The Reno City Council has four of its six seats up for election this year, but only two of them have challengers to the incumbents. Reno Public Radio’s Noah Glick looks into the race for the at-large position.
David Bobzien was serving as a Nevada assemblyman when he was appointed to the Reno City Council in 2014, after then Councilwoman Hillary Schieve was elected mayor.
Bobzien says it was perfect timing.
“One of the last things I was involved in with the legislature was the Tesla special session, so I remember waking up the morning after that thinking, ‘My goodness, this is a tremendous opportunity and there’s going to be the possibility of some really exciting developments coming to Reno.’”
He says that while it’s an exciting time for the city, it’s the job of the council to keep this enthusiasm in check.
“So many people are very optimistic about the economy, about Reno’s resurgence,” Bobzien says. “But making sure the decisions we make are financially prudent, that we’re planning for long-term sustainability and understanding the economy could take another downturn in the future. My experience making those decisions during the Great Recession I think is very critical and it’s exactly the perspective we need moving forward.”
Before the City Council, Bobzien served in the Nevada Assembly and on the Reno Recreation and Parks Commission. But now the incumbent is facing three challengers to his at-large seat, which represents all Reno districts. They include: small-business owner Jim Lewis, self-proclaimed government watchdog Sam Dehne and former Washoe County GOP Chairman Sam Kumar.
Kumar says his experience in the business world, where he managed employees in the technology and manufacturing industries, will help him clean up what he says is too much government spending.
“I think it’s fair to say government as a whole is a very inefficient sector, especially Reno,” he says. “You saw the City Council, several members said they’d like to have the property tax increase cap to be removed. How about first identifying the inefficiencies in the system and cutting back on all of that?”
Kumar adds that his time in the local GOP helped prepare him for this role.
“People who want to be very conservative, people who want to be totally moderate, you got to bring all those pieces together and get them to agree with a plan. I’m not going to tell you that I wake up in the morning and say ‘God I’m going to make some really great compromises.’ This is a democracy; if we want to move the ball forward that’s the only way.”
Jim Lewis, originally from Washington D.C., is a political newcomer who previously worked in the corporate retail world, where he was in charge of opening new stores for a major jewelry company. He now owns a small elderly home care business in Reno, along with his wife, and says small business creation is his biggest priority.
“And I see one of the shortfalls here in Reno is not enough small businesses,” he says. “Drive by around town, all the strip centers, you’ve got one door open for business. You've got five or six that are closed. Now skyscraper mentality is great, but you really need that base to put more people to work.”
Lewis says he would work to give small businesses a boost from the city.
“You look at the big businesses and the first thing we hear about or read about is all the incentives that that big business was given to come to town,” he says. “I don’t hear too many incentives being offered for the small-business man."
The fourth candidate is Sam Dehne, a retired Air Force and commercial airline pilot who has been emphatically voicing his opinions to the council during public comment since 1994. He has unsuccessfully run for various offices eight times, but says he's eager to focus on big picture ideas.
“You throw an issue at me, I can take care of it, maybe if I’m interested in it,” he says. “There are some things that are kind of small time and I’ll give them to the other people over there. I’ve shown, my track record shows that I’m a leader. I’m not a consensus builder, but I come up with the ideas.”
Incumbent David Bobzien has received endorsements from the Nevada Builders Alliance, Mayor Hillary Schieve and labor groups, including the Reno Firefighters and Reno Police Protective Associations, among others.
Kumar has said he will not accept any contributions from unions.
All four candidates will appear in next week's primary, with the top two facing off in the general election in November.
