CHAB in Limbo: The Board on Homelessness That Stopped Meeting—and the Politicians Who Stopped Caring
Who was on the CHAB as of May 13, 2024 - the last time they met. We can only believe Commission Chair Alexis Hill believes homelessness has been solved in Washoe County since she refuses to call a meeting.
More than a year has passed since the Community Homelessness Advisory Board (CHAB) last met — the very board tasked with overseeing Washoe County’s most pressing humanitarian crisis. Chaired by Commissioner Alexis Hill, CHAB has gone silent while encampments spread and frustration grows.
At the most recent Washoe County Commission meeting, residents finally said what many have whispered: Why hasn’t Chair Hill called a CHAB meeting in over a year?
Even more baffling — the silence from the board’s other members, many of whom are now chasing higher office. Devon Reese and Kathleen Taylor, both running for Reno mayor, are nowhere to be found on the issue. You’d think that those who claim to want to “revitalize downtown” — the same downtown where hundreds live unsheltered — might start by ensuring the region’s homelessness board actually functions.
Over in Sparks, the CHAB roster is even murkier. Christopher Dahir, listed as a representative, is no longer on the Sparks City Council. The Sparks website now shows Councilmember Dian VanderWell in his place, with Mayor Ed Lawson named as the board’s vice chair on the City of Sparks website — though you wouldn’t know it from CHAB’s inactivity. If Lawson and VanderWell are aware of their roles, they’ve done little to prod Hill into action.
The only elected official who’s raised a public fuss appears to be Commissioner Mike Clark, who has repeatedly called attention to CHAB’s dormancy. The rest seem content to let the board gather dust while issuing press releases about compassion and leadership.
Residents have every right to ask:
What happened to CHAB’s mission?
Why are elected officials allowing bureaucratic inertia to stand in for governance?
And how can candidates like Hill — now eyeing the governor’s mansion — expect voters to believe they can manage a state when they can’t even convene a board meeting?
Voters should take note — because when elected leaders coast on autopilot, the people most in need are left stranded on the side of the road.