The local Republican Central Committee held its regular meeting last week and heard from residents of District 3 who are interested in filling Greg Koenig’s County Commission seat once he is sworn into his assembly seat and resigns his commission seat.
Koenig defeated Vida Keller in the primary election for Assembly District 38, the seat formerly held by Dr. Robin Titus who was elected to Senate District 17, this June. With no Democrat in the general election, Koenig will appear on the ballot and will not be officially elected until the general election on November 8.
Historically, vacancies on the county commission have been filled by the governor after receiving a nomination from the local Central Committee. The Central Committee has in the past held a public process, announcing the vacancy and advertising the opening for 30 days before holding interviews with all interested candidates. See the previous story at www.thefallonpost.org/news/4777, filling-a-vacated-county-commission-seat.
According to both the Churchill County Clerk and the Secretary of State in conversations this June, any Republican who lives in District 3 interested in filling the empty seat can apply directly to the Governor for consideration through a website at https://gov.nv.gov/board/home_board when the position opens.
The local party established their rules for making the selection at the July meeting, revising, and presenting them to attendees at last week’s meeting. There were 30 official committee members in attendance, eligible to cast their vote along with several former members who had not fulfilled
the requirements to vote and were not allowed to participate.
Pete Olsen, current Commission Chairman reported that he had spoken to the Governor’s new Chief of Staff, Yvanna Cancela regarding the process and what kind of assurances the county could expect that the governor would take the recommendation of the central committee. “There’s been a little back and forth over what the process is, but it comes down to it’s a pure governor appointment. Tradition has been that the governor would replace the person from the party that holds the seat already. We had a video conference with Cancela and we got good assurances that they really wanted a local process whatever Churchill County Republicans decided they would be more than happy to take recommendations of this group.” He said there were a couple of caveats to that; they want one person picked as the first choice, but they do want three choices. “Like any governor appointment, you put your name in, the governor’s staff goes through and checks out your background and if there’s nothing in there that’s embarrassing to the governor they go ahead, and your name would be put forward.”
Four candidates put their names forward at the meeting, Bus Scharmann who served on the county commission for eight years from 2012 to 2020, Rusty Jardine who recently retired as General Manager of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, Cathy Coval a member of the Central Committee, and Gary Smith who Chairs the Central Committee.
Each of the four candidates spoke for three minutes and answered questions for two minutes.
Bus Scharmann worked at Western Nevada College for 35 years and served as the interim Superintendent for the Churchill County School District for one year. He said when he lost his third term as commissioner where he served in District 1, he was surprised. He and his wife decided to downsize and moved to a smaller house in District 3. “We need stability on the commission,” he said, “we need maturity on that board.” He also talked about the importance of water for the community, and the Navy modernization that he said is very important. “The Navy doesn’t listen,” he said. “We worked closely with Congressman Amodei and (Senator) Catherine Cortez-Masto who have been very helpful in this process.”
Rusty Jardine said he has a career in public service, serving with several district attorneys in Northern Nevada before coming to Fallon where he worked for Art Mallory in the Churchill DA office. He had been at TCID for 12 years before his retirement this year and understands the complexity and the importance of water to the community and the local economy.
Cathy Coval said she has lived in Fallon for 17 years and has volunteered on the scholarship committee, building the float for the Labor Day Parade, and has served as the convention recorder, and a delegate to the State Republican meetings. “I feel like we need a new look, and I can bring a feminine point of view to the commission.”
Gary Smith threw his hat in the ring after the process machinations, saying he is compulsive about preparing and planning. He spoke about his 32 years with the Department of Defense and five years in law enforcement, ending his career as a GS 13. Smith is a Mason and has volunteered with the Fallon Theatre, and Stillwater Firearms. He said his work on the central committee should demonstrate his abilities, “You judge my work over the past three-and-a-half years.” He answered a question about high-density housing saying, “Do I like it no, but is it necessary, yes. There is less demand on water than individual housing. No one wants it next to them.”
With Olsen termed out and being followed by Myles Getto, Justin Heath being elected two years ago, and now Koenig vacating his seat, the commission is young and relatively inexperienced, having lost much of the institutional knowledge gained over the years. Filling the third seat on the commission will be an important event for the county once Koenig resigns.
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