Vote Nevada Update: 6/8/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Legislative Update:

The first special session started and ended on June 6th.  The legislature passed the last remaining budget bill, for capital improvement projects, and the Governor signed the bill.  So, there are no further threats to the state budget.

The second special session started on June 7th with only one item listed in the Governor’s proclamation: The A’s Stadium.

The Senate met as a committee of the whole (COW) yesterday to hear the stadium deal presentation and then Senators asked the presenters, Jeremy Aguero and Steve Hill, questions.  You can watch the Senate Committee of the Whole recording here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Video/

At the end of the Senate’s COW meeting, Senator Marilyn Dondero Loop stated that Senators would like to see amendments today to the stadium deal that address the issues Senators raised.  The floor sessions were supposed to start at 11:30 and 12:00 pm, but none of the special session meetings have started on time so far. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/35th2023Special

The Governor continues to review bills passed by the legislature; you can view the status of all passed bills here:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/Nelis/REL/35th2023Special/Bills/Passed/InGovernorsOffice

The Vote Nevada Summer of Civics kicks off this Saturday, June 10th, via Zoom, from 9 to 10:30 am.  Our first event is the Legislative Roundup; we will review which bills passed, which bills died, and which bills did not receive a hearing.  You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Roundup-2023

Join Vote Nevada for our Legislative Roundup

The next three Summer of Civics meetings are:

  1. How will AB528, which passed, address the problem of chronic homelessness?  We know at least $200 million has now been pledged through AB528 to adopt the San Antonio Haven of Hope model for addressing homelessness, but what does that mean for the homeless who are resistant to housing?  Let’s discuss this on Monday, June 12th, via Zoom, from 6 to 7:30 pm.

RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/AB528-Addressing-Chronic-Homelessness

ChronicHomelessness

  1. How can we use civic engagement to address inequities in sports?  Women athletes and coaches are paid much less despite winning and the media’s lack of coverage of women’s sports keeps fans from supporting women athletes and coaches, what can we do?  Join us on Saturday, June 17th, from 9 to 10:30 am, via Zoom, to start a strategic plan to address these issues. You can read the draft strategic plan here: https://vote-nevada.news/Womens-Sports-Equity-Strategic-Plan

RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/Womens-Sports-Equity

PayParityKickoff

  1. How can we ensure Nevadans with disabilities can access all spaces and materials that every other Nevadan can access?  Let’s discuss how we can spot a lack of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and file requests to bring something into ADA compliance.  Saturday, June 17th, via Zoom, from 4 to 5 pm.

RSVP: https://vote-nevada.news/ADA-Compliance

Join Vote Nevada What is ADA Compliance How do we ensure our state is ADA Compliant

Here is the calendar of all the Vote Nevada Summer of Civics Workshops if you’d like to RSVP for more events.

1

23Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here: https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

Sondra

 

 

Vote Nevada Update: 6/4/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Monday, June 5, 2023, is the last day of the regular legislative session. Legislators have been in session all weekend to pass exempt and emergency bills out of committees, especially the money committees, and to the respective floors.  The rules have been suspended, so, there hasn’t been much notice before individual bills move from a committee to the floor.  Committees are also making decisions on the floors in what is called “behind the bar” sessions.  This whole process is awful from the perspective of community civic engagement. 

Once a bill has passed and is moved to the Governor’s office, the Governor must act on the bill 5 days after it arrives, not counting Sundays, if the legislature is in session.  If there are fewer than 5 days in the session or if the bill arrives in the Governor’s office after the last day of the session, the Governor has 10 days to act. 

The Governor has 3 options, he can sign a bill, he can veto a bill, or he can do nothing, in which case the bill automatically becomes a law.  Legislators must wait until the next legislative session to override any vetoes made after sine die. 

The Governor already vetoed one part of the budget called the Appropriations Act.  The Democratic majority has now submitted a new Appropriation Act, so, it is unclear whether this new version will be signed by Monday at midnight.  If the new Appropriation Act is signed the session will end with no special session.  If the new Appropriation Act is vetoed, we will have a special session to resolve the budget issues.

Seeing we once again have many bills going through the legislative session outside of a normal vetting process, after the session ends, we need to review the bills that passed to ensure we do not have implementation issues.

The first Vote Nevada Summer of Civics meeting will, therefore, be our Legislative Roundup on June 10th, from 9 to 10:30 am, via Zoom.  We will review what passed, what died, and what never received a hearing.  You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Roundup-2023

Join Vote Nevada for our Legislative Roundup

One bill we need to start working on right now is AB528, which addresses homelessness in a more comprehensive way. The bill creates a hub and spokes model in each county, so we need community groups in each county who can provide feedback as sites are selected.  If you have connections to community organizations that are already working on housing, mental health, and job training, please let them know about AB528. If anyone needs help finding groups who can work on AB528, let me know and I will help you plug in.

You can watch the AB528 legislative hearing here: t.ly/3woA

I have scheduled a meeting to discuss chronic homelessness for Monday, June 12th, from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom, which specifically looks at the San Antonio model. You can RSVP here: t.ly/8iqh

ChronicHomelessness

Tomorrow, June 5th, the Carson City Democratic luncheon speaker is the Carson City Library Director Joy Holt. https://www.carsonnow.org/reader-content/06/02/2023/carson-library-director-speak-mondays-democratic-luncheon

If you would like to Zoom into the event at 1:30 pm, please email Rich Dunn for the link at richdunn as one word and then @aol.com.

On June 17th, we will kick off the other two major Summer of Civics projects, Sports Equity and ADA Compliance in Nevada.   If you would like to sign up for the Sports Equity Team, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/ZHnyDbQB4ofdNHAi9   

Our June 17th Sports Equity kickoff meeting is via Zoom from 9 to 10 am, you can RSVP here: t.ly/mEYJ

PayParityKickoff

If you are interested in joining the ADA Compliance Team, our first meeting is June 17th, from 4 to 5 pm, via Zoom.  You can RSVP here: t.ly/ocW0

Join Vote Nevada What is ADA Compliance How do we ensure our state is ADA Compliant

In case you missed this great panel of women from different states working to elect more women, here’s the link: https://vote-nevada.news/Electing-Women-RCV  

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here: https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

Sondra

Vote Nevada Update: Assembly Bill 528

Vote Nevada Supporters,

Here is an update on AB528:

Speaker Steve Yeager presented the bill with Mr. Jeremy Aguero.  The bill is based on San Antonio’s Haven for Hope model of social services: https://www.havenforhope.org/

The project requires the state, counties, municipalities, nonprofits, and the business community to all contribute to the effort.  Private partners will contribute $100,000,000 and the state, counties, and municipalities will split a matching $100,000,000.  No sites to provide services have been selected yet, but the Grant Sawyer property in Las Vegas was mentioned.

Many major gaming companies, such as Caesars, MGM, Boyd, Wynn, and Station Casinos all testified in support and stated their commitment to joining the partnership.  The Resort Authority, Vegas Chamber of Commerce, UNLV, and nonprofits such as NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) also spoke in support.

The legislation also includes opportunities for the public to be involved as the project moves forward.

I spoke in support and mentioned that our neighborhood chat groups discussed ensuring individuals with severe mental illness are taken care of as close to where they are as possible and we discussed using empty commercial properties for that purpose.

I added AB528 to my legislative tracking account to ensure we do not miss the work session and I will send today’s hearing recording as soon as it is posted to the legislative website.

Thank you all very much for your willingness to tackle big issues, it was really great to be able to mention in my public comments that many Nevadans are also actively trying to solve these types of big problems. 

Sondra

Vote Nevada Call to Action on AB528

Vote Nevada Supporters, 

Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager introduced AB528 yesterday to create a program for addressing homelessness.  The program will have $100,000,000 to match funds pledged to address homelessness in the counties and municipalities. 

The bill includes provisions to support the construction or purchase of facilities to provide wraparound services to anyone experiencing or about to experience homelessness.  This includes behavioral health services.

This bill will allow nonprofits and business communities to participate.  It would allow us to do exactly what we have been discussing in our neighborhood chat sessions to address chronic homelessness. 

The bill is being heard this morning in Assembly Ways and Means at the Call of the Chair.

You can watch here: t.ly/ARuF

The bill is listed first on the agenda, though, so if you have time this morning, please call in to support the bill and thank the speaker for this very timely and responsive proposal. 

Here is the bill:  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bill/10628/Overview

Here is the call-in information:  To provide public comment or testimony, call (888) 475-4499. When prompted, provide the Meeting ID, enter 818 4941 9097 and then press # when prompted for a Participant ID.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the discussion around addressing homelessness!  The conversations have positioned us to provide informed public comments on this last-minute bill. 

Sondra 

Vote Nevada Update 6/1/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

As of right now, our legislators and the Governor’s Office are working to achieve common ground.  The Governor signed the education budget, so, now we are waiting for him to sign the Appropriations Bill and to fund the rest of the state government. It is, therefore, unclear whether we will have a special session.  

The last day of the regular session is June 5th, if a special session happens, the Governor will issue a proclamation with the start date and the topics the legislature may address. https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/lombardo-signs-state-worker-pay-bill-as-other-major-budget-bills-in-limbo

You can track what happens to bills once they go to the Governor’s office by going to the Reports page on NELIS and then clicking on Governor’s Actions On Bills: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bills/Reports

Our first Summer of Civics 2023 meeting is on June 10th, from 9 to 10:30 am, via Zoom.  We will review which bills passed, which bills died and need work to be resubmitted in 2025, and which bills never received a hearing. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Roundup-2023 

The three Vote Nevada Neighborhood chats were very successful, thanks to everyone who attended.  The top two issues we discussed were how to help Nevadans who are chronically homeless and how to ensure that Nevada is in ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliance.

On the issue of chronic homelessness, which often co-occurs with mental illness and/or drug addiction, there are many people who are concerned about this issue.  You can listen to a panel with academic and business leaders discussing what it will take to help these fellow Nevadans here: https://knpr.org/show/knprs-state-of-nevada/2023-06-01/part-1-nevada-womens-philanthropy-forum-on-homelessness-takes-deeper-look-at-issue

We also know that our law enforcement leaders support finding alternatives to trespassing homeless individuals and breaking up campsites: https://bja.ojp.gov/program/pmhc/responding-homelessness

There are possible sources of funding for solutions: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/ag-nevada-to-receive-152-million-from-opioid-related-settlement-with-cvs

We have these examples of transitioning commercial properties into transitional housing for the chronically homeless:

Clark County and Reno transitioned some shuttered downtown hotels:  https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2023/apr/20/partnerships-transform-old-downtown-motel/

https://www.propublica.org/article/reno-seeks-to-purchase-motels-as-affordable-housing-instead-of-letting-developers-demolish-them

Our first meeting to review what we can do to address chronic homelessness will be Monday, June 12, 2023, via Zoom, from 6 to 7 pm.  You can RSVP here: t.ly/8iqh

On ADA compliance to ensure Nevadans with disabilities can access all services and experiences equitably, there are filing processes for requesting that a service or experience come into compliance.  So, we will learn about these processes.  Our first meeting to draw up a plan to address ADA compliance issues is set for Saturday, June 17, 2023, via Zoom, from 4 to 5 pm.  You can RSVP here: t.ly/uaiR

The third topic is Sports Equity.  Nevada is now home to many, many sports teams in our schools, colleges, and universities, as well as our minor and major professional leagues. Currently, our one national championship professional team is the Las Vegas Aces, yet we have data showing continuing pay disparities between men’s and women’s sports.  https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1092677483/brittney-griner-russia-detention-wnba-nba-pay-gap

Nevada is ahead of the game in this area.  Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis has invested to draw fans to the games and has provided the team with a world-class training facility.  UNLV invested resources promoting the Lady Rebels basketball team as well.  And we have some good media coverage of women’s sports at the high school level.

But we still need to work on pay parity.  If women can draw in the fanbase and compete at the top levels, women need equitable pay as coaches and players.

If you are interested in the Vote Nevada Summer Celebration of Women’s Sports, you can read more about the Celebrating Sports project here: Vote Nevada Summer Celebration of Women’s Sports 2023 

Our planning meeting for the sports equity project is June 17, 2023, from 9 to 10 am, via Zoom, you can RSVP to attend here: t.ly/mEYJ

This gives us a good kick-off for the Vote Nevada Summer of Civics Series. Here are the other topics we will be diving into; I will have meeting dates and times as soon as I confirm the guests for some of these events.

Entrepreneurship

Being the First

Local Journalism

Open Meeting Law

Roberts Rules of Order

Servant Leadership

 Nothing about us without us

Learn to Facilitate a Meeting

What is Consensus Democracy?

What’s civics?

Being a Civics Influencer

Background Checks

Men and Mental Health

 And finally, this is a great panel of women from different states working to elect more women: https://vote-nevada.news/Electing-Women-RCV  

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Smith’s Inspiring Donations, you can read more about how to donate to Vote Nevada each time you use your Smith’s loyalty card here: https://www.smithsfoodanddrug.com/i/community/smiths-inspiring-donations

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

Sondra

 

Vote Nevada Update 5/28/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

I apologize for the late hour, but the Las Vegas Aces won again tonight!

There are two important hearings tomorrow, Monday, May 29th. It’s not a holiday for the legislature, so committee hearings and floor sessions will take place.

May 29th at 9:00 am, in Assembly Education, SB282 is on the agenda.  SB282 revises the roles of the School Organizational Teams in relation to each school’s principal and regarding the hiring of principals.  It also includes a provision to sweep carryover money above 5 percent of a school’s expenditures that is not spent within twenty-four months. 

Carryover money includes funds a school has in reserves when the principal cannot hire enough full-time teachers.  Because substitute teachers are paid less than regular teachers, the unspent salary dollars remain in a school’s account.

Due to the ongoing teacher shortage, schools with high numbers of full-time substitute teachers have substantial funds left over each year.  SB282 would sweep what it deems to be excess money into the school stabilization account to possibly be distributed to other schools after twenty-four months.  Our most at-risk students often attend schools with the highest number of long-term substitute teachers, so, the schools with the greatest needs could lose the most money.

You can read the bill here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL//82nd2023/Bill/10137/Text#

You can watch and comment on the bill here:

9:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Education

Agenda2

  • Room 3138 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
  • Videoconferenced to Room 4406 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.

SB282

Also, tomorrow, May 29th, at 4:00 pm, the Assembly Ways and Means and Senate Finance Joint Committee will hear the A’s Baseball Team Stadium bill, SB509.

You can read the bill here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL//82nd2023/Bill/10623/Text

And you can watch and provide public comments here:

4:00 PM

Joint Meeting of the Senate Committee on Finance and Assembly Committee on Ways and Means

Agenda

  • Room 4100 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
  • Videoconferenced to Room 4401 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.

SB509

 I hope to see many of you on Tuesday in Reno or Wednesday in Carson City!

Instagram post neighborhood chat at craft beer and wine

CarsonCity

Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

 

Vote Nevada Update 5/26/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

This is a reminder that if a bill did not make it out of the second house today and it did not have an exemption, the bill is dead. Exempt bills will live on, but the legislative session ends June 5th and there are no exemptions for that deadline. So, all remaining bills must be passed and all remaining budgets must be finalized and closed by June 5th.

The Governor is already signing some bills and will continue to do so after the session ends.  You can view the signing/veto process here: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/Division/Research/Content/items/nevadas-legislative-process 

You can track what happens to bills once they go to the Governor’s office by going to the Reports page on Nelis and then clicking on Governor’s Actions On Bills: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/82nd2023/Bills/Reports

Our first Summer of Civics 2023 meeting is on June 10th, from 9 to 10:30 am, via Zoom.  We will review which bills passed, which bills died and need work to be resubmitted in 2025, and which bills never received a hearing. You can RSVP here: https://vote-nevada.news/Legislative-Roundup-2023 

I will be in Reno and Carson City on May 30th and 31st for neighborhood chat meetings.  Please swing by for some refreshments and to let me know what issues are important to you.  Just because the legislative session will be over soon does not mean we stop solving problems.   And every bill that passes must be implemented and we all need to be involved in that process. 

You can also swing by to chat about sports.  Vote Nevada is pulling together a working group to raise awareness about sports equity.  Brittney Griner ended up a prisoner in Russia because she was supplementing her pay; that would not have happened if female athletes were paid equitably.  We have many young women who play in a wide range of sports across Nevada and each one deserves a future with pay equity based on her skills. 

You can read more about the Celebrating Sports project here: Vote Nevada Summer Celebration of Women’s Sports 2023 

If you are interested in participating, you can sign up here: https://forms.gle/WgcrEHzJcRYQCrVH6

Regardless of why you drop by, let’s work together and enjoy each other’s company as Nevadans. 

Instagram post neighborhood chat at craft beer and wine

CarsonCity

Thanks for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra 

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

Vote Nevada Update 5/21/2023

 Vote Nevada Supporters,

 The deadline for bills to pass on the second house floor is Friday, May 26th.  The last full week will be budget closings, but as I previously mentioned, the education budget must close first.  So, the gap between the legislative majority and the Governor must also close.  The last day of the session is June 5th.

As I am sure you have read or heard, the Governor has stated that he will veto the state budget if the legislative majority does not give his bills consideration. He can do that, and if he does, there must be a special session. 

The new fiscal year for the state starts July 1st, so, we must have a budget passed by June 30th.  Hopefully, our leaders can come together to conclude the budget impasse quickly so we can get to work implementing the laws that will start addressing our behavioral health crisis.  

 If a special session is needed, the Governor will release a proclamation that will call for the special session and that will narrowly proscribe what will be covered.  He will set the agenda alone.  I hope this does not happen, so, I also hope he can feel that he also has been able to help Nevadans through his legislation. 

 Tomorrow, May 22nd, the Carson City Democratic Men’s Committee luncheon features Craig Dower who will speak about SB90, which will designate wild mustangs as Nevada’s official state horse. Wild horse advocate to speak at Monday’s Democratic luncheon | Carson City Nevada News – Carson Now

If you would like to attend via Zoom, at 1:30 pm, please email to receive the link by contacting Rich Dunn at richdunn as one word and then @aol.com

On May 26th, at 11:30 am, if you are in Northern Nevada and are interested in an action to address the debt ceiling debate, please contact Indivisible Northern Nevada here: https://act.indivisible.org/event/local-actions/169129

 Update on the Eastside neighborhood meeting:

 A group met yesterday and we discussed some important issues that are prevalent on the Eastside and are also of concern in many parts of our state.  Here are two that we selected to address that will require a lot of us to work together to fix.

  1. What can we do to address chronic homelessness?  We have a subset of homeless community members who resist leaving the streets.  They often live in mini tent encampments and decline assistance.  These encampments are a growing concern on the Eastside. So, to address the issue we need to know: What does transitional housing look like for these Nevadans?  We are exploring if it is possible to use some of the opioid settlement funds to purchase large vacant commercial buildings, such as the vacant K-Mart stores, to provide these Nevadans access to social services and treatment for behavioral health issues, including addictions, in one large indoor space.

 

  1. Nevada should be enforcing compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act in our infrastructure, public materials, and online content, but unfortunately, that is not always the case.  So, we are looking into how we can ensure disabled Nevadans can enjoy the same activities, be civically engaged, and work without being hindered due to a lack of access.

And lastly, we discussed a Vote Nevada Summer of Civics initiative:  

  1. Now is the perfect time to talk about pay equity in sports.  Not only are the Las Vegas Aces national champions, but we have many high school and college teams that are doing well and could use some media coverage as well.  In fact, to achieve pay equity we need media equity.  So, we plan to create an education campaign that includes pay and media equity as well as how sports can help the mind and body develop in healthy ways and help us all learn to be competitive yet kind to one another through sports.  

 I will send more information this week about exactly how we plan to work on these three issues and how anyone can get involved this summer.

 Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here

 

 

 

Vote Nevada Update 5/16/2023

Vote Nevada Supporters,

AB37, which creates a Behavioral Health Workforce Development Center in the Nevada System of Higher Education, has been moved from tonight’s Assembly Ways and Means Committee 6 pm meeting to Thursday’s Assembly Ways and Means Committee 8 am meeting.  Here is the information:

May 18, 2023, 8:00 AM

Assembly Committee on Ways and Means Agenda1

  • Room 3137 of the Legislative Building, 401 S. Carson St., Carson City, NV.
  • Videoconferenced to Room 4406 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., Las Vegas, NV.

AB37

The Vote Nevada Behavioral Health Committee meets tonight, 5/16, via Zoom, at 6 pm. We are discussing implementing the Workforce Center to ensure we are ready to roll when this legislative session ends. If you would like to join us, here is the Zoom link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86430902093

On Saturday, May 20th, from 10:30 to 11:30 am, Vote Nevada is hosting an Eastside Neighborhood Chat at the Arts Café, 719 N. Nellis Blvd.  The purpose of this meeting is to start identifying solutions to local problems.  Since I first sent out this invitation, I have heard from Vote Nevada supporters who suggested an issue to discuss.

First, we are all worried about the growing homelessness problem and the growing mental health crisis that overlaps with homelessness.  There is an empty K-Mart building on the corner of Bonanza and Nellis Blvd that is just sitting empty year after year and it is one of many empty commercial buildings scattered around Clark County.  If Nevada can afford to subsidize building another stadium, why can’t Nevada help the counties purchase and transition some empty big box buildings into social services and transitional housing centers?

These are commercial buildings not in residential neighborhoods and so in no one’s backyard.

Clark County and Reno did something similar with some shuttered downtown hotels: https://lasvegasweekly.com/news/2023/apr/20/partnerships-transform-old-downtown-motel/

https://www.propublica.org/article/reno-seeks-to-purchase-motels-as-affordable-housing-instead-of-letting-developers-demolish-them

Because there are empty big box stories scattered throughout the valley, if the Eastside group is successful, we may be able to export this model to other neighborhoods. 

These are the types of local problems Vote Nevada would like to work on during this interim legislative session.

If you have additional ideas for the Eastside, join us this Saturday.   If you have ideas for Reno or Carson City, please join us on May 30th or May 31st.  We will start scheduling more meetings around Clark County soon.

Eastside Community Voice Instagram post neighborhood chat at craft beer and wine CarsonCity

 Thank you for being Nevadans with me,

Sondra

Vote Nevada: Solving Problems with Civics

Vote Nevada is now qualified to receive donations through Facebook fundraisers.

Vote Nevada is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit civic engagement organization.  Anyone can become a supporter by emailing info@vote-nevada.org, we have no membership dues.  We do, however, accept donations Here