Clara Andriola: All Talk, No Trot
Photo from the Washoe County meeting focusing on the State of the County made us remember Sparks Councilmember Charlene Bybee walked with Commissioner Clara Andriola in Ward 4 to get Andriola elected. How long is Andriola going to wait to endorse Bybee for Sparks Mayor, or is Andriola galloping in a different direction.
Back on January 19, 2024, then-candidate Clara Andriola saddled up as a self-proclaimed champion of small horse business owners. She penned an opinion piece, pledged her support, and even tossed some discretionary funds into a study. The Reno Gazette Journal gave it ink on March 16, 2024. And then… silence.
Months later, what do horse business owners have? Not reforms. Not relief. Not even clarity. What they have is a county still “studying” the problem while horses keep eating, owners keep paying, and bureaucrats keep dragging their hooves.
At a recent commission meeting, August 19, 2025, a frustrated resident came forward expressing concerns that she has been trying to get a county business license for two years. She might not have known, what many residents already know: Commissioner Andriola is long on words, short on results. Remember, she even called in the lieutenant governor for backup back in 2024. But what’s changed? Nothing but the volume of her speeches.
Case in point: at the inaugural Regional Fire Services Study Board meeting last week, Andriola reportedly spoke more than anyone else at the table. One reader sent us a breakdown — unscientific, sure, but anyone who sat through the meeting didn’t need a stopwatch to notice. Commissioner Andriola can talk the bark off a fence post.
A readers ‘unscientific’ breakdown showing Commissioner Andriola was rather longwinded at the Regional Fire Services Study Board meeting.
Meanwhile, small horse business owners are still waiting for action. Waiting for the county to fix the business license mess. Waiting for the promises to mean something more than another soundbite.
The pattern is clear: candidate Andriola rode into town promising to help. Commissioner Andriola now lets the county take its sweet time. All trot, no gallop. Or maybe just all talk.