program by maintaining quality staff services and supports for participating youth; authorize the Director of the Human Services Agency to retroactively execute the funding agreement; and direct the Finance office to make the necessary budget amendments. Human Services Agency. (All Commission Districts.)

25-0634 8B1 Recommendation in accordance with NRS 244.1505, to approve FY26 Community Support grant award to: Sun Valley General Improvement District (SVGID) in the amount of [$90,000] to support the operations of the Parks and Recreation fund; approve the Grant Agreement, and

Resolution 25-85 for the same; Silver State Fair Housing Council in the amount of [$10,000]. Silver State Fair Housing Council is a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization that, if approved, will use this grant money in its efforts to provide educational and information resources to the community, including landlords and tenants, on fair housing rights, prohibited discriminatory practices, responsibilities, and other matters involving fair housing; approve Resolution 25-84 for the same; and The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada to support the Regional Behavioral Health Initiatives Fund, in the amount of [$20,000] as Washoe County’s annual contribution to the Fund; approve Resolution R25-86 for the same; The Regional Behavioral Health Initiatives Fund accepts donations and contributions designated to support the region’s efforts to build out an improved behavioral health Crisis Response System; and direct Finance to make the budget appropriation disbursements. Manager. (All Commission Districts.)

25-0635 8C1 Recommendation to accept a fiscal year 2022 Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) grant award [amount not to exceed $65,000.00, County match of $21,667.00 required] as administered from the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Office of Criminal Justice Administration, Federal FY 2022 project number 15PBJA-22-GG-00489-RSAT, to be used for programmatic supplies, contracted behavioral health specialist, and overtime costs for the grant period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026; retroactively authorize the Sheriff to execute the award document; and direct Finance to make the necessary budget amendments. Sheriff. (All Commission Districts.)

25-0636 8C2 Recommendation to accept a fiscal year 2026 Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant award [amount not to exceed $18,975.00, $4,744.00 County match required] as administered through the State of Nevada Department of Human Services, Division of Child and Family Services, Federal project number 15POVC-23-GG-00456-ASSI, for conference registration fees, travel, and training costs for the Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) Victim Advocate, and to provide emergency housing funds and emergency services such gift cards for food, fuel, clothing, cell phones, cell phone minutes, and hygiene products for victims of violent crimes for the retroactive grant period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026; authorize the Sheriff to retroactively execute the award document; and direct Finance to make the necessary budget amendments. Sheriff. (All Commission Districts.)

Chair Hill inquired if interim County Manager (ICM) Kate Thomas had any changes to propose for the Consent Agenda Items. ICM Thomas stated that she did not, and noted that the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) only had four items for consideration in the Consent Agenda.

Chair Hill asked if the Board had any questions or comments about the items being deliberated, and it was determined that they did not.

There was no response to the call for public comment on the Consent Agenda Items listed above.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Clark, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was ordered that Consent Agenda Items 8A1 through 8C2 be approved. Any and all Resolutions or Interlocal Agreements pertinent to Consent Agenda Items 8A1 through 8C2 are attached hereto and made a part of the minutes thereof.

BLOCK VOTE – 9, 14, AND 15

25-0637 AGENDA ITEM 9 Recommendation to award a bid and approve the Agreement to the lowest responsive, responsible bidder for the 2025/2026 Encroachment/Excavation Repair Project, for various areas within the Truckee Meadows, for the period of September 9, 2025 through December 31, 2026, to perform street cut pavement repairs as needed for specific Washoe County owned roadways in the Truckee Meadows pursuant to Washoe County’s Street Cut Ordinance at Washoe County Code 85.058, et. seq., [staff recommends West Coast Paving, Inc., in the amount of

$379,000.00]. Community Services. (All Commission Districts.) There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Clark, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was ordered that Agenda Item 9 be awarded and approved.

25-0638 AGENDA ITEM 14 Recommendation to approve the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Health Benefits Program for employees, retirees, and their dependents at an approximate annual cost of $84.0 million and authorize the Director of Human Resources to execute all insurance contracts and service agreements pertinent to the Health Benefits Program. Human Resources. (All Commission Districts.)

There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Clark, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was ordered that Agenda Item 14 be approved and authorized.

25-0639 AGENDA ITEM 15 Recommendation to accept a Continuum of Care - Permanent Supportive Housing Program Grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), in the amount of

[$312,072.00; $78,018.00 county match] to provide housing and supportive services for homeless families retroactive for the period September 1, 2025 through August 31, 2026; retroactively authorize the Director of the Human Services Agency to execute the agreement; and direct the Finance to make the necessary budget amendments. Human Services Agency. (All Commission Districts.)

There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Clark, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was ordered that Agenda Item 15 be accepted, authorized, and directed.

25-0640 AGENDA ITEM 10 Recommendation to approve, pursuant to NRS 278B.150(2)(b), the appointment of one (1) applicant to the Washoe County Planning Commission when the Commission convenes as the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) to fill a full term beginning retroactively on July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2029, or until such time as the member no longer serves on the Planning Commission as a member of the CIAC or a successor is appointed, whichever occurs first. Eligible applicants include: Adel M. Mabrouk, Jose R. Portillo, and Matthew Robinson. Community Services. (All Commission Districts.)

Community Outreach Coordinator Alexandra Wilson greeted the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) and reported that three applicants were under consideration. She noted that ballots had been provided for Commissioners to cast votes for their top candidate.

Deputy County Clerk Evonne Strickland read the Commissioners’ votes aloud, naming Mr. Matthew Robinson as the selected candidate. Chair Hill indicated she would need a formal motion to appoint Mr. Robinson to the Planning Commission.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Commissioner Andriola, seconded by Commissioner Clark, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was ordered that Matthew Robinson be appointed to the Washoe County Planning Commission when the Commission convenes as the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) to fill a full term beginning retroactively on July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2029, or until such time as the member no longer serves on the Planning Commission as a member of the CIAC or a successor is appointed, whichever occurs first.

25-0641 AGENDA ITEM 11 Introduction and first reading of An Ordinance pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes 278.0201 through 278.0207 approving an amended development agreement between Washoe County and St. James’s Village, Inc. for St. James’s Village, a residential subdivision

(Tentative Subdivision Map Case No. TM5-2-92, as amended by Amendment of Conditions Case Number WAC25-0010). The purpose of the amended development agreement is to extend the deadline for recording the next final map from October 16, 2025, to October 16, 2027. The development agreement also provides that the Director of the Community Services Department may further extend the deadline for recording the next final map to October 16, 2029, in the event construction of the Reach IV Sanitary Sewer Interceptor Line has commenced construction with bonds in place, as required by Washoe County, but has not progressed to allow the next final map to be recorded. The project is located along the central portion (on both sides) of Joy Lake Road, west of the I-580 freeway. The project encompasses a total of approximately 1,161 acres, and the total number of residential lots allowed by the approved tentative map is 450. The parcels are located within the Forest Planning Area and Washoe County Commission District No. 2. (APNs: 046-131-24; 046-132-06; 046-133-15

& 17; 046-180-12, 14 & 15; 154-011-07; 156-040-09, 10, 14 &15; 156-111-

23; 156-141-04). And, if introduced, schedule a public hearing, second reading and possible adoption of the ordinance for October 14, 2025, and authorization for the Chair to execute the development agreement. Community Services. (Commission District 2.)

Deputy County Clerk Evonne Strickland read the title for Bill No. 1935. Chair Hill asked if the Board desired a staff presentation on the agenda item,

and it was determined that no presentation was needed.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

Chair Hill inquired if the Board had any questions or comments regarding the item under discussion, and it was concluded that they did not.

Bill No. 1935 was introduced by Commissioner Andriola, and legal notice for final action of adoption was directed.

25-0642 AGENDA ITEM 12 Introduction and first reading of an ordinance amending Washoe County Code Chapter 110 (Development Code), Article 220 Tahoe Area, to increase the maximum density for multiple family dwellings in the Crystal Bay Condominiums Regulatory Zone Special Area from four (4) units per acre to six (6) units per acre; and all matters necessarily connected therewith and pertaining thereto. And if supported, set a public hearing for the second reading and possible adoption of the ordinance for October 14, 2025. Virtual Public Comment Eligible. Community Services. (Commission District 1.)

Deputy County Clerk Evonne Strickland read the title for Bill No. 1936.

Chair Hill asked if the Board desired a staff presentation on the agenda item, and it was determined that no presentation was needed.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

Bill No. 1936 was introduced by Commissioner Andriola, and legal notice for final action of adoption was directed.

25-0643 AGENDA ITEM 13 Introduction and first reading of an ordinance pursuant to Nevada Revised Statutes 278.0201 through 278.0207 to adopt a development agreement between Washoe County and Petersen Village Phase 1 LLC, for Petersen Village (previously Village Parkway), a residential, common open space subdivision (Tentative Subdivision Map Case No. WTM21-007). The purpose of the development agreement is to extend the deadline to present the first final map from September 7, 2025, to be recorded no later than September 7, 2027. The project is located on the west side of Village Parkway, north of Cold Springs Drive. The project encompasses a total of approximately 124.6 acres, and the total number of residential lots allowed by the approved tentative map is 349 lots. The parcels are located within the North Valleys Planning Area and Washoe County Commission District No. 5. (APNs: 087-400-11, 087-400-23, & 087-400-24). And, if approved, schedule a public hearing, second reading and possible adoption of the ordinance for October 14, 2025, and authorize the Chair to execute the Development Agreement. Community Services. (Commission District 3.)

Deputy County Clerk Evonne Strickland read the title for Bill No. 1937. Chair Hill asked if the Board desired a staff presentation on the agenda item,

and it was determined that no presentation was needed.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

Bill No. 1937 was introduced by Commissioner Andriola, and legal notice for final action of adoption was directed.

PUBLIC HEARING

25-0644 AGENDA ITEM 16 Master Plan Amendment Case Number WMPA25- 0002 & Regulatory Zone Amendment Case Number WRZA25-0002 (700 Harper Court). Consideration of the Planning Commission’s recommendation to: (1) Adopt an amendment to the Washoe County Master Plan, Tahoe Area Plan, to change the master plan land use category on a 5.74-acre parcel (APN 125-010-21) from 80% Conservation and 20% Residential to 100% Residential; and if approved, authorize the chair to sign a resolution to this effect. The master plan amendment is subject to approval

and a finding of conformance with the Tahoe Regional Plan by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. AND (2) Subject to final approval of the associated master plan amendment and a finding of conformance with the Tahoe Regional Plan, adopt an amendment to the Tahoe Area regulatory zone map, to change the regulatory zone on the same parcel from 80% Mount Rose and 20% Incline Village-1 (1-unit per parcel) to 100% Incline Village-1 (1-unit per parcel); and if approved, authorize the chair to sign a resolution to this effect. The applicant is Exline and Co., Inc. and the owner of the property is Mitchell E. Larson Living Trust. The site is located at 700 Harper Court, Incline Village. The Board of County Commissioners may adopt the proposed amendments, may modify the proposed master plan amendment and refer the matter back to the Planning Commission for its report in accordance with NRS 278.220(4), or may deny the proposed amendments after the public hearing. Virtual Public Comment Eligible. Community Services. (Commission District 1.)

Chair Hill opened the public hearing.

Chair Hill said that the Board desired to have a staff report.

Senior Planner Courtney Weiche conducted a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed slides with the following titles: WMPA25-0002 & WRZA25-0002 (700 Harper Court); Request; Vicinity Map (3 slides); Public Comment; Agency Comment; Planning Commission Recommendation; Possible Motion; Thank You.

Ms. Weiche reviewed the slide titled Request and said the request was intended to resolve a nonconforming use of a parcel with bisected Master Plan designations and regulatory zoning. She noted that the subject parcel currently had two land use categories within the property boundaries, with both residential Incline Village 1 regulatory zone and conservation Mount Rose regulatory zone. She mentioned that the applicant wished to amend the Master Plan and regulatory zones so that the entirety of the subject parcel would be master planned and zoned as residential.

Ms. Weiche reviewed the first slide titled Vicinity Map and said that the 5.75-acre parcel was located in the Tahoe Planning area, and was developed with a single- family dwelling built in 1992. She reviewed the second slide titled Vicinity Map and explained that 1.12 acres of the parcel were within the residential Incline Village 1 Master Plan and regulatory zone, and 4.64 acres of the parcel were within the conservation Mount Rose Master Plan and regulatory zone. She stated that the existing single-family dwelling was located solely within the conservation Mount Rose Master Plan and regulatory zone portion of the parcel and was considered non-conforming because year-round residential uses were not an allowed use type. She reviewed the third slide titled Vicinity Map and said that the only residential use type permitted in the Mount Rose Regulatory Zone was for summer homes. She noted that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) defined use types within the Lake Tahoe Basin (the Basin) and had designated summer homes as cabin- type single-family homes intended primarily for intermittent vacation use and located

within the United States Forest Service (USFS) summer home tracts or other remote recreation sites. She added that such structures were generally found in areas of restricted winter access. She pointed out that the aerial image of the home next to the red arrow was in an established neighborhood with year-round paved access from Harper Court. She said that amending the Master Plan and regulatory zone from conservation to residential would allow a change in use type from summer homes to single-family dwellings. She mentioned that the applicant had stated that there were fire insurance implications associated with the existing use type or zoning.

Ms. Weiche reviewed the slide titled Public Comment and said staff received five public comments after the Planning Commission (PC) agenda was distributed. She explained that all comments expressed concerns about a potential increase in development, which she believed was unlikely or impossible due to the TRPA coverage restrictions. She stated that the parcel was already over the maximum coverage, and no additional structures or coverage could be added. She added that due to the TRPA requirements, further development on the parcel was unlikely.

Ms. Weiche reviewed the slide titled Agency Comment and said all applicable agencies and County departments were notified of the application, and no comments in opposition were received. She explained that the issue was initially raised by the TRPA staff, and they informally expressed support for the amendment. She noted that the request must go through all required processes to amend the area plan.

Ms. Weiche reviewed the slide titled Planning Commission Recommendation and said the PC held a public hearing on August 5, 2025, and was able to make all the required findings and unanimously passed a motion recommending approval of the request to the Board of County Commissioners (BCC).

Ms. Weiche provided a possible motion that reflected the recommendation to adopt the Master Plan and regulatory zone amendment.

Chair Hill questioned how the zoning issue had occurred. Ms. Weiche replied that land use zoning in the Basin had evolved. She said that previously, the land use categories were referred to as plan area statements, which became community plans and eventually turned into area plans. She explained that at some point, a line was drawn on the parcel, likely related to environmental protection. She added that there were a few parcels with similar issues, but it was not common around the Basin. She mentioned that the problem was more common off the hill and in the valley, where there were mixed designations and zoning. She noted that Mr. Nick Exline, who represented the applicant, had more detailed knowledge regarding the specific parcel and historical TRPA information.

Mr. Exline introduced Assistant Planner Jaden Wuelzer and shared that the presentation would be her first in front of a public audience, and he felt the BCC was the perfect opportunity for her to present. He provided a brief overview of bisected zoning. He said that there was not one specific reason as to why the initial zoning had occurred, but

fundamentally, it was a connection between how the Basin was zoned prior to TRPA’s existence. He noted that the TRPA was formed in February 1972, and prior to that, to manage growth, there were existing zoning practices around the Basin. He said many of those practices were revised as area plans were adopted, as Washoe County had done. He indicated that there were other similar amendments for his various clients, which were rare but not uncommon occurrences. He said that he frequently appeared before regulatory bodies to request revisions to many items, such as the case currently before the BCC. He said the primary reason was to be able to obtain fire insurance, which was challenging because of fire activity in Washoe County and around the Basin. He explained that when dealing with fire insurance companies, in some ways, they would become a de facto land use entity themselves. He said that ultimately, entities could approve of something, but insurance agencies could say no. He thought that approving the uniform zoning would allow the land to be redeveloped in the event of a fire. He indicated that the presentation clarified that, in terms of growth, the typical TRPA comments would not apply due to the existing land capability and other restrictions.

Ms. Wuelzer conducted a PowerPoint presentation and reviewed slides with the following titles: 700 Harper Ct – Master Plan & Regulatory Zone Amendment Applications; Proposed Project; Amendment = No Increase in Development Potential; No Additional Development Potential & TRPA Discussion; Current Zoning Map: Extracted from Washoe County GIS; The Specifics; Why are we proposing an area plan amendment; Neighborhood Meeting; Questions, Comments; Concerns.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled Proposed Project and said the project would correct a current bisection zoning issue in Incline Village. She explained that the residential parcel currently had split zoning between residential and conservation zoning types. She indicated that the property owner wanted to resolve the zoning issue due to previously identified fire liability issues and to ensure that no homes were located within the conservation zones.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled Amendment = No Increase in Development Potential and said the main comment received was related to development potential due to the realities of the TRPA and the underlying land capability zoning. She indicated that passing the motion would not increase potential development.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled No Additional Development Potential & TRPA Discussion and said that throughout the Basin, the TRPA had underlying land capability classes that determined how much coverage or impervious surface a parcel could have, which included homes and concrete. She noted that the specific parcel was classified 1 A, which was the lowest amount of coverage, allowing 1 percent coverage per parcel area. She mentioned the current parcel size was 250,776 square feet (sq ft), and the TRPA would only allow 2,518 sq ft of coverage. She stated that currently, there were 7,475 sq ft of coverage associated with the existing single-family dwelling and other impervious surfaces. She explained that no additional coverage would be permissible if the motion were approved, because the allowable amount of coverage had already been surpassed.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled Current zoning map: Extracted from Washoe County GIS and said it showed a graphic of the portion currently zoned as Incline Village 1 and the portion zoned as conservation in the Mount Rose conservation area. She mentioned that the intent was to correct the entire parcel to be zoned as Incline Village 1.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled Why are we proposing an area plan amendment and said the primary reason for the presentation was due to the difficulty in obtaining fire insurance coverage in the Basin. She said staff wanted to ensure the homeowner would not be denied fire insurance or a payout in the event of a fire.

Ms. Wuelzer reviewed the slide titled Neighborhood Meeting and said that a virtual neighborhood meeting was held on April 16, 2025, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. She explained that residents from Harper Court and other community members attended to express their concerns. She mentioned that most questions focused on development and how it would impact density. She clarified that there would be no impact on density or development and would correct an error in the existing Master Plan.

Commissioner Andriola commended Ms. Wuelzer for her thorough and concise presentation and noted that it clearly outlined key information that would help clarify many questions. She recognized that the proposed zoning amendment would require approval from the TRPA.

Chair Hill questioned what the maximum allowable size would be if the home were rebuilt. Ms. Wuelzer responded that if a prior site assessment confirmed the existing coverage, it could be up to 7,000 sq ft, as previously mentioned. She could not recall if an initial site assessment had been completed. Chair Hill asked for confirmation on whether the TRPA would make that determination. Ms. Wuelzer explained that if a previous site assessment had not been completed, the owner would need to comply with the 1 percent allowable coverage, which was 2,500 sq ft. She said that the homeowner had not expressed interest in tearing down and rebuilding the current home.

There was no response to the call for public comment.

On motion by Chair Hill, seconded by Commissioner Andriola, which motion duly carried on a 3-0 vote, with Vice Chair Herman and Commissioner Garcia absent, it was moved to: (1) adopt master plan amendment case number WMPA25-0002, which is an amendment to the Tahoe Area Plan as provided in Attachment A; and (2) subject to final approval of the associated master plan amendment and a finding of conformance with the Tahoe Regional Plan by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, adopt regulatory zone amendment case number WRZA25-0002 as set forth in Attachment B of the Staff Report.

25-0645 AGENDA ITEM 17 Public Comment.

Ms. Mary Richardson, a volunteer with Indivisible Northern Nevada, provided and read a document about the nonpartisan grassroots organization and petitions

regarding the presence of United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the community, copies of which were placed on file with the Clerk. She thought that the Washoe County Sheriff's Office (WCSO) had done excellent work and was impressed by their presentation. She noted that her organization supported WCSO’s best practices and encouraged retaining local autonomy.

Ms. Susan Walls thanked the Board of County Commissioners (BCC), Registrar of Voters (ROV) Andrew McDonald, and the ROV deputies for their presentation. She said that she observed the early voting process at several voting centers during the 2024 general election cycle. She noted that on several occasions, she observed the entire process from start to finish. She acknowledged that no process was perfect or without minor issues, and added that she was impressed by the professionalism of the poll managers and workers, as well as the efficiency that enabled hundreds of voters to exercise their rights. She explained that on several occasions, managers provided visual and verbal demonstrations of the machines and voting process. She stated that in every instance, any issues observed were minor and were resolved quickly and efficiently, following what appeared to be a well-communicated protocol. She cited examples of issues, such as lengthy lines at the Northwest Reno Library, minor issues with paper jams and voting machines, a voting machine that had to be rebooted with assistance from Information Technology (IT), same-day registration with verification of eligibility, provisional ballots where appropriate, and identity verification where signatures varied slightly from voter records. She said that many times, she stayed late to observe the closing procedures, the chain of custody process of the mail-in ballots that were dropped off, and the pick up records from each voting machine. She indicated that the processes included multiple verifications of the number of mail-in ballots, as well as the number of in-person voters checked in against the number of votes submitted. She stated that she did not observe a single action that suggested the voting process was not secure, or that an ineligible individual had cast a vote. She commended every individual who ensured the County and State voting process was secure. She shared a personal observation concerning her own ballot and said she had heard similar stories from many others. She mentioned that she dropped off her mail-in ballot at an early voting center on the first day it was open. She said that she was told that mail-in ballots would be entered in the system daily, as they were received at the County facility, but noted it took several days before her ballot receipt was reflected on her voting record. She indicated that it was a couple of weeks after the election before her voting record reflected that her ballot had been counted. She stated that, given the contentious election environment, not knowing whether her vote would be counted created a lot of anxiety. She was unaware of the reason for the delay, but felt it would have been helpful if voters could see whether their individual ballot had been counted more quickly. She believed that would have significantly reduced the number of calls and emails to the ROV’s Office and would have increased efficiency.

Chair Hill thanked Ms. Walls for sharing her experience.

25-0646 AGENDA ITEM 18 Announcements/Reports.

Chair Hill asked whether interim County Manager (ICM) Kate Thomas had any comments. ICM Thomas confirmed she did not.

Commissioner Andriola reiterated a previously raised point by Registrar of Voters (ROV) Andrew McDonald about the inability to use some talented volunteers because of the current election rules. She remarked that nobody had worked as hard as County Clerk Jan Galassini. Commissioner Andriola recognized Ms. Galassini for having done a great job. Commissioner Andriola extended that recognition to the staff of the Clerk’s Office and all other County departments, emphasizing her intention not to single anyone out. She explained that she mentioned specific departments as they represented a significant gap for upcoming elections. She hoped that other departments might be able to host a friendly competition to contribute more volunteer hours in 2026 compared to 2024. She emphasized that she was not attempting to make light of the situation but stressed that it was important to begin that work immediately, which she believed the ROV had done. She expressed her concern while preparing for the meeting and during Mr. McDonald's report regarding the volunteering changes, as she felt it would cause a significant gap in the upcoming elections. She reiterated her hope that the volunteer hours during the 2026 elections would rival those contributed in 2024. She anticipated seeing what would happen in future elections.

Commissioner Andriola thanked ICM Thomas and said she was doing a great job. Commissioner Andriola recognized Chief Deputy District Attorney (CDDA) Michael Large, who she described as becoming a standard fixture in the Washoe County Administration Complex Chambers. She opined that the Board needed to develop more challenging questions to ask CDDA Large so he would not feel neglected. She commended CDDA Large and ICM Thomas for always making themselves available. She explained that significant pride was taken in preparing for Board of County Commissioners (BCC) meetings. She encouraged all County employees to sign up to assist the ROV’s Office.

* * * * * * * * * * *

1:11 p.m. There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned without objection.

ATTEST:

ALEXIS HILL, Chair

Washoe County Commission

JANIS GALASSINI, County Clerk and Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners

Minutes Prepared by:

Brooke Koerner, Deputy County Clerk Lizzie Tietjen, Deputy County Clerk Heather Gage, Deputy County Clerk Jessica Melka, Deputy County Clerk