Hold the Date — A CHAB Meeting?

The email Commissioner Mike Clark sent to the media yesterday.

Well, well, well — looks like Commissioner Mike Clark been calling out Commission Chair Alexis Hill long enough. Washoe County sent him a “Hold the Date” notice for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from 1–5 p.m. — a possible meeting of the long-vanished Community Homeless Advisory Board (CHAB).

If true, that’s big. The CHAB hasn’t met since May 2024, which is remarkable considering Washoe County leadership — Commissioner Chair Alexis Hill and former County Manager Eric Brown — have spent the better part of two years declaring the homeless population “down by 40%, maybe 50%, possibly even 60%,” depending on which press piece you read that week. Remember the Wall Street Journal article that poor reporter was led down the garden path.

Of course, every time a reporter dares ask for actual data, confusion reigns. Numbers vanish. Definitions change. And transparency? Don’t hold your breath.

So if Commissioner Clark is getting ready to attend this long-awaited CHAB meeting, we’d like him to bring a few questions on behalf of the public — you know, those of us footing the bill for the County’s ever-shifting “success story.”

Six Questions Worth Asking (and Answering in Public)

1. Where’s the annual PIT count?
   Former County Manager Eric Brown canceled this year’s Point in Time (PIT) count, saying it only needs to be done every other year. Yet it’s the only standardized measure of homelessness across the nation. Why did Washoe decide it doesn’t need one annually?

2. Can we see a real spreadsheet?
   Specifically, how many Nevada Cares Campus residents are actually seniors? County messaging claims “up to 50%,” but insiders tell us it’s far less. Let’s see the numbers — not rounded-up rhetoric.

3. How many people have been there since day one?
   Reports from campus security suggest a surprising number of guests have lived there continuously since it opened. If true, isn’t that permanent shelter, not transitional care?

4. Is there a work plan?
   Are there any expectations or programs for long-term residents to return to employment or self-sufficiency — or is the model simply “public housing without the housing”?

5. Why do Washoe seniors get less than the homeless?
   Compare what’s served in senior centers versus what’s available at the Nevada Cares Campus. Why are seniors on limited income fed like afterthoughts while others get unlimited meals on taxpayer dollars?

6. Where are the recidivism stats — in writing?
   Former Cares Campus Director Dana Searcy was quick to toss out percentages, but where’s the documented proof? How many guests leave the campus and actually stay housed?

If CHAB really is meeting in December, it’s about time.

If not — then this “Hold the Date” notice is just another symbolic gesture from a county that’s been holding data, holding meetings, and holding accountability hostage for far too long.