Leaving My Job After Being Forced To Stay Outside in the Smoke

The smoke during the summers here used to make me excited since maybe band practice would be cancelled but now I dread it every year. Even though wildfires are a necessary part of the ecosystem here in the Sierra Nevada’s it has seemingly gotten much worse these past few years. This current fire named the Dixie fire was supposedly caused by a tree falling into a live power line sparking it. At the second largest fire in California’s history the smoke has filled the sky for hundreds of miles. This causes the air quality to be utterly hazardous to those with underlying conditions and can make a healthy person get a runny nose and teary eyed. Prolonged exposure can cause serious health problems and is not advised at an AQI above 150. Recently the highest we’ve seen is upwards of 319 which means effects of the smoke can be felt almost immediately. 

Due to these conditions I called out of work where I work outside and was met with pushback from my manager. I asked him if we have any respirators to protect us from the conditions and he told me to just stay home. This was obviously not what I was hoping to hear since I need to be working and was worried about my fellow employees getting sick from the smoke. After realizing that I would be expected to work in such hazardous conditions I had to quit. I know most people are not in the position to quit jobs and not have income for a few weeks so I feel privileged to be able to stay healthy in these times and not be forced to work somewhere that could be detrimental to my health. This shouldn’t be a problem that workers have to face and yet even in an area where this is common our businesses can’t deal with it properly.

Anonymous Contribution to Our Town Reno, August 2021

Locomotion Plaza: Public Art and the Individual

“Any thoughts on the new Locomotion Plaza in #Reno where planting is now going on on the sides? Who will be using this space and for what purpose?” Biggest Little Streets (@OurTownReno) tweeted this on June 25. I shot back a zinger about “the collectivization of the psyche produced by art in public spaces,” and BLS invited me to write on the theme for here.

Maybe it’s because I grew up on film noir. What would a noir antihero say about Locomotion Plaza, even in black & white? Nothing. He’d flip his cigarette into the middle of it and turn away. So would the hat-check girl, the corner newspaper guy. I quit smoking forty years ago, but I still feel that way.

Denizens of the noir city were anonymous. City spaces gave privacy. You thought, I am in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles; you didn’t think, We are Chicagoans, New Yorkers, Angelinos. You didn’t say hello to strangers on those streets, even in neighborhoods canopied with elms. Of course the city of film noir was an illusion, an aesthetic antidote served on an industrial scale to citizens overdosed with collective identity by the national mobilization for World War II.

All the same, the noir city was based in everyday experience. We were only partway to where we are now. With exceptions such as ballparks, city spaces dictated privacy, and with it individuality. Not every coffee shop was a Starbucks. Shopping streets were lined with small businesses before row of franchises degraded the sense of place by making here indistinguishable from there. Air travel had only begun to decay our innate sense of location. Then came the interstates. What of the railroads, you ask, hadn’t they done the same? Yes. We’re always midway from one condition to another.

Reno was visibly midway when I first encountered it in 1963. The Biggest Little City was no longer, as its prose-poet laureate Walter Van Tilburg Clark well knew, the 1920s–30s “city of trembling leaves” which I came seeking. Much less was it the Comstock-era shipping and banking hub of its farther past. Not to speak of Truckee Meadows as the shared, contested ground of Paiute and Washeo, and they not its first inhabitants. Now in the age of globalization and the Anthropocene, artificial intelligence and climate change, smart phones and the blue planet, what use is it to bemoan the collectivization of the psyche? I’m whistling into the wind of change. Public art is the least of it.

But public art is a part of it. Setting aside that most of it is mediocre, on one level my reaction is visceral, literally physical as well as psychological. To be in the here and now with body-and-mind is to be located in continuous space, including urban space – by and large buildings are part of continuous space, relatively speaking. But art is not in the same space, art is an image, not reality (don’t quibble, you know what I mean). In public spaces, art intrudes on consciousness and breaks space, forcing us out of ourselves into collective identity.

Art isn’t alone. Billboards have the same effect, both their pictures and writing. Writing is a class of image, and public writing in any form which can’t be assimilated (a stop sign) breaches real space, draining its dimensionality and with it our sense of presence. And again, franchises: if Starbucks is Starbucks is Starbucks, where in reality am I? Who am I?

(As an aside, land art does the same thing to natural or wilderness spaces as public art does to urban spaces. They say there are no longer any “natural” places not impacted by Homo sapiens, and land art makes us constructively aware of it. Land art serves the preservation and restoration of the environment, they say. Maybe.)

I must qualify this diatribe by allowing that not all public art debilitates space and the sense of place. The whales in City Plaza are an exception. They trigger in the viewer an expansion of presence in real space by assimilating the plaza and its air space into the dimensionality of the imaginary water world surrounding mother and calf. It is a space maker. The BELIEVE sculpture, on the other hand, is a space breaker.
Art in and around public buildings largely gets a pass, because we integrate it into our perception of the building. In Reno, if you haven’t already, go see the mural (1930s) by Robert Caples in the Washoe County Courthouse, the lobby mural (1960s) in the Young Federal Building by Richard Guy Walton, and the steel sculpture (1990s) by Michael Heizer on the lawn of the Thompson Federal Building. It is both fitting and ironical that these halls of justice and power all have artworks treating Native American themes.

This brings me to the social and political ramifications of public art. My reply to the tweet from Biggest Little City asked: “Who benefits from the collectivization of the psyche produced by art in public spaces? Are we community or are we customers? Participants or peripherals? Citizens or subjects?” Beautification projects, artistic and otherwise, generally get done in city centers and trendy neighborhoods – your medians with planters, your riverwalks. Whatever good accrues to the private citizen from them, it’s hard not to believe that the powers that be arrange them basically for the financial benefit of – the powers that be. Make the place attractive to corporations, let them be able to recruit executives and middle managers.

“Art is the way you package the city,” Mayor Hillary Schieve said recently. “It’s really about creating more economic development.”

Sure this brings jobs, some. Mainly it brings money to money. In the upshot, cities everywhere come to resemble corporate campuses and each other, physically and functionally. The process only reinforces the homogenization of public spaces and the collectivization of the individual psyche. Did I mention surveillance cameras?

A footnote: Some public art carries a message of resistance. And some becomes a target of resistance, as in the takedown of Confederate generals on their horses.

Above, a photo with permission to use by Kelly Milan, of The Light of Truth Ida B. Wells National Monument, created by famed sculptor Richard Hunt, unveiled in Bronzeville, a neighborhood in Chicago, on June 30, 2021.

Another footnote: Its name aside, the film “noir” city of my nostalgia had precious few Blacks in it. For people of color the urban environment carried a different sense of danger from that which tantalized white audiences.

Citizen’s Forum contribution by Anthony Shafton, an author and independent scholar living in Reno.

Where are the People Supposed to Go?

"They're not in your way, you're in their way," an officer snaps, referring to the enormous dump trucks and bulldozers demolishing people's homes at the end of Commercial Row. He is standing on a raised concrete slab, milling around with some other police officers, and rudely barking down to a housing activist who is frantically trying to help Mary get her belongings out of the bulldozers' way.

Milk crates of stuff, a few bags, coolers, a couple of small carts - Mary has arranged all of her possessions into a small pile in the dirt. She doesn't know where she is going, exactly, but here's the housing activists' van pulling up, despite the officer’s detached, heartless command to get out of the way. Mary, with a little help, manages to throw everything she owns inside the van and escape before the bulldozer turns the tiny little dirt patch she has been living on back to rubble, along with whatever she had not managed to save.

For months, this scene, whose cruelty was surely mitigated by witnesses and advocates, has been playing out over and over again all over Reno and Sparks, as encampments were brutally swept and houseless residents kettled below the Wells overpass.

A few blocks away, the supposed 'solution': the Nevada CARES Campus, a 45,000 square foot tent that can hold up to 900 people. Destroy everyone's individual tent, which at least provides some basic level of privacy and autonomy, and dump them all into one huge, FEMA-style structure.

The Governor's Bowl, an abandoned baseball field next door to the tent, is supposedly being converted into a Safe Camp, a sanctioned encampment of about 50 tents. Insurance, staffing, drainage and a host of other issues have delayed the opening of the Safe Camp, which is now slated to start accepting residents mid-June (we'll see about that).

The tent is allegedly just 'Phase One,' and diagrams of the entire property are full of captions starting with words like 'future' and 'possible' - 'Future Affordable Housing,' 'Possible Future Rehabilitation.' But promises, diagrams, powerpoint presentations, virtual city council meetings (The Community Homelessness Advisory Board cancelled their May 1st meeting, which was to feature, after months of advocating, a Lived Experience presentation to offer feedback and guidance on this escalating disaster) - all words, chatter, air. What's really going on?

Rents and housing prices in Reno skyrocket as the city sees an unprecedented influx of new residents and developments. Downtown, empty lots multiply as residential motels and other low-income housing options are demolished en masse to provide prospective developers a neat and pretty blank canvas - some of these lots have now sat empty for almost five years, with zero repercussions for those who leveled them. The 4th street corridor, for years the site of the existing shelter as well as many of the services that unhoused residents depend on, from food to resource centers, is rapidly transforming into a 'Brewery District,' covered in new paint, gaudy logos, and all the other things that say, 'Get these dirty people out of here. They did their job and made this property nice and cheap - now get them into the tent so they don't scare off the hip, clean clientele.'

The women's and family shelter - OUR Place - is full. The CARES campus tent admits single men and couples only - the numbers fluctuate daily, but as of last count there was no room left for couples and about 30 top bunks left for men (yes, much of the capacity is bunk-bed, prison-style).

Local providers are being turned away and even banned for bringing in prospective residents when they have been told there is no room for them. Meanwhile, the sweeps continue at a brutal pace: some who fled the bulldozers downtown and who have been planning on moving to the Safe Camp were told to relocate to an empty lot a few miles east that would not be swept until the end of the summer.

The lot belongs to the Truckee River Flood Management Authority, whose six-member board features two mayors (Reno and Sparks), two county commissioners, and two city council members - in other words, a group of people who certainly have a stake in the success of the CARES campus and who have professed, time and again in countless meetings, their commitment to treating the unhoused population with dignity and compassion. Three days after setting up camp at the new location, everyone was given notice to be out in four days: the property will be undergoing 'cleaning/maintenance.'

Where are people supposed to go? The shelters are full. The Safe Camp is not open. Everywhere they go, even when they have been told they will be safe there for a little while, harassment and inhumane displacement continues every single day. Trauma piles on top of trauma, trust in agencies and 'outreach' breaks down, people scatter farther and farther out, and the risk of overdoses and other tragic but avoidable outcomes increases as people trade community and any sense of stability for despair and isolation.

Yes, it's a complex issue and there are many factors at play, but as for the deplorable situation on the ground, only local government's negligence is to blame. If the CARES campus is actually meant to succeed beyond being a warehouse to coercively store poor people out of sight and out of mind, the time to change course is now, and local officials are fully empowered to take the action necessary. Local activists have started a petition with the following clear, reasonable demands:

A complete stop to the sweeps until the Nevada CARES Campus Safe Camp is fully open (with promised mental health care, addiction counseling, transportation, and workforce development), and a stop to sweeps again, if the Safe Camp becomes full.

Funded transportation for unsheltered individuals and their belongings to the Nevada CARES Campus for those interested in using both the Shelter and the Safe Camp.

A temporary camping location for unsheltered individuals (i.e. North Edison encampment) until the Nevada Cares Campus Safe Camp is fully open, with facilities for hygiene and medical use, including toilets, sinks, showers, and clinics.

A county-wide prioritization of sustaining and building transitional, affordable, and low-income housing.
The recognition of the Reno Houseless Union as a representative entity with a seat at the table in city and county planning decisions.

An end to the police harassment, and the reallocation of RPD and SPD cleanup funds to support social service, health, outreach, and housing initiatives existing and created for the unsheltered community, and additionally, to pay shelter staff a livable wage and provide employees with necessary training and support.

Citizen’s Forum Op-Ed by Ilya Arbatman shared with Our Town Reno

Should the Truckee River become an American Heritage River?

I’m just starting to reach out to people. We have developers trying to build big buildings on the river in downtown so I am finding ways that might help to require that they proceed with care and sensitivity. I know that I can get the river listed as a protected landscape but I also found a provision for designation as an American Heritage River.

The proposed company city in Storey County comes right down to the river shore too. Like I said, I’m just starting but im hoping to find interest and guidance in the effort. I am contacting all organizations that may have a hope in the health and preservation of our river.

I know this isnt quite your focus but I hope to set this in place for the future.

Barb Giacomini
Daughters Cafe
97 Bell Street
Reno Nevada 89503
775-224-5546

Here’s more information from Wikipedia below on the process to make this a reality:

Criteria for designation

Rivers are selected for designation according to the following criteria:

• The characteristics of the natural, economic, agricultural, scenic, historic, cultural, or recreational resources of the river that render it distinctive or unique;

• The effectiveness with which the community has defined its plan of action and the extent to which the plan addresses, either through planned actions or past accomplishments, all three American Heritage Rivers objectives;

• The strength and diversity of community support for the nomination as evidenced by letters from elected officials; landowners; private citizens; businesses; and especially State, local, and tribal governments. Broad community support is essential to receiving the American Heritage River designation; and

• Willingness and capability of the community to forge partnerships and agreements to implement their plan to meet their goals and objectives.

Race, Reno, and Living with Racism by Don DA

Quiet Insults, Slights and Disrespect

So some advice to those who are Black, or belong to visible ethnic minorities, and about to live in/move to Reno, Nevada. The major takeaway I have and had to learn to live with is to be Black while living in a place where few people are Black or look like me. Also living with quiet insults and slights towards me, yet is about disrespect and finding a way to live with dignity, in a place where Black/African Americans make up 2.8% of the population.

Versus that of Las Vegas where that number is 12.2% and 21.1% in North Las Vegas respectively; and that data has had a tremendous amount of impact on economic, political, and general characters of Reno and Las Vegas respectively.

That is something I am always aware of when I visit Southern Nevada in that issues regarding racism and race are less prominent. Not to say that they are not there. I am mindful that a massive majority of Nevada’s black political leaders hail from Clark County, and in contrast there are NO black members of the Nevada Assembly or Senate from outside Clark County and in Washoe County the only member of color (in state government, there are several in a number of local city council, school boards, and etc.) is my Nevada Assemblywoman Teresa Benitez-Thompson (D-Reno).

Likely with that element of representation in consideration, this may have shaped the contours of Reno’s issue on race and racism. As I can only recall of two Black representatives ever being elected in my memory, former State Senators Bernice Mathews (D-Washoe County) and Maurice Washington (R-Sparks)

With that I have unfortunately accepted throughout my life at least as far back as I can fully acknowledge that living in Northern Nevada I've often faced some form of racism, discrimination, and hatred on a daily basis. As I got older I embraced this perverse form of discrimination, by affirming and propagating it at times unwittingly and wittingly. The good news is that overtime this has gone down in frequency but it still occurs. Ironic as I write this letter today, there are rumors of a nationwide White Pride marches, it makes me wonder where in Reno/Northern Nevada will have a demonstration, not IF.

A Tough and Honest Talk on the state of Race Relations

As when I originally penned this letter in the last weekend of February and otherwise known in America as Black History Month, I am reminded at this time last year I was at the White House in Washington D.C. for an event at the East Room attended by Former President Trump, and Former First Lady Melania Trump where he spoke to supporters and praised his Black community political supporters in a Prime Time Speech.

I began to think about my experience with this issue and I thought to myself about that event. In that speech Trump praised supporters, allies, and his political achievements. I heard nothing addressing serious challenges in society besides political promises and pledges on addressing race and race relations. It made me think about this issue and my experience about Black History Month. In that all the focus and energy is on what Black people have done FOR America, Education, Civil Rights, yet there isn’t a tough and honest talk unless you look for it on the state of race relations in America. So here we are on race and thinking about it locally.

Generally Accepted Behaviors in Nevada

Something I've come to terms with about living in Nevada as a person of African descent, to be disrespected, discounted, and disregarded is sadly to be expected. What's particularly unique to Nevada in this is that the prevalence of this behavior is generally accepted. Concurrently with that acceptance is that those who have to endure it typically do it in silence.

It’s a type of silence that is similar to that experienced by those who have been victimized both by an attacker, then by the criminal justice system when the attacker/assailant gets away and not justice or conclusion is rendered. Yet the expectation of “moving on” or “life moves on”, is placed on the victim regardless of ability or capacity to endure the injury or recover from the damage. In time it's a type of quiet indifference and ignorance that Reno and Northern Nevada that happens simply because of time passing by, and the transient nature of our community. They both smooth over the injustice of history past, and actions current.

As in most of the parts the country said behavior would naturally be seen as a faux pas, or unacceptable. More importantly a unique feature of living in Reno, Nevada is that it has NEVER really faced a TRUE day or time of reckoning regarding its past and racial discrimination. It's like a quiet secret "Biggest Little City'' never likes to talk about.

From zoning and planning near my old high school near Reno High School, to how the Northern Nevada community reacted in the beginning of the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling protest. It was only in 2020 after the controversy died down and passed that students and student leaders started having a conversation about restoring one of UNR's more prolific athletes to the public space. 

Even in the naming of a public school that serves predominantly minority students, the issue of race and representation continues. I must clarify I knew of former State Senator Debbie Smith (D-Sparks) and attended her funeral and understood and saw her passion for education. Yet a contention Ms. Adrienne Feemster, grand-daughter of Former Proctor R. Hug High School administrator/Principal Dolores Feemster, raises is why should a political figure name adorn an institution that will likely serve more students and constituents of color than the legislator served in office. I simply place this debate here not to level a position, to show an element of the fluid challenges here in Northern Nevada and Reno have with race and racial reckoning in the twentieth-first century.

Eating Out / Waiting Tables + Stores and Security

Eating out/waiting tables.....I was a waiter for many years in Reno. That experience has always left the most naked, harsh, and disgusting elements about racism, and bigotry. As it deals with class, race, money, and above all order. I start with this, some the most racist and bigoted statements I would hear from co-workers who would quietly confide after a few drinks after work and tell me or yell at me. "Why is it that Black people tip the worst!?!" Alternatively I would find my waiting experiences often left me less than happy as I observed my server go to other tables with higher levels of frequency before attending to my table. I still tipped 20% (or more) as I remember how hard that job is, but I didn't like doing it. I myself as a waiter in the 2000s found myself propagating that self-affirming bias. It took me being taken to task by a senior waiter and staff member to get me to treat all tables the same, to give everyone the same level of speed and attention irregardless of WHO sat there. 

From time to time I have to calm myself about going out to eat (still) because 50/50 now (used to be a 70/30 ratio unscientific poll) I found myself unhappy, annoyed, disgusted by my eating experience. Yet I swallowed it and didn't complain to the supervisor/manager, leave a complaint, a bad review, or respond as I felt that if I did I would be slighted, or find my complaint dismissed or explained away. As has happened a couple times and I remember my days as a struggling student server, I would be terrified of the thought or worry of that "CUSTOMER" like myself who may demand more than a comped check. My worry of committing an act of waiting malpractice may cost me more than just a tip, but my job. As at that time of my life I was working my way through UNR and I was a complete emotional wreck doing so. So that passing thought becomes an active physical action that drives me out the door in cowed silence. As I assume or feel my voice for something I just paid for has no value.

Stores and Security...This is a new feature I am dealing with in Northern Nevada. As in recent memory when I grew up here we didn’t always have security in stores. Now with the growth, we have an influx of big-box stores, and with that comes theft and loss prevention measures. This has given me the unpleasant “I’m being watched feelings” I now have, in the many stores I visit throughout Reno/Sparks the awkward looking over my shoulder to see a uniformed officer following me or store personnel being a lot more “helpful” than needed when in the General Merchandise, Electronics, and other sections that have moderate theft issues. Versus that when my white friends visit these departments, they often are unable to find a soul around to “help” them until they themselves wander two-three departments over. 

Fairly recently I had a choice encounter at a certain big-box retailer in central Reno where receipts were being checked not for completion/numbers of items, yet I noticed the employee was inconsistently checking those who didn’t walk past the clerk. When it came to my turn, I observed a member of management hurried in great speed to make sure I was checked. When I didn’t have my receipt I was told I wouldn’t be permitted to leave, which seems odd to me as I was observed by others minutes ago walking past. I couldn’t understand why I was being subjected to such scrutiny (even after paying for my items minutes prior). I eventually showed a receipt, yet I asked myself….why did I have to go through that? This I imagine is a common issue for people of color in the Reno area who find themselves in these awkward circumstances. Yet must maintain an air of calm demeanor, respectful tone, and measured actions when every thought and feeling says otherwise.

This is an awkward issue for me because I am trained in some of these tactics and I often see many security guards, loss prevention agents, and store staff do this horribly wrong … let true perpetrators and criminals walk out of their stores with high value goods, etc., time after time. Simply because they followed a person of color not because they had a reasonable suspicion, but because their implicit bias, some prior experiences, led them to think that was a reasonable solution.

My Youth 1990-2000's-One of the things I've always had to be really careful about is embracing my identity. And still in the drive to cover myself in cultural protection, that of mainstream Western/West-Coast Americana. I eschewed anything Black or African American. I was openly contemptuous and ridiculed if not contrarian of anything that was based on that. One of the most critical elements was basically trying to not be ethnocentrically aware or to not be connected ethnocentrically with African American culture. So reinforced by toxic and negative elements throughout my personal, work, and social life. I stuffed thoughts and ideas that bothered me when I saw and heard things I found offensive. Simply smiled and nodded approvingly. Knowing that I was disgusted and repulsed inside.

I openly (to myself admit & accept) whether it's at work, my personal life, in politics, and in the media market as well. A degree of contempt, dismissive perspectives on my talents or abilities, or a mix of all three. I make this abundantly clear to myself. I do not see myself as a victim. I do not say/wish to say "please take pity on me". I just have to find validity and accept that really nobody cares. Sadly it's part of that complex that is accepted. "I'm Black who cares". As I have to impound on myself and I have to drill in my head that I should judge myself on the content of my character and not the color of my skin. (I don't know what I mean) As it would be really easy to adhere to that structure, as it dominated my life. I know because it was well I never expected it to (I don't know what I mean) .

Photo by Trevor Bexon with Amy Klobuchar with permission to use.

 Politics, Public Life, and “Polite Society”

I often felt I was caught in the crossfire of three camps regarding racism in America. Namely that of a young man trying to find his way in the world. who legitimately just didn't understand what these boundaries of color and racism really meant. The son of African immigrants who struggled financially to find their place in the local and economic environment. The only son of college graduates who desired a better life for their family and held their children were to an extremely high and ambitious expectation. That was to go on to college themselves, and not only to go to college but to succeed economically, professionally, and in society.

I was warned as a young man at home by family and friends alike that "you are not an African American, but you are an African in America". Is a means of trying to separate myself from the African-American diaspora. The truth of the matter is to anyone on the outside I look black no matter what I say or do. Yet for many years of my young adult life I internalized this wildly disgusting idea. I am worse off for doing so. I say this openly now because I recognize the harm and has done to me and others. As it has prevented me from helping people who needed my support, denied my humanity and need to connect to another suffering human being, worse off I enabled racism/racist to continue advocating and supporting morally repugnant, reprehensible, and despicable ideas. 

“Why can’t you ALL pull yourself’s out by your bootstraps”, “racism is over right”, and failing to speak up and say what was really on mind probably hurt more than anything I said. I often am reminded that Colin Kaepernick and I shared a common friend who was an ally of his on campus. When he faced criticism for his kneeling protest, my friend stood by Colin. Through and through my friend stood by his friend, ally, and was willing to submit to a New York Times interview. While I criticized Colin and his allies to score cultural and political points, in hindsight of it all from Colin’s photo being removed from the airport to meeting "Peter” at UNR, I shouldn’t have even entered that debate, as the dominant issue wasn’t free speech, it was race and race relations in America. 

My perverse logic led me to live a life that was horribly inconsistent with the values that I actually felt. It led me to tolerate things that were just morally, spiritually, and personally abhorrent. I would endure people hurling racial epithets in front of me or at me as a sign of humor. I would humor people engaging and saying race-baiting conversations to me. I was at an event and then once we were there, there were people in blackface and I was invited, yet I didn’t leave. Repeatedly I was asked to engage in activities in sports not because of my actual physical prowess but that perceived physical prowess that I had. Thankfully I definitely let those down concerning that perceived prowess athletically.

So much so that I turned to alcohol, and other poor coping mechanisms to dull the pain. I'm not saying that it makes people weak to do these things. I'm just saying that's what I did.

So I am being so naked and so candid about my experiences. It's because the time is here to have that conversation. We have come to a point in time where you're having a very long conversation about ourselves. I have found through counseling and therapy that the only way you come to truth is you have to come to terms with things. You have to take an honest look at yourself, and be willing to assess the bones that lie bear. Also because the Asian American community is now in the firing line on racism, racist tropes, physical attacks, and hate crimes. I don’t wish to see another ethnic minority group face a rehash of a cycle of social marginalization or worse in this community. As sadly it has happened before during the 1918-19 Flu Pandemic and subsequent historical event throughout the twentieth century.

What I hope to do with this exchange with you here in Northern Nevada in this community is to have that Exchange. If we don't, if we simply gloss over the problem, we will simply let it fester some more. As a close friend of mine often says let's have a courageous conversation. I'm looking forward to having more of these with you!

I openly say this side note one of the things I will openly say about racism and racists; is I have yet to meet someone who is racist who is smart because inherently built in the concept of racism. Is a concept that someone who is of another different race is less intelligent or capable simply because of pigmentation. Which has no bearing on physical or physiological elements. So inherently and the long and short of racism is stupidity. Therefore simply racists are stupid, I openly say in this statement if you have an issue with that statement in the substance, style, and structure. I am open to hear why, but I challenge you to ask yourself if you have an issue with the premise. I simply ask you to ask yourself why?

####

1st Person Essay by Don DA shared with Our Town Reno

Washoe County Sheriff's Office: Why Do You Want $200 per Hour for Redacted Bodycam Footage?

I am writing today regarding the upcoming 12/08/2020 10am Washoe County Commissioners meeting specifically consent agenda item 6G.

[The] Washoe County Sheriff's office is seeking approval from the county to charge a fee of $200 per hour for body cam footage redaction.

The commissioners are set to approve this outrageous fee.

Which basically is for mostly redaction of the officers faces.

I question if that is even required under the NRS!!! [The Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) are the current codified laws of the State of Nevada. The Statutes of Nevada are a compilation of all legislation passed by the Nevada Legislature during a particular Legislative Session.]

I do believe Las Vegas Metro do not blur out the officers faces!

How many of us average citizens can afford to pay a $200 per hour fee to obtain footage that should be FREE .

What about TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY!

After all, isn't that what the body cam law was passed to promote?

There are people who need that footage for example if they have a criminal case or perhaps to prove excessive force or unbecoming behavior of a deputy!

I think the media should be all over this what will be a HUGE BARRIER for the public and it's wrong.

Especially in [a] time when Washoe County has had 4 deadly police involved deaths in 2020 alone!

[Washoe County] Sheriff [Darin] Balaam talked a lot of talk when George Floyd was killed but he seems to be doing just the opposite of what he preached then about transparency and accountability to the COMMUNITY!!!

This should be all over the news so the public is aware!

As someone whose brother Thomas Purdy was one of three men asphyxiated to death by the deputies up at Parr [location of Washoe jail], I can assure you how important the videos were to providing the TRUTH to the public and my family as to what actually happened to my brother because the narrative, we got from the police WAS NOWHERE NEAR what actually transpired.

In fact, RGJ had to sue the jail for the asphyxiation death of Justin Thompson. Please get this information out to the community!!!

1st Person Testimony by Annemarie Grant Shared with Our Town Reno

Two Poems: To the angry white people and It's November First

To the angry white people

To the angry white people:

To say that a war is coming is to admit that you could afford to take a break—as if Black, Indigenous, & People of Color haven’t been continuing fighting the war without you. 

Are you angry? Are you fearful?

You seem giddy. You seem excited.

An early congratulations for fulfilling your wish to bash in a cop’s head. Mind the BIPOC being arrested around you for simply being present while you have your fun.

-

To the angry white people with BLM in their bio,

with the Black power fist in their bio,

with ACAB and Defund the Police in their bio,

with spray paint cans in their passenger seat,

with baseball bats in their trunk,

with rocks in their pockets,

with the oddly exclusive “woke” angry white people group chat—

Do you really give a damn about us?

To the angry white men that said they would love to get arrested at a protest just once in their lifetime,

that said they would love to go to war with the Nazis they hate so much,

that said they were willing to die to protect Black and brown lives, so much so that they throw the first punch hoping to see a gun brandished in retaliation—

Do you really give a damn about us?

To the angry white women that make it a point to post one racism-is-bad post on Facebook a day,

that sob while they retell the story about the time someone wearing a MAGA hat spat at them at a protest,

that routinely cry “I cannot believe this!” when they see the latest news story about police taking another life,

that apologize for the world being such a horrible place for BIPOC,

Do you really give a damn about us?

...if I have to ask, the answer is clear.

-

You do not get a medal for seeing us.

You do not get a medal for not looking away.

You do not get a medal for stepping into our world of daily violence upon our minds, bodies, and spirits.

Our lives are not a spectacle.

Our lives are not a game for you to play.

Our lives are not a perpetual unfortunate reality in your world.

We are fighting to exist as more than a concept, a trend, 

a textbook event,

a news statistic,

a lesson to be learned, 

a sad story to tell.

Until you learn

to really see us,

to really respect us,

to really get know us,

to really love us—

Please step aside.

(And maybe try Call of Duty instead.)

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

It’s November First

It’s November first

Are you prepared for the worst?

Are you ready to move forward

or are you insisting we reverse

and go back to the old ways

of being jaded, of ignorance?

Go back to pretending that the

best thing for us is indifference?

Come on now, we know better

and I know we’ve all learned

that if you’re a business that

won’t say Black Lives Matter,

you’ll get burned, and 

if you’re a person that says

All Lives Matter, well, you deserve

to get sat down and taught a lesson

because you still can’t discern

what it means to be fighting from

what it means to be violent.

For the last time, we are defiant—

not some property-hating tyrants.

We don’t think we’re above the law—

we just aren’t compliant with the books

because if you noticed, they’re not reliant

and the reality is, Brad and Karen,

you’re the ones being violent:

we hear you loud and clear

every time you choose to be silent.

When will you actually help us?

When will you really fight?

Is it always gonna be,

“Oh, my God! Did you hear

the news last night?”

Hashtag another one?

Hashtag they used a gun?

Hashtag more Black and brown

lives taken in broad daylight sun?

Hashtag another mother lost

another son?

Hashtag “Damn it, I thought we were done.”

Hashtag HELL no! This has all just begun!

Actually, it started centuries ago, but we get attacked for bringing up the past

even though it’s all our oppressors’ attempts to erase it over time

that make the pain and trauma last—

last this long, generation after generation.

The cycle took so much away from us that

all BIPOC are left with is our radical imagination

...and not all of us even have that.

Our ability to dream big was stolen from us too.

So pardon me if I tell people that keep killing our hope “F*** you.”

We’re not looking for allies, for white martyrs—

We need comrades and co-conspirators that

understand this fight hasn’t just now started,

that get that they’re privileged if they can afford to step away,

that know they’ll never fully understand

what it’s like to live a life on the margins every day.

To the BIPOC out there still giving it their best,

please don’t forget: another form of resistance is rest.

Let’s take good care of ourselves and of each other, especially this week

because it’s more than just COVID cases hitting another peak.

Energy is high. There’s anxiety. There’s fear.

But remember you can’t keep fighting for us if you’re not still here.

So find your peace and keep it—

the love in your heart too.

Your very existence is powerful,

so please—

Take extra good care of you.

Visual and Poems by Santi Contributed to the Our Town Reno Citizen’s Forum

Compassion Generation Meditation at Reno's City Plaza

Thank you so much for being here. 

Let us first acknowledge that we are standing on the land of Native peoples including the Wa She Shu, Washoe, Numu, Newe, Nuwu, Paiute, Panamint, Koso, Te-Moak, and Pueblo. 

We are here to breathe. 

We do this together to acknowledge and respond to George Floyd’s breath being taken from him. 

We are here to confirm the importance of taking a breath, of pausing to take in our better angels instead of reacting immediately under the influence of lesser ones. 

Taking a breath lets us live. It interrupts habit. It gives us a chance to think before we speak or act. It gives life. A breath is so small, so automatic that we can take it for granted, at least until we see it taken away. 

We are also here because of causes and conditions. We respond here to the causes of police brutality, as have many others, to the causes of rioting and looting, the causes of civil unrest and name-calling and denigration of others because we don’t agree. 

But we are also here to generate better conditions, to oppose what leads to and propagates killing, violence, bigotry, and division. 

Here, today, we respond to both causes and conditions, to both speaking and listening, to spark and tinder, lightning and thunder, 

To both the acts of hatred and the conditions that foment them.

We are here for compassion. Whatever your belief system, being here says that you believe in compassion. That is to be celebrated. 

What we do together here today matters, and what we take away and activate afterwards matters, too. Whether you call it meditation or prayer or contemplation or seeking insight doesn’t matter. We will work here, together, to bring compassion to the fore, to bring it forward as meaning, means, and method. 

We are especially focused on compassion for our Black brothers and sisters, especially those who have lost their lives and loved ones to brutality and violence. But we should not forget others who long to breathe free: 

-our community members experiencing homelessness, 

-those whose immigration status denies them the freedoms of our nation, 

-those whose identities make them targets so much that they can never take more than a hesitant breath. 

Each of us here will focus where we choose: on ourselves, on individuals, on segments of our communities, or on the communities at large and beyond. 

Eventually, we hope to bring full, free breathing to all sentient beings. 

For those who are not experienced with guided meditation,

• You can work with your eyes open or closed

• Find a comfortable position

• Straight back, head tilted downward slightly, body positioned to minimize physical distraction. 

These steps help to quiet your body.

• Focus first on your breath, watching it come in and go out again, looking at its qualities. 

• Notice the distracting thoughts that come to mind, but don’t engage them

• Set these other thoughts aside for now, like clouds in the sky or leaves floating downriver

• If you become distracted, you are not failing—you are noticing. Just return to your breathing. 

These steps help to quiet your mind.

There is no expectation of perfection here. Trying is doing, and I will help you as we go.

Our guided meditation together will include three parts. First, we will set a motivation for our practice together, to help us focus. We will then meditate on compassion for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, to understand with compassion and life what George Floyd and too many others have experienced as fear and death. Then we will dedicate the compassion we generate to those who suffer. 

During our meditation, please feel free to stand, to sit, kneel, be in whatever safe position will allow you to focus on your compassion. 

We ask that all practice healthy observance of pandemic guidelines: use face coverings and position yourselves six feet apart. We ask that there be no talking during the meditation to avoid disturbing others.

Now, let’s set our motivation: 

Our motivation today is to confirm compassion as a method and means, as a necessary condition for much needed change. We together understand compassion as caring shaped by wisdom. And we understand that it must be extended to all without exception. 

We are here to generate compassion for victims of brutality and for those who resort to it, to generate deep compassion for Black Americans in these troubling times and others who ignore their pleas, to show compassion for the police officers and others who do their jobs with integrity and care, to generate compassion as a force for good for all in our community and beyond, to infuse our individual and collective now with compassion, caring, and wisdom. 

By participating here, we affirm the suffering that is happening, acknowledge that suffering can be ended, and seek to prevent more suffering in the future. 

We affirm that we and our brothers and sisters all want to be safe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We also affirm that we, as individuals, must make the most of every opportunity to show love for all of our communities: black, brown, LGBTQ+, uniformed, unhoused, unaware, and those unable to find their ways to compassion. These are our people, our community, our conditions for compassion. The motivation and goal here are compassion and wise caring for all, toward a more perfect union.

Now, to our meditation: 

Our meditation will last for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The bowl will start us on our way and then, again, we will invite the bowl to conclude our meditation. Make yourselves as comfortable as possible, and let’s begin.

Invite the bell

Let’s first focus on our breath, on our unhampered ability to breathe freely. Be aware that we are individually and together breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out. 

This helps us to feel compassion for ourselves, for our individual needs.

Let’s focus our meditation and concentration on breathing compassion into greater abundance and availability. What does that mean for you and for others around you? What does that look like? What does it call for? 

This is the beginning of compassion for others.

Let’s focus on our friends, our enemies, and those we don’t know, sharing with them our compassion, care, and love to reduce suffering. See who is still suffering. How can that suffering be reduced? 

This is the opportunity for compassion as an experienced condition.

Let’s develop awareness for all the huddled masses yearning to breathe free. 

This is the activating of compassion as a force for good.

Let’s concentrate on ourselves as the compassion we wish to see, see ourselves as reducing suffering through deep love, compassion, and care. 

This is inviting compassion as a state of being.

At 8 minutes, 46 seconds: Dedicate the work together

May the good will and compassion we have generated here be experienced by us all, here and elsewhere. 

May this meditation contribute to the happiness and safety of ourselves and all others. 

May our goodwill and compassion here help to answer desperate, dying cries for mothers, fathers, loved ones. 

May compassion be where we start and may wise caring become the practice going forward. 

Invite the bell again 

Thank you for doing this important work today. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Contribution by William J. Macauley, Jr., with photography by Debi Stears

Lisa Lee, Always People First

What is Your Preferred Terminology?

Lisa Lee is on the Board of  Directors for RISE (Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equity), and has more than 15 years of experience working with healthcare, public health, substance use, behavioral health, and people experiencing homelessness. Having experienced addiction and homelessness herself, Lisa focuses much of her attention and energies on peer recovery programs. 

One of my first questions was about terminology. I asked Lisa what her preferred term for folks living outside might be. As a writing teacher, I know that words matter and can make a big difference, especially when they are used without care. Lisa explained, “I am a big fan of people-first language, realizing that the person is a person before and after homelessness and that homelessness can be a transitional experience. I do prefer ‘people experiencing homelessness’.”

Lisa Lee recently helped people who were being displaced by the City of Reno from an encampment under Wells Ave., ending the day with a potluck. Photo by Bill Macauley shared with Our Town Reno.

A Persistent Lack of a Diversity of Local Services

Lisa, when asked about what stands out for her, surprised me with responses about how manageable Reno’s issues can be compared to cities like New York and LA, where the numbers are in the tens of thousands, compared to the approximately 1500 people we are working with locally. While not everyone wants to end their homelessness, Lisa said that she sees them every day and that most do. “We have a pretty low population of people experiencing homelessness, which means that, if we were all living in the solution, this would be solvable.”

And Lisa’s perspective is not that none of this important work is being done. She pointed to a lack of diversity of services as a shortcoming, compared with the past when there was a Salvation Army facility and the Center Street Mission offering uncentralized spaces. Reno has focused its attention on the Record Street campus, with the best of intentions, but it has been overrun for some time.

With every sweep, favorite possessions are lost in the mix. Several dumpsters were removed as the encampment grew larger, creating more trash. Photo by Bill Macauley shared with Our Town Reno.

Positive Words for Washoe County’s Leadership

Lisa pointed to the county as an agent of real change:

Washoe County is building this new shelter that will house women and families. They also have a Temporary Assistance to Displaced Seniors Program. They’ve had that for a number of years. They have the Daybreak Program for seniors. They have Meals on Wheels. They have the Senior Center. They have Child Protective Services, Adult Protective Services, Elder Protective Services, and I feel like they really do a lot for people experiencing homelessness, people living in poverty, families living in poverty. They have robust services . . .  They say, “Hey, what can we do.” “Okay,  let’s figure out how to do it.” And then they get the stakeholders to the table who have the subject-matter expertise and say, ‘Hey, we don’t know much about this; help us learn how to do this’.” And then they do it. For me, that’s amazing. I think that’s the most positive thing regarding homelessness for the community.

Interview and Photos by Bill Macauley shared with Our Town Reno

Lease Locked in a Student Apartment, and Struggling to Pay Rent

Feeling Overwhelmed and at a Loss

These are unprecedented times. People are dying, losing their jobs, and millions of Americans have been cooped up at home for over two months.

For college students, it’s been a rough ride. Between transitioning to online learning and new circumstances, it can be hard to imagine dealing with more stress, but there’s one more dilemma. Every month that passes by is another rent payment due. 

Many students in Reno have been forced to make changes that have affected their lives. Some have lost their jobs, making it difficult or almost impossible to pay rent. Some who are financially dependent on their parents are no longer able to because they have lost their jobs as well. 

People have also left the city to go to their hometowns. We are unable to use the gyms, pools, the recreation rooms or any other amenities offered at our places of residence. 

But the student apartments are still making us pay the full rent. Combine that with no option to break the lease, the long, tedious process of finding someone to sublet or replace you, and general inexperience of young adults in these matters, it is easy to become overwhelmed.     

Amenities have been reduced at many student apartments, but not rent. Photo by Tucker Rash.

Little to No Assistance

The apartment complex I lived in this year has offered little to no assistance. Looking for someone to take over your lease is nearly impossible because there are not many takers right now. 

One of my roommates found a person to replace them, and could not get a response from the front office for almost a week if that was ok.

Some students are going to be stuck paying their full rent until their lease is up. And that is not ok. 

Eventually the question has to be asked, what side of history would you like to be on? The side that made a difference and gave assistance to struggling students, or the side that continued to make people’s lives harder?

Anonymous Contribution by a Student at the University of Nevada, Reno

Jordan Isaacson, Creating a T-Shirt To Support Other Local Artists During COVID-19

According to the Reno Tattoo Company website, Isaacson began tattooing in 2008, shortly before opening his tattoo and piercing parlor, now shuttered in Midtown, due to the pandemic. He shared the post below for the Our Town Reno citizen’s forum.

RENO!! Let’s Show Some Support!

With so much uncertainty in the world as well as our home state Nevada, I felt the need to create a piece of art called "Hero", paying homage to the struggles our frontline medical workers are facing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, they’re HEROES!

Many clients we serve at Reno Tattoo Co. are these frontline workers.

At Reno Tattoo Co., we like many others are feeling the impact of the current shutdown.

We want to support our community and other local artists. By partnering together with Custom Ink, the proceeds will be donated to the Sierra Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization, in the hopes of providing resources and education for local artists while showing respect to our frontline workers.

Help this great cause by purchasing a limited edition Heroes T-Shirt. You can also make a difference by sharing this post!

https://www.customink.com/fundraising/saf-unite…

Thanks Everyone,
Stay Safe!

Jordan Isaacson

A Resident's Plea for Help for a Local Game Business Facing Imminent Extinction

I'm contacting you on behalf of a local small business, called Ironwood Games in Sparks. I do not own nor represent this business, but it has become a community hub for many people in the city. While it isn't exactly in Reno, what's happening to them is probably happening to many other properties and small businesses within the whole of the Reno/Sparks area-- and people who do live in Reno frequent it.

I have so far contacted my local assemblyman, and spoke over the phone to State Senator Julia Ratti. She suggested I file a complaint with the Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce, which I have (and received a form letter response already) and file a formal complaint with the State Attorney General Aaron Ford, which I have also done (no response on that front yet, but that's to be expected). One of our other community members has been continuing to reach out through their own contacts and your group came up, so I am reaching out to you while he is reaching out to local news stations and the [Reno] Gazette-Journal.

A screengrab from the Ironwood Games Facebook page.

Ironwood Games is a small business at 671 North McCarran, in Sparks, in the Iron Horse Shopping Center. They sell board games, card games, and supplies related to such. They also have an open play area where people can come in and just play games and socialize. They hold regular weekly events and are coming up on their third year of business. Their proprietor, Andrew Schaefer has been working there and as a substitute teacher with the Washoe County School district, sometimes, just to keep the business afloat. He was finally starting to turn a profit when the quarantine hit, along with the mandatory shutdown of non-essential businesses.

Now, his business is in jeopardy, as I imagine many others are, because of the practices of Colliers International of Reno. [Our Town Reno reached out to Colliers International of Reno to get their response about this situation, but did not hear back.]

Early in May, around the 3rd or 4th, he received a notice of default regarding his rent. Calling the manager on it, he was informed that Colliers wanted their money, in full. Pandemic or no pandemic. Open or not open. Directives or no directives. Of course, due to the Governor's Directive, [Note: Gov. Steve Sisolak has announced a moratorium on evictions for both residential and commercial tenants for the duration of the ongoing state of emergency] they can't presently, at least legally, file a notice of eviction or seize his business and assets, but it's clear that's what they intend to do as soon as they are able. As far as I know, those directives are likely to expire on May 12th unless otherwise extended. While I have talked, as I said, to local officials, and they were quick to say 'there are people working on problems like this' there were no specifics given.

A favorable Yelp review.

While that may work for some businesses, those like Andrew's are still very much in danger. He's already two months in debt, and while he is now allowed to open for curbside or delivery, he now has to come up with two months of expenses, as well as the one going forward-- for a total of three, just to stay in business. Without any assistance, it looks to him like it will be better for him financially to close the business and cut his losses now before he's on the hook for more.

He has tried to contact his insurance company-- but they have basically told him that they're not paying out for closures due to quarantine, and will not unless a state or federal agency forces them to.

”He has tried to get money through the CARES Act-- but while his application was processed, we know those funds are dry and it is uncertain as to whether or not there will be any sort of replenishment. It doesn't look like it…”

The reality is, reopening under the current strictures might alleviate some of his costs, but they won't come near covering them all. It doesn't make sense except maybe to pay down a little of the debt already owed and get out.

This is especially tragic because those of us who have frequented the store over the last two years have become much more than his customers. We are also his friends, and we are a community built by playing games and enjoying each other's company in a world where video games and distance had become a norm (now necessary, but not forever).

Colliers International has not tried to work any sort of plan together going forward with Andrew in order to keep him in business, and this seems especially short-sighted. If they are forcing these renters out, essentially, their own income will suffer long-term as the post-pandemic economy is not likely to be one that is kind to the prospect of opening up a new small business, especially not when the possibility of another shutdown still looms and a proven vaccine is not available. It seems to me, though in terms of business I am very much a member of the laity, that having some sort of income coming in from renters would be ideal, as opposed to empty storefronts generating no revenue at all.

I'm not sure what can be done, if anything. I'm not sure if your group has any sort of further agency in this regard aside from what I've already done myself. But I would ask, if not for the sake of Ironwood Games specifically, but for all businesses struggling under the weight of decisions like the one Andrew faces, if you can, to lend your support against lessors with practices like Colliers International of Reno. Perhaps lend your voice as an organization to the same agencies I have contacted.

In any respect, I thank you for your time and your consideration.

Signed, Morgan Faulkner

Letter Written in May 2020 and shared with Our Town Reno

A Reporter's Audio Diary on a New Deck of Cards for Reno

What’s the Real Story in Reno?

My name is Luke Keck, and for the last few months I’ve worked as a reporter for Our Town Reno.  I moved to Reno when I was 17 and fresh out of high school.  I’m 24 now, and I’m getting ready to finish grad school in the next few weeks.  I’ve spent seven years in the city, most of them around the University where I went to school, nestled in the suburban neighborhoods around Kings Row.  In summer 2019, I moved downtown, and the experience shocked me a little bit because I started to see how many people we’ve left behind as Reno grows and moves forward.

Everybody who lives in Reno knows the city is evolving, we’ve heard the speeches from politicians and developers about the new Reno we’re looking to build, and we’ve heard the talking points about housing inequality and homelessness and how it’s a problem that needs to be fixed.

And that’s the story we hear, but it’s not the real story.   The real stories aren’t told by numbers and statistics, they’re told by the people left without shelter in the shadows of luxury apartment buildings and giant offices, the people who can’t afford rent, the people who were put out on the street after the motel they lived in was torn down.

This photo was included as part of a series by Luke Keck on an empty Reno due to the COVID-19 shutdown.

How do We See the World Around Us?

The first story I wrote was about a homeless couple named Bill and Jaime.  They live in a tent by the railroad tracks, but they spend most of their time playing cards under the BELIEVE statue on the Truckee River.  

Jaime can’t work due to a disability, but Bill has a job. He makes just enough to make sure the two of them can eat and buy a few essentials, but he doesn’t make enough to afford an apartment in the city.  They’ve been on a list for a low-income apartment for over a year, he tells me, but every time they’ve asked about their status they’ve been told they’re nowhere near the top.

Working for Our Town Reno and meeting people like Bill and Jaime made me confront some harsh truths about my own way of seeing the world.  The more people I talked to on the streets, the more I saw how many of us are just one layoff or medical emergency away from being homeless ourselves.  I think it’s easy to put communities that are facing homelessness or poverty into a box, to say “Well if they just ‘Fill in the blank’ they wouldn’t be in this situation.”  It’s harder to realize that those people on the street corner or in a tent by the railroad tracks could very well be us.  I didn’t really realize that until I started working with Our Town Reno.

Reporting on Reno’s most vulnerable populations was tough at times, because I saw just how many people were stuck where they were, how many people were looking for ways to get back to work or find an apartment or even just find a meal for the day.  But what I also saw was how many people are helping, not because they’re paid to or because they think it makes them better people, but just because they care about their community.

Another story Luke Keck did was about community meals continuing despite the pandemic, which can be found here: http://www.ourtownreno.com/our-stories-1/2020/3/31/rise-still-helping-others-together-during-coronavirus-but-with-added-precautions

Staying Positive and Helping Out

For my final story, I interviewed Tabu McKnight, the owner of Tabu’s of Reno Barber Lounge.  With his shop shut down from the coronavirus pandemic, McKnight has no other option but to wait it out until things calm down and take on debt to stay afloat.  He was open with me about the anxiety and stress he was feeling, but what struck me was his positivity in light of all the challenges he was facing.

To me, people with attitudes like Tabu define Reno.  There’s no doubt the city has its struggles, but it’s a place full of people who keep pushing forward no matter what life throws at them.

I didn’t expect to write for Our Town Reno.  I didn’t plan to spend what will likely be my final months in Reno interviewing people without shelter, or small business owners who were struggling because the coronavirus closed their shops, or volunteers who made sure those in need could eat.  But I’m grateful that I did.

Reno’s most vulnerable people are just as much a part of this city as I am, and their voices deserve to be heard like everybody else.  Telling their stories was a privilege, and I would have never had the opportunity without Our Town Reno.

These last few months showed me how far our city still has to go when it comes to caring for our at-risk communities, but it also gave me the opportunity to see that despite how many problems Reno has, there are always people working to make it better.

Audio Diary by Luke Keck shared with Our Town Reno

Open or Closed? Mask or No Mask? Essential or Not Essential?

Just have some questions:

1. Last Sunday I was able to buy doughnuts by walking into the doughnut shop, with no mask.
a. I do not understand how doughnuts are essential, nor why I am allowed to walk in, mingle six feet from other customers, and not be wearing a mask. Isn't this putting elderly people at risk?

2. On 4/20 I was able to buy 10 tacos from a drive thru store.
a. I do not understand how tacos are essentials. Also, by not being at home wasn't I putting high risk people at a greater risk?

3. Yesterday, on my way to [a] home improvement store, I drove by [a] pet supplies store and saw full parking lot and people coming in and going out.
a. I do not understand why pet supplies are essential, nor why people could walk into the store. As I am often lectured to that we all need to stay at home so people do not die, are we not risking lives so animals can be saved at the expense of a child losing his father due to COVID-19?
b. Also do not understand why [a] large furniture store next to pet supply store was closed as it is non-essential. Don't I need furniture to live? Around the corner a electronic supply store was open, with curb pick up. Could I not pick up my furniture from the curb?

4. At the home improvement store, there were at least 100 persons in [the] store, with [a] line outside for more to get in. I saw people buying lots of lawn supplies, gardening tools, just as I was.
a. I do not understand how lawn and gardening supplies are essential and more important than the mother of five who has COVID-19 and in hospital.

5. Driving to and from my shopping trips, I observed that the car traffic on a Tuesday seemed to be more like a weekend. There were also mothers taking their babies for a stroll and lots of bike riders. Surely not all those drivers, mothers and bikers were going only to essential stores, getting what they needed and immediately going back home to self isolate.
a. I do not understand how so many people were out and about, with no spike in cases or deaths seem to occur with all this outside human activity.

6. I am now on my fourth day of being furloughed, and yesterday heard from our Governor that we are in "phase zero" of re-opening NV. For some reason that was not encouraging nor gave me a look at the path to recovery. I heard on radio that mayor of Elko wrote the Governor asking why his city can't be re-opened. The mayor made the point that hospitals in Elko are doing fine, not overwhelmed
a. I do not understand why the Gov. has such an all or nothing approach to the lockdown.
b. Is it too obvious to me that our Gov. should be aggressively looking at the parts of NV that can be opened up, such as Elko? Why is it all or nothing?

Our state leadership is failing us and is way over their heads in how to handle this pandemic. Do we really think these same elected officials who put us in this position will be able to see the economy through the near future? Will these officials be taking pay cuts or furloughs? They need to give us the information and let us, the citizens of Nevada make decisions about working and living our lives. Open up NV now!

Op-Ed by D. King shared via our Your Voice website form

Accountability and Homelessness, by Joyce Cowdin

Accountability, and does it have a place in the homeless conversation?

 During the last few weeks I have been reading quite a few posts centering around our homeless crisis, whether on Facebook or responding to stories by our local news affiliates.

 So far most of it has been pointing fingers, demonizing the opposition and of course blaming political parties.

 The one thing that no one seems to want to address is do we hold people accountable for their situation, or blame it all on a broken system.

 We all need to be held accountable for our actions, willing to at least in part accept responsibility for whatever choices we made that may have led us down that path.

What about Accountability and Safe Camping?

The other hot topic debated online has been safe camping spots. A great idea in theory, but a logistical nightmare to actually implement, with the lack of available land, funding and no definitive plan on how it would be structured.

Sure there are models that have been successful in other cities, but because of our unique demographics, [these] would not translate well here. As an example:The safe spots that were implemented in Eugene.

Even though they had the support of regional governments, including City and County, they lacked proper supervision, leaving control in the hands of the people using the properties. There were no outside agencies making sure that people were adhering to the rules and being held accountable for working towards more permanent housing, causing them to be shut down due to safety issues. 

Which poses the question of who if anybody would be overseeing the possible safe spots here.

Most agencies are already stretched thin as is from lack of funding. 

Attend Meetings, Find out about Existing Programs and Listen

 Finally, my advice to all interested parties is to start attending the Homeless Advisory Board meetings which have grown in attendance in the last few months.

It's a place to hear from those on the board as to what is being considered as well as a chance to offer solutions and be heard.

Also reach out to social service agencies and see how they are addressing the issue, such as the St. Vincent's Motel to Homes Program or the Salvation Army's sober living program.

 And keep having those conversations, but make sure you have all of the facts and remember the goal isn't to be the loudest voice in the room or you may just miss something important.

Citizen’s Forum Essay by Joyce Cowdin shared with Our Town Reno.

Who Does the City Council Work For? A Council Member Responds

Mr. Allen’s recent Op-Ed “Who Does the City Council Work For?” raises important points but oversimplifies the nature of both the problem and the solution.

I write in response as one member of the City Council and my views are purely my own. One of the things I have learned in the last year is that being on a deliberative body of people who have different ideas requires me to listen more and talk less. In addition, even though I want certain policies and ideas to come to fruition, I know that to make change we have to build coalitions. No one can solve these complex issues alone or in a vacuum.

Broadly, Mr. Allen has asked me to answer who I work for? Let me be abundantly clear, I work for the citizens of Reno -- all of them. I work for the ones who disagree with me. I work for people without regard to their economic situation, their religion, their sexuality, their gender identity, their immigration status, their party affiliation, race or ethnic identity. I work for residents, the unsheltered, and for developers. The subtext of Mr. Allen’s article is overly divisive and I don’t subscribe to that. Demonizing builders and developers will not improve our housing stock or stop people from wanting to move here. People who live and work here need places to live, eat, shop and recreate.

I observe also, that the Council can’t tell builders what to build (with very limited exceptions that are beyond my response) and what to charge. At best, in our current legal environment, we can encourage certain types of development – but we can’t make someone build if they don’t want to. Jacob’s Entertainment is investing 100’s of millions of dollars in Reno and I believe affordable housing is on the horizon from this group.

The Mayor’s 1000 homes in 120 days is not a “bust” for the folks who will be living in the 2500+ units that will be built! It is frustrating for folks to claim we “need to do something” but when we “do something” we aren’t doing what they think is the best solution.

Whether you believe it or not, national housing experts universally say that one of the solutions for our housing crisis is more housing starts. We should build more housing of every type. I hope (and I am working to make sure) that we attract builders who want to create affordable, low-income, mixed income projects. And, in fairness to the great work that has been done, we have much to be proud of including but not limited to Hope Springs Tiny Village, The Village on Sage Street, Willie J. Wynn Senior Affordable Housing Project, two Green Street projects in South and NW Reno, the Eddy House, NYEP, and Opportunity Village. There are more projects to be proud of and some that are not hyper-visible / tangible (i.e., rapid re-housing money, standing up a Tenants’ Advisory Board, funding legal clinics for tenants). We are working even if you don’t see it on a daily basis.

Safe Campground? I am all for it. But there are some who are opposed. We are working with regional stakeholders to see if this is a viable option. It probably won’t happen this winter. Nothing can be fast enough for unsheltered folks. Governments move tediously slow and I am frustrated by the pace; however, to find long term solutions we must build coalitions and involve all stakeholders.

Wages are admittedly stagnant nationally but there are limited things cities can do to address this critical issue. Our community was decimated during the last recession. Joblessness and foreclosures reached all-time highs.

Mr. Allen suggests that the City has sought to attract companies to Reno without adequately dealing with the indirect costs (housing, services, stagnant wages). This is really [a] State of Nevada issue. Reno has not “brought in big companies” as Mr. Allen’s piece suggests. The City indirectly supports companies who bring higher wages to Reno thru EDAWN but we have a very limited role in this type of economic development strategy. I understand from publicly available documents that the targeted average wage of new companies relocating to the area is approximately $26 an hour.

Response by Council Member Devon Reese Shared with Our Town Reno

Who Does the City Council Work For? An Op-Ed by Resident Mike Allen

(Note: The Opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the writer, Reno resident Mike Allen, pictured in bottom right of the photo montage above. If you’d like to be featured in our Citizen’s Forum, please contact us via Facebook or our website Contact form.)

For Residents or Developers?

Does the city council work for those living and working in Reno or developers? Recently in the news we have heard of the hotel project at the former Park Lane Mall (https://www.parklanelife.com/), as well as a new project Westlook Resort Living Apartments (in west Reno) where there use to be an artist community.

This project will include: swimming pool and clubhouse with a communal kitchen area, leasing offices, pet spa, conference room, yoga room and fitness center. Most assuredly it will be unaffordable to many who work in or near the new apartments.

We also learned of a non gaming, non smoking hotel next to a church in downtown Reno. An out of state company came in and has been tearing down motels and houses to make room for sculptures, a parking lot, and possibly a neon district? The University is buying land and houses to expand, while the cost of an education is rising.

A recent protest on the streets of Reno, denouncing runaway rents.

Where is the New Affordable Housing and Safe Camping Ground?

The Mayor’s 1000 homes in 120 days is a bust. “Only one of the housing projects being proposed is truly affordable — all the others will be market rate,” city Revitalization Manager Aric Jensen was quoted as saying in an AP article in January. A hotel gets remodelled into an overpriced motel charging up to $1,000 or more for a 250 square foot studio. We have seen an apartment go from renting studios for about $600 to now costing $1,195 for a 301 square foot studio.

All across the city, rents are rising. One recent story online had this information: “A recent study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition says you'd need to make $18.26 an hour in Nevada to afford a two bedroom unit. You would have to work 89 hours a week making minimum wage.”

We have a city that is tearing down homeless camps for safety, yet they do not offer a safe camping zone. Members of our community have brought up the idea of safe camping zones for the homeless. Homeless, for a small fee, could legally camp and have services centrally located to help, but instead the city tears down camps leaving people without their few possessions or any shelter.

The city has brought in some big companies, but doesn’t make those same big companies build affordable housing for their employees. The city has also approved some new housing communities, but not everyone working in Reno can afford 300-thousand dollars or more for a house. They city has also refused to allow people to build in-law units that could be rented out.

So, I will ask again who does the city council work for? Do they work for people living and working in Reno, or do they work for companies moving here to take advantage of our tax laws?

Op-Ed by Mike Allen Shared with the Our Town Reno Citizen’s Forum

Chris Seaborn, From Portland to Hollywood to Reno, Hoping to Finish His Novel

A Supportive Mother and Unpredictable Father Led Him To Theater

Christian Seaborn leans back with a contemplative smile on his face. His winter overcoat is draped over the back of his chair while an Irish cap rests gently atop his head. A man of short stature, he never let that stop him from becoming a Hollywood actor, writer, and producer. 

But that’s not to say his life hasn’t come without hardship. In fact, Seaborn understands all too well the struggles of those that find themselves in a financial crisis, compounded by the lack of affordable housing in many cities across the country. He has felt first-hand the meaning of the word “betrayal,” particularly when it comes from the ones you love most.

Yet with a twinkle in his eye, he reminisces about how his love for acting got started when he was young.

Like many mothers, his was supportive of his passion for theater and the arts. Growing up in a house of looming conflict due to what he describes as his father’s unpredictable and violent mental illness, psychomotor epilepsy, Nora Seaborn recognized theater not only as Seaborn’s coping mechanism, but his escape as well.

“I started doing theater for a couple of reasons,” Seaborn said. “Looking back on it now, it was a way to be out of the house and away from that situation.”

One song in particular, Seaborn recalls, was his absolute favorite to sing and dance around the house as a child. “Hello, Dolly,” by Louis Armstrong, with its cheerful melody, rhythmic string sound, and its brass chorus never failed to lift his spirits. That goes without mentioning the distinct and authoritative voice of Louis Armstrong himself. Even today, Seaborn’s love for that song permeates with nothing but fond memories.

Growing up in Portland and Singing with Louis Armstrong

Growing up in Portland, Oregon, his family didn’t necessarily have much. Yet, that didn’t stop his mother from orchestrating opportunities for Seaborn to feed his budding passion for the arts. When Seaborn was eight years old in July of 1965, Louis Armstrong came to Portland for a free concert. Recognizing an opportunity, Nora took the young Seaborn to see Armstrong perform.

As any eight year old confronted by their idol would, Seaborn was bubbling with excitement at the opportunity to witness Armstrong play. The day of the show was a blistering 98 degrees and despite the heat at this point in Armstrong’s aging life, the famed musician played all of his popular hits throughout the show. When his performance concluded the crowd erupted in approval; that is, everyone except the eight year old Seaborn. Armstrong had teased “Hello, Dolly” at the start of the performance, but never played the song in its entirety. 

Seaborn’s disappointment, however, was short-lived as Armstrong soon came back on stage to perform “Hello, Dolly” as his encore. Seaborn was ecstatic.

Satisfied with the encore performance, the young Seaborn and his mother prepared to leave. But suddenly, Nora stopped and beckoned him to wait. She walked over and spoke to a young security guard near the backstage curtain, who then disappeared backstage. 

“I have no idea what cockamamie story she told him,” Seaborn laughs. “But [the security guard] comes back out two minutes later and motions me to come in. So pulling those curtains aside, there were these stairs in the back of the stage and here's Louis Armstrong sitting on the steps, still holding his trumpet from the show.” 

Louis Armstrong offered to play “Hello, Dolly” for the starstruck young Seaborn, but only on one condition: if Seaborn would sing the lyrics himself. Despite singing and dancing to the song for months at a time, Seaborn became tongue-tied and was unable to sing for Armstrong as he played the song for him. Even Armstrong’s banjo player soon joined in, playing his part to prod young Seaborn to sing. Yet, it wasn’t until about a third of the way through the song that Seaborn finally mustered his strength and started singing with his idol, forever solidifying his love for “Hello, Dolly.”

Another Hello Dolly Encounter

Although that wasn’t the end of the story for Seaborn and “Hello, Dolly.”

Two years later at ten years old, Seaborn learned of a Broadway Musical called Hello, Dolly, starring Ginger Rogers. It was coming to Portland and like any wishful young child, Seaborn begged his mother to take him. But due to their financial circumstances, his mother simply couldn’t afford tickets, leaving Seaborn dejected.

“So about a week passes and I get home from school and [my mother] goes, ‘There's something on your bed,’” Seaborn explained. “There was an envelope with a single ticket for the matinee performance.”

Once again, his mother had taken matters into her own hands to feed her son’s growing passions. The ticket didn’t come without stipulations, however, as Nora was still cautious of her son being downtown by himself at such a young age. So she gave Seaborn his ticket with explicit instructions: under no circumstances is he to talk to or follow any strangers anywhere, whatsoever. Seaborn agreed, not wanting to disappoint his mother.

On the day of the show, he was giddy with excitement as he took his seat beside the aisle. Before the performance started, however, something unusual happened. An usher approached Seaborn and invited him backstage to meet Ginger Rogers at the intermission, per Rogers’ request. Not intending to disobey his mother’s strict instructions not to talk to or follow any strangers, Seaborn declined. The same usher then returned at the intermission, giving Seaborn a handwritten from Rogers wishing him well.

“Now obviously my mother has set all this up,” Seaborn reflected, a lighthearted smile on his face. “So when I got home after the show she goes, ‘Well, how was the show? Anything special happen?’”

“I told her, ‘No, not really.’” Seaborn said. “‘But an usher asked me to go back and meet Ginger Rogers. But I told him my mother said don't go anywhere with any strangers.’ She was like, ‘Oh God, I'm never telling you anything again for the rest of your life!’”

Seaborn soon got involved in theater himself, acting and performing in professional plays in Portland. Acting had not only become his passion, but continued to foster his escape from a troubled life at home. By the time he graduated high school, he had a resume of nearly 25 productions. Then after a brief stint at the University of Portland, he decided it was time to move to Los Angeles to try and make a name for himself there. 

Getting a Shot with Rhoda

Yet soon after arriving, he realized that any young actor trying to make it in Hollywood needs two things: a Screen Actors Guild Membership and an agent. Seaborn consequently found himself in the office of Freida Granite, who at that point had been an agent in Hollywood for nearly 50 years. Upon entering the room, however, Granite immediately dismissed Seaborn as unsuitable for an acting career. 

“And I said ‘Excuse me,’” Seaborn explained. “‘You don’t even know anything about me or anything I've ever done.’ She listened to my spiel for about two minutes and then goes, ‘Damn, you've got gumption. Okay, I'll sign you.’”

Just like that, Seaborn had an agent in Hollywood. Granite got him a job delivering resumes and casting submissions to all the directors in town. It was a way for him to meet all the prominent directors without being too forward. The first delivery he made was to Lori Openden, who at the time was a casting director with Mary Tyler Moore Entertainment’s (MTM), show Rhoda. 

“[Openden] tells me, “You have a really unique look about you,’” Seaborn said. “A lot of people have told me because of my size I’m very unique or memorable. But I never considered myself [unique] in that way.”

So Seaborn sought additional means to ensure all the casting directors he was meeting would remember him. As an avid Charlie Brown fan, he started sending Peanuts-themed Hallmark cards to casting directors at every holiday. Then in early January of 1977, he received a call from Openden, the first casting director he had met. 

“She called me and goes, ‘Are you interested in being on an episode of Rhoda? It's what we call a featured part so there's no dialogue, but it will get you a Screen Actors Guild Card.’” Seaborn explained. “I agreed and then she says, ‘There is a hitch: Do not ever send me any more Peanuts cards for any more holidays.’”

The Peanuts holiday card strategy had finally served its purpose, so Seaborn scratched Openden’s name off his card list. 

The scene Seaborn was to be featured for was as the main character Rhoda’s prom date. Valerie Harper, the actress who played the role of Rhoda, was significantly taller than Seaborn dressed in his 1950s-era cumberbun and tuxedo costume. Yet, they filmed a dancing scene together, the contrast in height providing a moment of comic relief for everyone at the shoot. A technician at the scene was particularly amused, grabbing a Polaroid camera to document the two of them in-costume together after the shoot. When Seaborn finished his scene, he simply got out of costume and returned home. The scene aired in an episode a month later and that was it for Seaborn, or so he thought.

Getting a Break with WKRP Show but Setbacks Begin

By now Openden had taken a particular interest in finding Seaborn work as an actor, forming a professional relationship that isn’t necessarily commonplace in Hollywood. She offered him a role as a rehearsal “stand-in” for a ten-year-old character on the show WKRP, a popular sit-com on CBS from 1978-82. Initially Seaborn was reluctant to take it, recognizing that people of his short stature can get pigeon-hold solely into stand-in roles. But Openden encouraged him to take the role seriously, as the stand-in role was an opportunity for him to showcase to the directors his ability to act.

So that’s what he did. As Seaborn performed his stand-in role throughout the rehearsals, it didn’t take long for people to take notice. Fellow actors on the show began approaching him, telling him that Hugh Wilson, creator and executive producer of the WKRP series, had even taken notice of Seaborn’s ability. As the shoot for the final episodes of the 1978 season wrapped, Wilson himself finally approached Seaborn, offering to write-in a full-time role for him as a character in the series. Seaborn agreed immediately.

A few months later when it was announced that WKRP was picked up for another season on CBS, Seaborn sent a note to Wilson both congratulating him. The note also, however, was meant to serve as a subtle reminder of Wilson’s offer at the end of the last season. Three weeks later Seaborn was called in to provide input for the character they were writing into the show for him, a rare opportunity in Hollywood.

Then at the script-reading a few weeks later, something unusual happened. In the middle of the script-reading, a technician called out from the rafters of the studio, interrupting the reading when he saw Seaborn. Rushing down the rafters to the table, he presented Seaborn the Polaroid picture of him and Valerie Harper from the set on Rhoda a few years prior. 

Looking back now, Seaborn isn’t surprised something like that would happen at Mary Tyler Moore Entertainment. 

“Pretty much anybody who was on MTM shows or was connected with that company was really special,” Seaborn said. “Because Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker set that bar of hiring people they wanted around. They wanted it to be a family atmosphere and they strove to make that happen.”

Things were going well for Seaborn up until that point when in 1981, disaster first struck. His paternal grandmother had passed away. Seaborn wasn’t necessarily close with his grandmother, but in passing she had left an estate and trust fund designated in name to Seaborn’s mother, Nora, due to the unpredictable nature of his father’s illness. As part of the trust bestowed to his family were four valuable rings, three of which that had been appraised at $1500. Yet the bank was reluctant to give up the rings despite his family’s entitlement to it.

Coincidentally, at the same time the Screen Actors’ Guild strike and Emmy-award boycott started. When the strike first started, executive producer of WKRP Hugh Wilson had contacted Seaborn (despite union strike restrictions) to tell him that once the strike was over, they would be continuing his character’s role in the series. 

But finding himself unemployed in the meantime, Seaborn was in desperate need of money. So he threatened the bank with a lawsuit to exercise his right to entitlement of the rings. 

Family Inheritance Problems and Going MIA

It was also at this time Seaborn was first confronted with the publicity of being a Hollywood actor. Before the beginning of the trial, the judge addressed Seaborn directly, “Before we get started, I just want to make it clear that I thought you were very good on television last night.”

Eventually, the bank finally conceded at the trial, requesting that all the beneficiaries of the trust to come to Seattle where the rings were being held so they could close the trust and receive the rings. So Seaborn, his brother Charles, his mother, and father went to Seattle to finalize the deal. But due to his father’s psychomotor epilepsy, it was understood within the Seaborn family that his mother Nora would speak for his father on official matters, particularly given her additional background as a lawyer. 

Seaborn had spent the last of his money getting up to Seattle from LA for the deal. Before arriving, he had come to a mutual agreement with his mother and brother that they would divide the rings evenly among themselves. Seaborn intended to appraise and sell his ring to a dealer in Seattle, so he could have enough money to get back to LA and survive until the end of the strike until WKRP could start up again. But after the trust was closed and his brother Charles took possession of the rings, the family deal was suddenly off. Unbeknownst to Seaborn, his mother had instructed Charles not to give Seaborn his ring to ensure that under no circumstances the rings would be sold.

“I had a nervous breakdown,” Seaborn said of the betrayal. “I just never saw that coming from these two people that I survived my dad's illness and attacks with. I trusted them.”

Consequently, Seaborn returned to Portland with his family and became stuck there, unable to get back to LA. He got a job working for a local cable company, writing and producing commercials for them. It wasn’t until three years later, in 1984, that he had finally saved up enough money to make it back to LA. When he arrived, he found out that his apartment and everything in it had been sold at a Sheriff’s auction in the years he had been away. 

Luckily, though, he still had a phone book with the names and numbers of the people he had worked with at WKRP, even though the show had by then gone off the air. So he called up one of the show’s writers, Dan Guntzelman, to meet him for a cup of coffee. 

“[Guntzelman] goes to me, ‘Where the hell have you been?’” Seaborn explained. “‘In October and November of 1981 we spent weeks looking for you. We had six more episodes written for [your] character and nobody had any idea where you were.”

Having a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity squandered, Seaborn became further devastated by his family’s betrayal over the rings. For while he was stranded in Portland for all those years, he missed WKRP’s return to production after the strike ended.

To make matters worse, by then Mary Tyler Moore Entertainment shut down and shuttered its doors, coinciding with the divorce of Mary Tyler Moore and Grant Tinker. Tinker went on to become Chairman and CEO of NBC Entertainment, taking Seaborn’s agent Lori Openden with him as the Senior Vice President of Talent, a position she would hold for the next 17 years. 

“I think it's a good prospect that based on the personal interest [Openden] had taken in my career, that I probably would have had some work on a few NBC shows during that period,” Seaborn reflected. 

Moving to Reno in the Late 1980s

By Thanksgiving week in 1987, Seaborn had moved to Reno, Nevada. He was working as a banquet set person at The Nugget and battling bouts of depression, stemming from his family’s betrayal and the subsequent missed opportunities in Hollywood. Eventually, his fight with depression ended him up in Nevada Mental Health Institute.

“Are you familiar with the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?” Seaborn asked. “This facility looked very much like something right out of that. I had never been around a mental health facility before, but this was not a good introduction to those.”

In order to get released from Nevada Mental Health, however, a patient must receive clearance from the facility’s only doctor. But to exacerbate the situation, when Seaborn went to the doctor’s office, he found half-filled cardboard boxes stacked and scattered across the floor. The facility’s only doctor had just resigned; and Seaborn was told it may take well into the following year before they get another one.

“I'm not crazy, I was just depressed,” Seaborn explained. “So I got on the phone with my mother and said, ‘You caused this problem in 1981, you’re a lawyer so figure a way to get me out of here.’”

When Nora utilized her law connections, Seaborn’s circumstances made it all the way to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada, who in turn contacted the director of Nevada Mental Health. They agreed to release Seaborn, but only if a family member would pick him up. His brother Charles, in New Mexico for the holiday, then came to pick him up on Thanksgiving Day, a holiday that Seaborn consequently has never enjoyed since.

It was at this point, however, that Seaborn’s relationship with the city of Reno really began. In particular, a local psychologist named Martha Nims took a measured interest in Seaborn’s well-being. Although she was in her seventies and semi-retired at the time, she agreed to continue meeting with Seaborn even after his medical insurance no longer covered it. She became someone Seaborn could rely on when he needed her, no matter the time of day or night. 

Back to Acting in the Theater and Commercials

Throughout the 1990s, Seaborn began his return to theater. The Reno Little Theater at the time was putting on a production called Wild Oats. Although he was initially seeking only to volunteer with the production staff, Seaborn ended up having a part in the performance itself. Nims also made a particular effort to support Seaborn’s return to acting, encouraging him to apply for paid positions. Encouraged, Seaborn landed a job with Channel Two’s morning show, a job he held for the next six months. 

“In Martha's head, all of it was [about] rebuilding my confidence,” Seaborn said. “I didn't really see it [that way] at the time, but I can see it now looking back because I then decided I was going to go back to LA.”

When he eventually moved back to LA in the early 2000s, Seaborn came in contact with an agent that found a potential acting gig for him in a commercial series. Recognizing the financial benefits of a commercial series, Seaborn jumped at the opportunity. The audition for the role came with one stipulation, however, in that Seaborn needed to have a passport. Although he didn’t one at the time, he knew that when an opportunity in this industry presents itself you must do whatever you can to make it happen. So when he received a call-back days after the audition, he found out he was selected for the part and was needed in London, England by the following week to shoot.  

“When they say series of commercials, that immediately means lots of money because it's paid on residuals of how many times [the commercial] airs,” Seaborn explained. “But the timing of all this was like right after 9-11, so I had to go down to the federal building [to get a passport] where they were on a high state of alert for everybody.”

Despite the challenges, Seaborn managed to get a passport and made it to London in time to shoot four commercials selling a frozen pizza product as a waiter. The directors were pleased with how it went and wanted Seaborn to return a few months later to be photographed for billboard advertisements for the product, as well as shoot thirteen additional commercials that had already been written. Unfortunately for Seaborn, however, politics soon got in the way.

“[The directors] told me that America was not very popular in Britain at that point because President Bush was trying to wrap Britain up into sending troops to the Middle East,” Seaborn said. “And they said, ‘We just don't want an American promoting a product right now.’”

Since then, Seaborn has continued his involvement with acting, even being featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Subway a couple of years ago. Every few months, he has served as a writer for the United States Bowling Congress, a job that recently sent him to Wichita, Kansas and may send him to Las Vegas sometime this year. Currently, Seaborn is contemplating a return to Hollywood after he completes a novel he is working on. But he’s not in a particular rush to get there, understanding the difficulty of making it big in Hollywood. 

“Forty percent of being a successful actor is based on talent,” Seaborn said. “Another forty percent is based on who you know and the final twenty percent is just based on dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time. So if one really wants to go [to Hollywood] for the big time, then one should have no delusions about how it works.”

So what ever happened to the rings his mother kept from him?

In 1982, Nora Seaborn fell ill with emphysema and meningitis, an illness she battled for the next ten years. When she checked into the hospital for what would be the final time, in 1992, she had made clear to everyone on the hospital staff that she wanted to see Seaborn. After some prodding from his father and brother, Seaborn decided to visit her on her 76th birthday. While on her deathbed, she apologized for not giving Seaborn his ring like they had originally agreed, confessing she didn’t know what made her do it. At the time, Seaborn didn’t have any ideas either why she would’ve kept a ring from him. But looking back now, the best he can do is speculate. 

“My mother was a teenager during the Great Depression,” Seaborn explained. “There was a Recession going on in 1981 [at the same time they closed the trust and received the rings], so I think she was afraid that having experienced the Great Depression that when we have things of value we need to hold on to them.”

Seaborn knew, however, that his mother’s death would not mend the broken relationship between him and his brother, Charles. In his mind, there was no way that he was going to put himself in a situation where he has to deal with his brother over the ownership of the four rings.

“So I stormed into [my mother’s] house and went up the stairs with one mission: find the rings and take all four of them,” Seaborn said. “She would not tell me [where the rings were]. So I literally tore the room apart, pulling out drawers and dumping contents on the floor. Finally, I found them in a little brown jewelry bag, scotch-taped to the back of the drawer.”

Seaborn then sold all four rings for a fraction of what they were worth. The way he saw it, it was too late to save his life with the money to be made from them, so his only real goal was that his brother would never have any of them. 

https://www.montereyherald.com/2013/05/07/convicted-felon-charles-seaborn-now-a-fugitive-reportedly-seen-in-monterey/

A Brother’s Downfall and Dealing with his own Housing Problems

A successful marine biologist and underwater photographer in his own right, Charles had felt that since their mother protected him and Seaborn from their father’s violence all those years they were growing up, that if Nora wanted to keep the rings, she deserved to. So at the time of the initial jewelry exchange, he had defended his mother’s decision to withhold a ring from Seaborn. 

Yet as time went on and despite all his career success, Charles became a closet alcoholic. In 2007, he was convicted and imprisoned for vehicular manslaughter after striking and killing a bicyclist while driving drunk. Sentenced to five years, he served 27 months before being released on parole in 2011. Then on New Years Eve of 2012, he was pulled over on suspicion of drunk-driving and since he violated his parole, was charged with felonious drunk-driving. When he failed to appear at court, a search warrant went out for his arrest. 

Around this time Seaborn, after a brief stint of homelessness, had found a place living at Carvel Park Apartments in Reno. When the Reno Police came knocking on his door, guns drawn searching for his fugitive brother, Seaborn didn’t appreciate the intrusion. A few weeks later, he received a call from the California bondsman working on his brother’s case. They had found Charles’s cell phone next to body parts in the water in San Francisco and asked if Seaborn was willing to do a DNA test to confirm the body was Charles’s.

“I said ‘No,’” Seaborn said. “Because my brother died for me in 1981.”

It was assumed and thus declared that the body parts found with the cell phone were Charles’s, but to this day no one knows for sure.

Sitting where he is in Reno today, despite the difficulties and struggles his own life has brought him, Seaborn understands the plight of the area’s homeless. Growing up in a household with a violent father, young Seaborn would escape his father’s violent episodes with his mother and brother by staying in area motels. When he struggled to find housing in Reno ten years ago, he used to be able to find a hotel for $80-$90 a night. Today, to exacerbate the fact that many of Reno’s motels are being knocked down, many of the same ones he used to stay at are now going for at least $300 a night. If his family had to escape his father’s violence today, staying at motels likely would not have been a possibility.

“This is what really saddens me because I know firsthand that when my brother and I were children, we spent time living out of motels while we ran away from him to survive,” Seaborn said. “So I understand the mother who's trying to make ends meet, living in a motel with her two kids or whatever, but there's got to be a way to make situations better for those people because kids should not be brought up living in and out of motels.”

Seaborn is confident, however, that Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve has the city’s best intentions at heart. 

Working on His Novel Believe

In the meantime, he’s focusing on his current goal of writing his fiction novel, Believe. The story is about a boy’s internal struggles with survivor’s guilt after he and his father are involved in a car accident, during which the father is killed saving his son’s life. The story is set in Reno, Nevada, a city that now holds a special place in Seaborn’s heart.

“I appreciate Reno because it turned out to be a really good, supportive community for me,” Seaborn said. “So that’s why I decided to set this story in Reno. I know it well.”

So today you may find Seaborn in the Downtown Reno Public Library working on his novel. It’s a story he hopes will inspire others going through difficult times, much like the ones he had to endure himself. 

“[It might] sound really egotistical that I'm hoping to inspire somebody else, but that’s the goal,” Seaborn said. “Theoretically, it's supposed to be inspiring that this kid figures out a way to survive after this tragedy that he blames himself for. So I hope it will be an inspiring story.”

Seaborn’s inspiration for the novel was to find a way to give back to the city that has given him so much, particularly at some of the most difficult times of his life. The way he sees it, it’s the least he can do.

He hopes to have the novel finished by the end of this year. 

Share Your Story reporting by Scott King for Our Town Reno

Missing Documents and a House's Resistance in Question

The Little House that Could or Couldn’t Anymore?

At one point, while we looked into the media and City Council fawned over Jacobs Entertainment expansion in downtown Reno, we noticed an Instagram post heralding the continued existence of a little house, in the middle of now bulldozed motels turned into parking lots or staging grounds for possibly out of place Burning Man art.

“Giant shout out to the owner of this cute Lil gal, one of the last remaining actual houses in downtown. 7 motels torn down around it. It now stands completely alone,” the Instagram post cheered on to the resistance. “The owner is asking 5 million, refuses to negotiate, the demolition guy working next door said. Pretty hilarious stuff. It's for lease, too. If I had a shotgun and a rocking chair i'd take it. Stay off my lawn, Jacobs Bullshit Gentrification Co….” it went on, none of which we could verify ourselves.

With the help of an in town activist who knows his way around public information websites, a few months ago, though, we saw that there was an official letter with an option to sell the “cute lil’ gal” to a Jacobs Entertainment related company called Reno Property Manager LLC. Several days ago, wanting to reinvestigate the matter, we found the document listing the option to sell was no longer on the Washoe County Assessor’s Office website.

We called someone in the office who said it’s unheard of for a document to be on the website and then removed. There are mysteries from time to time. What is this one about?

Our Town Reno gets criticized for our style of reporting which includes citizen’s contributions, giving voice to just one person who is struggling as the basis of a micro story, pointing to signs or trends we find worrisome, or taking a picture and asking people what they think of it. This is also crowdsourcing, as people collectively usually know much more than any single reporter would. It’s also raising potential problems in our community, and sometimes not knowing the answer, but at least indicating to others something fishy might be taking place.

Comment collected from Instagram with original photography and research by the Our Town Reno reporting team

Landlords, This is What Happens When the Rent is Too High

Let’s Do the Math

Landlords, this is what happens when rent is too high. This could happen to anyone, and it could very well be the homeowners’ greediness that causes all this havoc.

Okay, let’s set the scene. You’re a single parent with a child. You work full time for $14 [an hour]. You bring home roughly $800 per paycheck. Your bills: $1000 rent, $150 water/sewer, $250 car payment, $150 car insurance.

So let’s do the math. You bring home about $1600 a month and your bills average about $1550, give or take. You’re making it, but barely. (This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc; nor does it include child support).

Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600. (* because you, Slum Lord, will not winterize this house*) How do you pay that? To put it simply, you don’t. Because you can’t. So your power gets shut off. But you know what your lease says? It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated. So now you’re in court, crying to a judge who doesn’t care, and you have 10 days to get out.

Well, you’re in luck! Because you found somewhere with three days to spare and it’s only $650 a month! But to get in, you have to pass a background and credit check. Which you can’t, because you just got evicted. You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $2300 to move in, after paying the deposit and first month’s rent.

Illustration of a recent Our Town Reno photo in downtown Reno.

Living in Your Car and then Losing Your Child and Your Job

Time’s up! Landlord shows up at 7 am with the police and changed your locks. So now you’re living in your car with your seven year old daughter and everything you need to get by. You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you, so you could only take what would fit in your backseat.

You pay to shower at local truck stops and eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave. Someone sees you and your daughter living like this and calls CPS; guess what happens next? They remove your child from your care. As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too, because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company.”

So now, you apply for an apartment with the region, where the waiting list is three to seven years. Then you go into Walmart to put in an application. When you get back to your car, you see that your back window has been smashed and someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December, and really cold, and now you have damage to your only shelter. You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000 AND they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now “high risk.” You call the homeless shelter as a last resort.....and all their beds are full.

An illustration of an Our Town Reno photo from 4th street.

Do you get the point?

I’ll stop here, because I think you get the point. The people we work with everyday are these people. WE ARE THESE PEOPLE. We are all so close to homelessness and don’t even realize it. All it takes is one unexpected bill, one fender bender, one lay-off, one house fire, etc.

Instead of talking trash about people who are poor or homeless or need assistance, why don’t you try being thankful that you’re not in their shoes... yet.

This is about staying humble and being kind. BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE❤

Essay by Monica Mo Plummer shared via Facebook