OPINION: Reno Mayoral Race Is An Easy Choice

Eddie Lorton and Hillary Schieve are both running to be the next mayor of Reno. Differences between the two candidates are clear and broad. The election results will shape Reno’s economy and public safety for years to come.

The race between challenger Lorton and incumbent Schieve is nonpartisan. Regardless of any voter’s political affiliation, issues–not personalities or party lines–should decide how you cast your ballot. The following is a nonpartisan look at some of Reno’s major issues, comparing Schieve’s record of achievement as Mayor versus Lorton’s positions. 

Crime and Law Enforcement

Under Mayor Schieve’s leadership:

• Serious crime rates are up, and Reno is ranked as “Nevada’s Most Dangerous City,” surpassing Las Vegas.

• Our police department is underfunded and undermanned. 

• The Reno Police are led by a police chief Schieve appointed – a personal friend – who was given the position with no leadership experience. He was so unqualified for the job that it took him two years, after receiving the job, to qualify for the title of “Chief.” 

As Mayor, Eddie Lorton would:

• Fully fund the police

• Support the police in firmly enforcing the law

• Appoint a Chief of Police who was qualified for the job. 

Homelessness

Under Mayor Schieve’s leadership:

• Reno’s homeless population has increased 200% in the past year, while spending on it has quadrupled, and growing.

• Reno’s new $75M homeless shelter complex has been allowed to become violent, drug-infested, and has little or no success in transitioning the homeless to productive lives, as taxpayers were promised.

• With nightly shelter beds constantly available, Reno’s neighborhoods are still filled with illegal homeless camps, contrary to Schieve’s promise that the new shelter would completely remove homeless campers from Reno’s streets. 

• For over a decade, Schieve has allowed heavily-polluting homeless camps on the banks of the Truckee River, the source of 90% of Washoe County’s drinking water.

As Mayor, Eddie Lorton would:

• Strictly enforce the rules at the homeless shelter for anyone who stays there.

• Ensure that the Reno Police strictly enforces all applicable laws regarding criminal behavior by anyone, including the homeless. 

• Strictly enforce Federal laws that prohibit any camping on the banks of the Truckee. 

Wise spending of public funds

Under Mayor Schieve’s leadership:

• Reno’s current City Manager was just given an annual raise of over $100,000 (almost a 50 percent increase) after just one year in his position.

• Reno’s previous City Manager was hired by Schieve with virtually zero city manager experience. 

As Mayor, Eddie Lorton would:

• Hire city employees the same way he has hired employees for his numerous personal businesses over many years: carefully interviewing candidates and spending the taxpayers’ money as carefully as he would spend his own.  

Development

Under Mayor Schieve’s leadership:

• Since coming to town over three years ago, the developers of the west Reno downtown project have been allowed to accomplish almost nothing. Meanwhile, they have created a downtown wasteland by razing, and not replacing, hundreds of previously existing low-income housing units. 

• Schieve’s City Council has continued to provide this west Reno developer with millions of dollars of tax breaks and financial incentives.

• The mega-apartment project at Virginia and Plumb streets has been over-built, so densely that it resembles a Cabrini Green housing project in the making. It will create monstrous traffic-flow problems in Mid-town, and in the event of fire, it would pose a major challenge to public safety.  

As Mayor, Eddie Lorton would:

• Demand that all developers sign and held accountable for performance clauses that would ensure completing projects in a timely manner. 

• Stop giving away city-owned properties to friends and supporters.

• Give a higher priority to in-filling and re-purposing empty and abandoned spaces in downtown Reno rather than unlimited building sprawl that unnecessarily eliminates Reno’s open spaces.   

Leadership during emergencies

Under Mayor Schieve’s leadership:

• During the majority of the 2020-2022 Covid pandemic, while other city workers were continuing to keep the city operating, Schieve made no public appearances for months, and kept City Hall locked down and City Council on zoom meetings far longer than any other surrounding communities. 

• In 2020, while rioters caused over $1M worth of damage to downtown Reno, Reno’s City Hall and the police station, Mayor Schieve was nowhere to be seen. Her only communication was to send a message telling the police to stand-down and be careful not to hurt the protesters whom she was supporting. 

As Mayor, Eddie Lorton would lead by example during crises. He would maintain a position at the epi-center of any health or public safety challenge that threatened our city and its residents. Lorton would always place the community’s health and welfare above his own. 

Reno residents urgently need a mayor with economic expertise in business operation and finance. They need a leader with relevant legal knowledge, consistent character, and integrity. Reno needs a mayor who will use the position to serve the needs of the community, rather than exploiting it for self-promotion. 

Eddie Lorton possesses all of these qualities. 

These are just a few of the many reasons for electing Eddie Lorton instead of Hillary Schieve as the new mayor of Reno. Your vote on November 8 will affect the lives of every Reno resident and business owner.