Washoe County's Million-Dollar Question: Why Fix What Isn't Broken?

Taxpayer dollars don’t matter at Washoe County - it is all about the scoring process - by an evaluation committed we can’t get the names of the participants. Is this even government anymore?

In a perfect example of government logic, Washoe County has decided to replace RISE - Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality, as the operator of Our Place—the facility serving homeless women and children—despite RISE doing a competent job since the facility opened.

Why the change? That's where things get interesting.

According to This Is Reno, the new provider (VOA) will cost taxpayers $1.1 million more than RISE. Let that sink in: Washoe County, facing a $27 million budget deficit, chose to spend over a million dollars MORE for the same service that was already being provided effectively.

If this were a private business, shareholders would be demanding heads on platters. But since it's taxpayer money, apparently the normal rules of fiscal responsibility don't apply.

The timing couldn't be more tone-deaf. While county officials wring their hands about budget shortfalls and difficult choices ahead, they're simultaneously choosing to spend an extra $1.1 million on a service that was working fine.

Perhaps Washoe County operates by a different version of the old adage: "If it ain't broke, spend more money on it anyway."

Pat Cashell spoke in support of VOA at the Commission Meeting. Rumor on the street is Cashell might be running for Reno Mayor. Great photo opt if he is, but bad suggestion since his support of VOA uses an additional $1.1 million of taxpayer dollars.

RISE had been successfully managing Our Place since it opened, providing essential services to some of our community's most vulnerable residents. No scandals, no major complaints, no crisis requiring immediate intervention. Just steady, competent service delivery.

So naturally, county officials decided this was the perfect time for an expensive change.

One has to wonder: In a county claiming fiscal crisis, how does spending an additional $1.1 million for identical services qualify as responsible governance? What magical improvements does VOA promise that justify over a million dollars in extra costs?

The silence from county leadership on these questions is as deafening as it is telling.

This decision perfectly encapsulates everything wrong with government spending: prioritizing change for change's sake over fiscal stewardship, choosing the expensive option when the affordable one works fine, and doing it all while crying poverty.

Washoe County residents deserve better than million-dollar solutions to problems that don't exist.