Math, Months, and Misinformation: Washoe County’s Magical Calendar Math
Eric Brown was one of three finalists for the Washoe County Manager position and was interviewed on September 30, 2019.
Washoe County called us out — said we made a mistake. A slip-up. A fumble. Using a comment County Manager Eric Brown made about how long he’s been with the county.
Let’s rewind the tape, shall we?
At the June 10, 2025 County Commission meeting (feel free to listen to it — it's live and unedited), Mr. Brown said he’d been with the county for “about five and a half years six years.” Hmm. Interesting. Because last we checked — and math is still math — he first appeared before the Commission on September 30, 2019, and was officially hired per his contract on November 25, 2019.
You know, not in 2018.
So when we pointed out that it’s more like 55 months, not 5.5 years, we were simply being accurate. But the County’s PR team — the self-anointed Propaganda Princesses of Public Relations — decided to twist our words like a balloon animal at a kids’ birthday party. Suddenly, we were accused of a “mistake.” Our publisher, in a rare gesture of diplomacy, issued a peace-offering apology for the “error.”
But let’s be honest: there was no misunderstanding. There was just math. And we’re still wondering: what kind of calendar is Washoe County using?
Is this the new government-standard “dog years” calendar?
Or did the County pick up an off-brand one at a Black Friday sale in 2020 that counts fiscal years as double during leap years?
Or perhaps they’re just rounding up to the nearest convenient number to help the boss out?
Because 55 months is 4 years and 7 months — not 5.5 years. That’s not a misunderstanding. That’s just the kind of math that would get a kid kicked out of a 3rd-grade multiplication bee.
But hey — if Washoe County wants to continue to operate on their alternate reality timeline, maybe it’s time they share that magical calendar with the rest of us. Imagine what we could do if our mortgage payments, term limits, and DMV appointments were all calculated using County Math™.
Until then, we’ll be over here sticking with the basics — the kind of math where months actually mean something, and five years is still sixty months.
Keep your calculators close, Washoe.