The following are highlights from today’s Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meeting:
1. County manager receives contract extension and bonus after annual review: The Board voted 4-1 to approve County Manager Eric Brown’s renegotiated contract following a glowing annual review. The approved terms include a 10 percent lump-sum bonus, an additional year added to his contract (now extended to November 21, 2025), and an increase in severance pay from six months to one year. Brown did not request a salary increase, and his salary will remain at approximately $331,000 per year.
Director Patricia Hurley presented a performance evaluation of County Manager Eric Brown, which included a survey of stakeholders, employees, and elected officials. One hundred percent of the respondents rated Brown as “meets or exceeds expectations” in Leadership, Integrity, and 97 percent rated him as “meets or exceeds expectations” in Communication. He was also rated at 100 percent in providing clear instruction to meet strategic plan initiatives and in overall performance.
“My passion for what I’m doing has only gotten stronger since I’ve gotten here. It hasn’t always been an easy road – personally or with everything that’s going on in the world – but with the team we have here in Washoe County, and the stakeholders we work with, it’s been a very gratifying experience for me,” Brown said.
Brown reviewed the County’s accomplishments and achievements over the last year, under his direction and with the strategic guidance of the Board. These include the regionalization emergency dispatch and medical services; improved elections administration; climate initiatives; equity and inclusion; supportive housing; competitive employee compensation; expansion of broadband to Gerlach; an updated Master Plan; and more. Washoe County closed out the fiscal year with a better-than-anticipated General Fund, and expenses continued to be less than budgeted.
“Wow you look at that list, and that could be someone’s career, and you’ve done this in one short year. I commend you,” Chair Alexis Hill said. “You experienced a full Board turnover except for Commissioner Herman. That’s hard. You have all new people sitting here, a new chair to work with, and I think that you’ve really done a great job growing into these new personalities and new priorities and finding wins with the diverse board you have. Your leadership on the Cares Campus from day one to now with an over 20 percent reduction of people living at the campus is such an incredible achievement.”
Brown also listed a number of goals for 2024, including continuing the regionalization of emergency dispatch, hiring a behavioral health administrator, completing the refurbishment of the West Hills Hospital, conducting a fiscal equity analysis with the cities of Sparks and Reno, and more.
“You’re the type of leader that this region needs and deserves, so thank you,” Commissioner Mariluz Garcia said. Commissioner Jeanne Herman agreed, adding: “He’s not even asking for a raise. He just wants to do the job he signed up to do. Whatever he decides he wants, it’s ok. He’s looking out for the good of the county. He’s done more for my district as county manager than I can even expect.”
2. Board appoints Ryan Gustafson as director of the Washoe County Human Services Agency: Ryan Gustafson has served as the HSA Children Services Division Director since 2017. He has dedicated his life and career to helping Washoe County in the human services and mental health field for nearly 24 years, while working for the Washoe County School District, West Hills Hospital, and the State of Nevada.
He earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Nevada and is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
“I am humbled and honored to be appointed by the Washoe County Commission as the Washoe County Human Services Agency Director,” Gustafson said. “I am passionate about our incredible staff, Washoe County, and the work HSA does to assist Washoe County’s most vulnerable citizens throughout their lifespan. We look forward to working hard to ensure the Human Services Agency supports the County Commission’s mission to provide and sustain a safe, secure, and healthy community for all.”
HSA provides an array of protective and supportive services to vulnerable children, adults, and seniors, in an effort to enhance their quality of life, by ensuring they are optimizing their self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The HSA department oversees the following areas:
- Child Protective Services.
- Foster and Adoption Unit.
- Adult Services.
- Housing & Homeless Services.
- Senior Services.
“Congratulations, Ryan. You’ve done a great job in the transition and we’re looking forward to working with you,” Manager Brown said.
3. Washoe County surpasses state rate for reducing greenhouse gasses: Washoe County Sustainability Manager Brian Beffort presented an overview of the county’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses, which showed that Washoe County has reduced its greenhouse gas output by 35.7 percent in the last 15 years. In 2021, Washoe County hired nZero to monitor its greenhouse emissions in real time and produce the first full inventory of emissions countywide. Going forward 2021 will be the benchmark to gauge future reductions.
The State of Nevada has set a goal of attaining net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050, and Washoe County has aligned its goals with the state’s.
Washoe County needs to reduce emissions by approximately 5 percent every year to reach its 2030 target. The county fleet of around 650 vehicles makes up 22 percent of current emissions, so Washoe County is reviewing the vehicles that are appropriate to replace with electric vehicles and taking supply chain challenges into consideration.
Noting that Reno is one of the fastest-warming cities in the country, Beffort described a goal to create an Urban Forestry Program to plant and manage more trees.
“Staff at Washoe County have shown great leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing other sustainability best practices,” Beffort said. “I’m confident we’ll be able to meet future reduction goals and implement other programs to improve quality of life for everyone in the County.”
4. Board adopts county code amendments to clean up Master Plan language: The Board of County Commissioners held a public hearing to adopt an ordinance amending certain county codes related to the recently adopted Envision Washoe 2040 Master Plan. The amendments move regulatory language in the 2010 Master Plan to the development code. Senior Planner Eric Young presented an overview of the changes, which are largely to clean up policy modifiers in the previous plan and move them into the appropriate places in the county code.
“When you have things in policy that are not in code it’s less transparent, and it’s harder to understand how things work as a public person or as a developer,” Chair Hill said. “I think that in many ways we’re making it easier for people to understand how to do business in the county or for folks to fight a development, they can go to our code and look for how things are supposed to work.”
5. Board approves lease of billboard located on county property: Lamar Companies owns a billboard that is located on what became county property in 2021 when the county purchased the land from City of Reno for the Nevada Cares Campus. Lamar previously contracted with the City of Reno for use of the property. As the property now belongs to Washoe County, Lamar must lease the land from the county. Washoe County has a prohibition against new billboards in unincorporated Washoe County, but as this is an existing sign, the Board voted to approve a lease with Lamar at an income to the county of $1,750 per month.
“If the sign weren’t there, Washoe County would get nothing for the property,” Commissioner Herman said. “This might help pay somebody’s wage.”
6. Board approves District Special Fund allocations to nonprofit organizations: The Board voted to approve allocations of District Special Funds for Districts 1 and 2 for the following organizations:
- $4,700 to the Northern Nevada Member Assistance Program to support its food pantry and apprentice assistance programs. (District 1)
- $2,500 to the Northern Nevada Member Assistance Program to support its food pantry and apprentice assistance programs. (District 2)
- $5,000 to The Healing Center and Spa Steamboat Hot Springs to support the efforts for roof repairs for the historical building. (District 2)
