Today, the Washoe County Commission is expected to appoint new members to the Washoe County Library Board of Trustees.

Officially, the process is straightforward. Applications were accepted. Candidates were notified. Commissioners will review the applicants and make their selections, and Commissioner Clara Andriola will drone on about how she contacted each and every candidate so she can elevate her importance to anyone willing to listen.

We ponder when Commissioner Clara was busy calling all the applicants if one name stood out to her - it sure did to us, and we’re sure it would former Commissioner Vaughn Hartung - who Commissioner Clara replaced. You know all that ugly stuff back in 2016 about Hartung and sexual harassment as covered by the Reno Gazette Journal - check out the link.

On July 1, 2025, in a move that shocked absolutely no one paying attention to the county’s pattern of “we love you, we loathe you,” staff invited CAB members to re-engage — this time to help with the Washoe County Evacuation Study. Yes, the same CABs that county employees previously rolled their eyes at, allude to the time suck the CABs require, and quietly plotted to dissolve like an unwanted committee meeting on a Friday afternoon.

County Manager Eric Brown's June 30th retirement marks the end of a five-year stint—and the beginning of some uncomfortable questions about how Washoe County hires, and potentially rewards, its top executives.

As the county gears up to hire another pricey headhunter firm to find Brown's replacement, it's worth remembering how well that worked out last time. In 2019, Washoe County paid handsomely for professional recruitment services, only to end up with a candidate pool so thin that former Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler had to personally call her old friend and former boss Eric Brown to convince him to apply.