CITIZEN

GADFLY ASKS: As often as possible...
(Gadfly: A Citizen who reports on things for other citizens in order to arouse them from complacency.) By Sam Dehné, Flapdoodle Evaluator (Note: It is all-right to be redundant... about important things. And if you are confused by the numbering system, so are we.)

25. The Reno Gazette's business editor-gurus are clever writers. But aren't their views a little wacko? [Or are they really their views... or those of growth-mongering bosses?] What good does it do to have more workers come to town... rich or poor? They just add to the already out-of-control noise, sprawl, and blight. There is not enough water, air, or patience. There are not enough policemen or firemen. The streets are a mess. Developers are out of control. The airport is an accident looking to happen. How will more jobs correct this mess?

25a. It is way past time to put "growth" as an issue on a city-wide ballot. At last count there were over 380 Developments being built... from 2,000 units to 50 units each... with NO END IN SIGHT.

24. Two crashes in 2 weeks at Reno's Casino Airport. It is fortunate that this emergency pilot lost contact with the airport... or they might have told him to fly over the crowded church this time. What is going to take to keep this airport's cancerous expansion from eventually causing a disaster? Is anybody awake over there? Where were the auditors?

23. Reno, Nevada has become a veritable war-zone... Developers pitted against innocent citizens. Reno-Casino city council pitted against innocent civilians. Every week you can watch the battles in city hall and at the planning commission... When will the conflicts be taken to the streets? Just like in Nazi Germany, the special interest groups have control of the propaganda media... but citizens are becoming more sophisticated and have had enough of the stupid cancerous growth policies. They are fed up with the nest-feathering; witness the mayor's illegal contract payola from his political subordinates at the Reno-Casino Airport.

23a. Verdi versus Developers, Hidden Valley versus Developers, Mt Rose versus Developers, Virginia Lake versus Developers, Rewana Farms versus Developers... the list of battlefields goes on and on and on. Should citizens be praying for divine intervention from above... for a national depression to rid them of these venomous scoundrels? It could be the only way to save their land...

23b. Reno's Casino & Developers City Council is hell-bent on self destruction. The problem is they are taking the city down the tubes with them.. and running with the money (your taxes).

22. Why did our government waste $321,000 policing 'Burning Man' (with only 1 or 2 bums arrested)? Is this how much they are routinely spending to arrest a bum? Or was this some kind of boondoggle? And they had fire department guys out there too - to keep the desert from burning down!?!? OR was that a boondoggle also? And why are they so hostile toward this event - is it because there aren't any slot machines out there at Burning Man? No gambling? What's really going on? [Want more on Reno's nasty government? Click here.]

21. Reno's Hiway 395 South - why so many curves? Was it laid out this way so they could buy land from just the right people? And what about the arsenic-laced dirt? And when are they going to fix the landscaping on it? And won't all that arsenic dust just blow onto the Galena
High School athletic fields? Great for the kids...

20. Great American Airlines was shafted by the FAA. That batch of nincompoops was so busy nickpicking about GAA's alleged little mistakes, that they let an amateur terrorist drive up and down Reno's main runway... and claimed they DIDN'T even know about it... and further claimed that there was no danger to the airliners that miraculously dodged the cars driving up an down the main runway. (Please "Click" here to read more about that terrorist attack that continues to be covered up.)

19. How dangerous are things allowed to get? When are the amateurs at the Reno-Casino Airport going to be replaced by professionals? By people who know how to operate an airport so all citizens are accounted for... not just fat cat special interest groups? Cargo flights are to be expanded at an exponential rate. Has anybody else considered or reported on the TERRIBLE DANGER OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS that these cargo planes will be carrying directly OVER TENS OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT CITIZENS IN THEIR HOMES AND BUSINESSES???

19a. Dozens of dangerous over-flights? Who cares? NOT A WORD OF WARNING from the OTHER media... just hoopla for the airport and its czar. Even the real cause of the recent crash of the plane into the schoolyard is still being misreported. The airport bears at least as much blame for this near catastrophic tragedy as the pilot. Waiting for the FAA? Can they be trusted to prepare an honest report? The local FAA critters didn't even know their airport had been attacked by an amateur terrorist... who still remains on the lam after almost 1/2 a year. (Click here.)

19b. Why no honest reports? Because the huge taxpayer-funded airport propaganda machine is in cahoots with most of the other media... that's why!

18. With all the corruption to report on, we advise you to scroll down this page so you don't miss any of the exposés. The problems are so rampant that there is no way to list them in order of damnable insult to the citizenry. Be sure to check out the blue links by "clicking" on them. For instance, try this one for another eye-opener. (Click here with your mouse pointer.)

17. Is ANYBODY surprised that members of the Reno-Casino city council (NOT JUDY HERMAN... ostensibly the only honorable member of THAT gang) met privately [spelled "secretly"] to determine who to give the lucrative Truckee River deal to... as reported by intrepid investigator, Dennis Myers, in the Sparks Tribune? What other "deals" were cut? If the mayor (an expert at special sweetheart schemes) was there, did he do what he could to "entrap" the other members into these deals... so they could never point the finger at him for his shady dealings? "You tell on me; I'll tell on you." How many new accounts were opened in Switzerland since this city council was (s)elected?

17a. And city hall accuses Mr. Bacho, of the notorious Redevelopment Agency, of "cheating". Such hypocrisy can only be laughed at. (Click for more)

16. So the notorious RSCVA wants to spend $250,000 of your taxes to bring the 49er "camp" to Reno... But why won't the other media remind you that this RSCVA (run by the same old cronyistic nepotism that permeates most of the other "government" circle of fat cat friends in Reno) is the same gang that broke the law for months and months... failing to pay their $$$Bonds. If they can't obey Nevada law, why should they be allowed to go through these bizarre gyrational antics with YOUR TAXES?

15. Quick soundbites of recent soundbites: Is Reno mayor Griffin unethical? The State Ethics commission is looking into his recent sweetheart $27,500 contract with the Reno Airport. Sue Camp, newly (and very briefly) appointed Airport Authority trustee who seconded the motion to give Griffin the unethical contract was Griffins #1 pick to the Airport Authority. Griffin recently told former mayoral candidate, Martha Gould, in a private meeting that he (Griffin) "owed" Camp the appointment to the Airport board... after the city council took away her illegal $60,000 contract with the city. Did Griffin view it as ethical (and legal) to give a lucrative City contract to Camp? Or was that contract a payoff for Camp's Eminent Domain vote? Camp was immediately promoted to a high-paying County Commissioner slot... (Click for more)

14. A poignant excerpt from this week's "WatchDog": (Click to read Newsletter)

"Airport's murder of Rewana Farms an example of government at its worst
The assassination of the Rewana Farms neighborhood is a textbook case of
governmental abuse of power. Government's credibility is no greater
than its insult of pretending that airport officials are buying land
"only from willing sellers." When you hold a gun to a victim's head,
that victim is not a willing seller. Reno's council shares heavily in
this criminal endeavor; it controls four of the eight airport trustees
... and gave them no direction to leave Rewanians alone. We are
informed that a memorial service is being planned for Rewanians who died
during the assault on their homes ... including Dora Bath, age 93, who
passed within a few hours after learning she would definitely lose her home."

13. It is time to think seriously about putting up barrage balloons over Reno's schools and neighborhoods. To protect innocent children and citizens from the airport's insanely dangerous overflight policies.

12. Was there reference by any of the "other" news media to the fact that the cancerous out-of-control growth at Reno's already overcrowded Airport... played a part in this nearly catastrophic accident? No! Airport fat cat damage control went into operation immediately. It will be a little more difficult to cover this up like they did with the terrorist break-in and attack (Click here to read "TERROR ON RENO'S RUNWAY") of 11 May. But with the help of their FAA cronies, they might get away with it again...

12a. What was the airport doing telling a pilot how to fly his airplane? The pilot is supposed to be in control. In this instance, if he had just landed, the worst that would have happened would have been a scraped airplane belly. Did the airport warn the pilot that he would be flying over schools and heavily populated parts of Reno when he attempted his ill-advised flyover? No! As a matter of fact, it is the airport's ridiculously standard procedure to recommend over-flight of these crowded schools and densely populated neighborhoods. [I know... because I live there...] Will any of this come out in the FAA report? NOT!

12b. Even with the wreckage splattered about the schoolyard, the airport was still letting airplanes fly directly over the area of the near tragedy. Folks, this is after $$millions of dollars of your federal taxes were spent buying land that was supposed to be a safety zone for departing and landing airplanes. Airport and FAA: MAKE THESE AIRPLANES USE IT... STOP ENDANGERING CITIZENS!

11. If any citizens were wondering if miracles still happened... if Guardian Angels still existed, they can stop wondering. After that airplane crashed in the middle of the Reno's Pine Middle School playground... where 150 little children were playing an instant earlier... without one kid being scratched, they can stop wondering. Thank you, Guardian Angels... and maybe Mother Teresa was helping out too...

10. From annals of the bizarre and hypocritical: The city of Reno is guilty of the exact thing that they claim to be victims of... creating noise, danger, blight, and pollution at the Reno-Casino Airport. They sit by idly as innocent citizens are victimized by attacks from Reno's appointed Airport Authority "trustees". Just as the Reno Gazette whined about the railroad fiasco... "Well, there it is." While the train-track fed-vestigators are in town, send them over to the Airport to correct REAL skulduggery...

9. In the scheme of Nevada politics: A Washoe County commission politico steps down in the midst of an Ethics Commission investigation... and names own successor! Nevada governor puts his rubberstamp to this bizarre action. Surprised?

8. The inmates continue to run the asylum. Despite all judgment to the contrary, the Reno-Casino Airport "trustee"-critters voted to confiscate land from innocent citizens in historic Rewana Farms. They refused to listen to logic. They refused to use good judgment. They refused to protect USA taxes. They refused to be good leaders... as they pandered to the numerous "power club" members who showed up at the meeting and intimidated them into a senseless daze... proving again that the more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets...

8a. Former "trustee" Camp was removed from the Board to take over as a county commissioner... but not before helping to feather the nest of her benefactor, the mayor of Reno. [Click to read about that illegal and unethical scheme.] Now the real fun begins...

8b. Will the "endangered Rewana Farms tadpole" (tadpoles are at least as important as cui-ui fish!) eventually save Reno citizens from the devastational onslaught of the Reno Casino Airport landgrabbers? Only the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will decide. Please dedicate some of your prayers for sanity in government...

7. More airport landgrab scheme stuff: Trustee Larry Martin (it is strange to say something nice about one of those critters... but fair is fair) was the only member of that appointed board with an ounce of pro-active sense. He recommended that the airport build a new terminal on land it already owns... and take another look at things 5 or 6 years down the road. Of course, this brilliant no-brainer fell on deaf ears. Apparently he didn't know about all those sweetheart deals that have been under the table for years... Note: Martin also became a victim of the special interest group pressure and voted for the landgrab...

7a. Southwest Air, the most successful airline in America, says they are perfectly happy with the 4 (four!) gates they have... as far as they can see into the future. Citizens, please beware of this Airport Board. [RenoAir, with just slightly more flights, needs 8 (eight) gates!] The airport "trustees" have no effective airline background and appear to be shilling for RenoAir (see below) and their casino button-pushers.

6. Corporate Welfare Grants for the Reno-Casino Airport? Those critters have gotten so used to receiving them (another $2,642,000 on 11 Sept), that they had the audacity to try to create a "Rubberstamp" Resolution with blank spaces for the amounts of money and the reasons for receiving the federal handouts. Just "send us the money"!

5. Here is a novel idea (Why can't the airline gurus think of things like this?): Since the cancerous growth of flights out of Reno is rapidly reaching the danger point (not to mention the noise and pollution)... why not put a moratorium on new departures until the planes currently flying fill up at least 90% of their seats.

5b. What a great way for the airlines to make money... the higher the load factor the greater the profit margin. Seems stupid to do otherwise. Win-win-win for everybody.

4. Is it true that RenoAir only OWNS 1 (one) of its airplanes... and only 3 engines? Does this mean they could fold up at the snap of a finger... when the economy turns downward? What would this do to the Reno-Casino Airport that is in debt up to its nose?

4a. The indications are that the R-C Airport currently has about $180 million in debt (and up to now the USA government has been bailing it out with corporate welfare grants... that could end at any moment). Those critters are now are getting ready to incur a couple of $$hundred million more with their expansion and Air Guard move/landgrab. How do you spell "bankruptcy"?

3. Movies? Who has time to go to the movies? HOW can Reno/Sparks support dozens of new screens? What will happen when the internet catches on... and it will? People WILL someday find that there are viable things to do with their lives. Who will be left holding the bill for these abandoned downtown theaters? The citizens... that's who.

3a. When are citizens going to say they have had enough? When are they going to send those Carpetbaggers packing? Is this citizen-funded sweetheart deal with the Carpetbaggers (concocted by another Reno Carpetbagger) fair to the theaters who will have to do it on their own? How many sweetheart deals is one mayor allowed?

3b. Even the big casinos should be balking and squawking at this crazy scheme...

2. POLITICALWhatever Washoe commissioner Grant Sims did, it could not possibly be as nasty as what the Reno mayor did... clandestinely feathering his private company's nest with public funds... with the help of perennial "appointee" Sue Camp. "Click" here to read more.

2a. And now Camp is rumored to be the political recipient of another payoff appointment... this time by governor Miller... to Sims vacated spot. This diabolical circle of political cronyism goes around in so many circles that it is impossible to keep from getting dizzy.

1. A small "victory" for the Proletariat:
AS OF 2 SEPT, 1997, THE "RENO CITIZENS' FREE CITY HALL PARKING PROGRAM" IS IN EFFECT. AS A SIDELIGHT TO OUR PARKING METER ERADICATION PROJECT, WE HAVE ALSO BEEN PRODDING THE RENO-CASINO CITY COUNCIL TO ALLOW FREE PARKING FOR FOLKS ATTENDING COUNCIL MEETINGS. WELL, LO AND BEHOLD, AFTER ONLY 4 PRODDINGS, THE COUNCIL DECIDED TO LISTENED. CITIZENS CAN NOW PARK NEAR CITY HALL FOR FREE DURING COUNCIL MEETINGS.

1a. Now! It is way past time to lop the heads off of ALL OF THOSE NASTY METERS!
Free parking everywhere in Reno... like the rest of northern Nevada!!!