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CANDIDATE FOR WASHOE COUNTY COMMISSION District 4 Sparks—Spanish Springs Warm Springs/Palomino Valley Pyramid Lake—Nixon Wadsworth—East Truckee Canyon |
 Schmidt concerned about urban sprawl Click here for the article from the Sparks Tribune, June 1st 2008 |
In general response to all of his comments and allegations let me say that most of them are either untrue, taken out of context, misleading because they are incomplete, or inconsequential and not relevant. It is true that I was a principle in a restaurant/night club in Sunnyvale California named the Odyssey Room in the 60's and 70's. It’s lease ran out in the 80's and we closed its doors after 21 years. It was a successful popular, reputable night spot for those 21 years and featured many famous artists of the day such as Bo Diddley, Leon Russel, Van Morrison, Tower of Power, Eddie Money, B.J. Thomas, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Elvin Bishop, Edgar Winter, and John Lee Hooker, just to nane a few. It received rave reviews from dozen of media sources and is a significant part of Bay Area rock and roll history. I am still friends with many of the musicians I met and grew to know during that time period.. When it closed it had no outstanding tax or other liens nor any outstanding bills for garbage or home depot. I did graduate from San Jose State University in 1966 with a BA in Economics and Minor Fields of Study in Computer Sciences and Business Management. I went on to do a year of graduate work at the University of California in Real Estate and also did post graduate studies in Computer Sciences. I financed and paid for my college education myself without borrowed funds by working in Computer Operations and System Programming at Lockheed Missile and Space Division in Sunnyvale from 1961 through 1966. I was the youngest college graduate ever to receive a 5-Year Pin from Lockheed. I Worked at Mellonics Division of Litton Industries from 1966 through 1968 in charge of all of the Commercial Business Systems in house functions including accounts receivable and payable and payroll. I left that job in 1968 to partner the opening of the Odyssey Room and I have been in business for myself ever since. I have been an active functioning Economist over the last half century and I have owned and operated a variety of successful businesses. Other business experience I have had over the last five decades include Wholesale and Retail Office Supplies Distribution, Farming, Ranching, Nut Roasting and Confections Processing and Distributions, Video Game and Vending Machine Routes, other Restaurant Operations (The O. K. Corral, The Harvest Table, Fay’s Red Sleigh Café, Frenches’), Antique Sales, Tourist Resort Operations, Commercial Stables, Real Estate Management, and Concert Productions. I purchased the then Sundance Lodge on the Mt. Rose Highway in 1973 and renamed it five years later the Reindeer Lodge. While the business has had limited operations since my home burned down five years ago that is a result of my personal decision to pursue other activities. Prior to that it was a bustling successful business that included Restaurant operations, rooms rentals, special events and parties, live music And entertainment, snowmobile rentals , various artist and crafts activities, horseback riding, among other resort activities. In the early 90's The Reindeer Lodge was host to the "Special" Winter Olympics for Northern Nevada. It is the current home for the Mt. Rose Historical Society. I no longer intend to operate the business and will place the real property on the market next summer. I hope to preserve the Lodge Building itself as home for the Historical Society. In the early 1980's I was appointed to the California Pistachio Commission to fill a vacancy for one year and was subsequently elected to an additional four year term. I was the only non-California resident ever to be appointed or elected to the California Pistachio Commission. During my tenure on the Commission I had occasion to perform Public Relations work in Washington D.C. for the Pistachio Commission with various Senators and Congresspersons. Additionally in 1985 I was invited by them Senator Pete Wilson to a private event at his Los Angeles Office to meet Richard Ling, the newly appointed Secretary of Agriculture by President Reagan. Richard Ling was the first Secretary of Agriculture to be appointed from the State of California. I do have a long standing disputed account for alleged garbage service with Waste Management. Waste Management continues to send out bills for property I own at 305 Nielsen Road in the Pleasant Valley area of the County. I had a home at that address which was completely destroyed in the Andrew Lane Fire five years ago and has never been rebuilt. No one has lived on the property since the home was destroyed by fire, but Waste Management, in spite of dozens of written and verbal notices, to this day continue to bill for garbage pick service to that address which has no residence and receives no service. In any event this disputed account is inconsequential and/or irrelevant. If anything, this demonstrates that I will, and do, refuse to pay for services not rendered. In light of Larkin’s numerous approvals as Chair of the County Commission of non existent and/or fraudulent water rights potentially totaling over 6 million dollars (the Paul Orphan embezzlement), I represent a level of executive expertise that the County Commission desperately needs. As far as allegations of "thousands of Dollars of Tax Liens" I believe that I have no such liens at this time. I have had disputed property taxes allegedly owed in the past. I have appealed my Nevada Property Taxes many times in the past and received relief and/or adjustment in virtually every instance. Nevada’s Property Tax Law is dysfunctional and historically mis interpreted and misapplied by the County Assessors Office. Having been in a variety of businesses for five decades I have had numerous disputes with abusive government agents and agencies including but not limited to various taxing authorities. Cumulatively over five decades one could probably say that I may have had thousands of dollars of "disputed" tax "liens" that have long since been "settled" and paid. When my home burned down five years ago I lost all of my personal and business records and subsequently I was late and/or applied for extensions on some of my tax and other informational business and personal filings. It has been difficult reconstructing all the necessary records and files and I will never be able to completely do so. Virtually all my taxes disputed or otherwise are now current but I did have to pay some penalties and interest. Any accounts that are still ongoing are incidental and inconsequential to my candidacy for County Commission. I did serve four years on the Board of Equalization from 2003 through 2007. Prior to my service on the BOE, it was considered by virtually everyone that appeared before it as an abusive Board that was nothing more than a rubber stamp for an equally abusive Assessors Office. After my first two years on the BOE I was credited with changing its reputation and indeed the factual process to one of a fair and impartial citizens review panel for property tax issues. I received a commendation from the County in 2005 for my service on the Board of Equalization. During my four years on the BOE, the Countyand I received hundred of letters from persons who had appeared before the BOE that lauded my competence, preparedness, knowledge of the law, and objectivity on the Board. In 2007, Commissioners Larkin, Weber, and Humke, as well as District Attorney Gammick tried to "censure" me on the Board claiming I was prejudice against the DA’s Office because I disagreed with the Assessors’s and the DA’s position on a major issue in regards to the current property tax law. The Honorable Judge Adams in Department 6 of the District Court in essence eventually "censured" Larkin, Weber, Humke, and Richard Gamick when he opined and ordered that it was they who had acted without legal authority and not me. Subsequent to that Order against Larkin Weber, Humke, and Gammick the Nevada Supreme Court subsequently twice opined and ordered that on the particular matter of tax law that had been at issue that I was correct and District Attorney Gamick as well as Commissioners Larkin, Weber and Humke were wrong and in error. I have resided in Washoe County for over 35 years. Five years ago Prior to my homes destruction by fire in 2003 I was a resident of District 2, the commission seat currently held by Humke. Throughout 2004 and 2005, I resided principally at the Reindeer Lodge which is also in District 2. I could have run for County Commissioner from District 2 in 2006 based upon that residency. I did not "consider" doing so because it was my intention not to rebuild my home that had burned, but to move to the North Truckee Meadows instead as a matter of personal preference. I had been for several years been looking at property in and around Gerlach, in Warm Springs, and in the hills above Sun Valley. In early 2006 a lease optioned property in Gerlach and purchased a home in the foothills of Sun Valley. Both of these properties are in District 5, a seat occupied by Bonnie Weber. For several months I was solicited and encouraged to run against Weber for District 5. By the time I decided to do so it was too late to change my party affiliation from Republican to Democrat which I had been intending to do so for several years. I did run against Weber in the Republican Primary and came in second to Weber in what ultimately proved to be a field of four candidates. Some time after the election in 2007 I changed my Party affiliation to Democrat. I continued to look for ranch property in the Warm Springs area as well as around Wadsworth. This was prior to the bursting of the housing/property bubble and I didn’t like the prices. I ended up in early 2007 buying a different small piece of property (home and barn) for around 60 thousand dollars in downtown Gerlach then the one I had lease/optioned and I intend to keep it forever as a weekend retreat. After the bursting of the housing bubble I found a nice restored brick home in the redevelopment district in Sparks. This was at the end of summer in 2007 and I fell in love with and I purchased my current home for just a little over half of what it was previously priced at before the bubble bursting. I am still interested in ranch/rural property in the Warm Springs or Wadsworth area but am not actively looking. If I am able to purchase such, it will probably be some years in the future. However I am in the process of forming the Wadsworth Historical Society (Wadswothhistor@gmail.com) in conjunction with several prominent Sparks and Wadsworth citizens as well as Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal members and I will remain active in the Wadsworth area as its new County Commissioner. I love my home in downtown Old Sparks which is just two walking blocks from all the special events at Victorian Square which I have been attending for decades. In 2007 I did have to bring an action against a former lady friend of mine for domestic violence against me. She vandalized and destroyed some of my personal property and hacked into one of my accounts a stole 1000 dollars. I never brought criminal charges against her because I believe she was having severe emotional problems. There was a disputed trade account bill of less than 1500 dollars with Home Depot involving the Reindeer Lodge and a former Lodge Manager. This was recently settled for less than half of the alleged debt. Even though my name was associated with the account it was for a dealing that an ex-manager had with Home Depot involving substantial returned merchandise that was not properly credited to the Lodge’s account. In any event it has been settled amicably and is inconsequential as nothing more than a very minor business dispute. There is no pending action concerning legal fees that I owe, however I do have an ongoing action against the County for failing to pay for my legal fees in an action in which I prevailed. The County has several times been forced to pay my legal fees for actions I successfully brought against them in the best interest of the Public. One successful action and charge I brought against the County about ten years ago proved that the County had been illegally overcharging for Public Records copies for over 25 years. They were charging 50 cents a page when the law said they could not charge over 4 cents. They now charge nothing for copies of Public Records in part to make up for overcharging for a quarter of a century. I have never asked for or received any damages or financial benefit from the County or the City of Reno for these law suits. They were for the sole purpose of fixing broken Government and bringing them into compliance with the LAW. As reported in the Reno Gazette Journal and on my Web Site, I have sued the County and other Government entities over a dozen times over the last 20 years or better. Virtually all of the law suits have been as a last resort when the Government or its agents blatantly refused to OBEY THE LAW. They have almost all resulted in the Government correcting some deficient and/or illegal policy or process and have resulted in enhanced rights and opportunity often at reduced cost for the citizens to monitor, control, and interact with their elected official and government employees. My litigation against and challenge to government entities has been in the best interest of the public, the citizens, and it has saved many hundreds of thousands of dollars for the people, the tax payers,, and in perpetuity, likely many millions of dollars. This is in stark contrast with Larkin’s incidents and activities such as the Ballerdini Condemnation law suit that was filed by the County Commission and settled by Larkin and crew. This has cost the tax payers over 13 million dollars for which they they did not even receive a dinner or a kiss and now the tax payers are again the victims of an additional law suit in regards to the Ballardini because of Larkin’s incompetence. Many of the above facts and information have been available on my web site for several years. |
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ELECTED OFFICIALS MUST STRIVE TO WELCOME, ENCOURAGE, AND FACILITATE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN THE REGULATION AND CONTROL OF THEIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT The process of County Government is broken and we are in financial crisis. Most County residents have little or no confidence or respect for County Officials, whether elected or bureaucrats. County government must be restructured and reinvented. Returning County governance to a much more public process where citizens not only have the perception that they can make a difference, but they actually can make a difference, is the necessary first step in reforming the failed policies and management of County Government in recent years.
Without immediate and corrective measures our quality of life will continue to plummet out of control at the same time we have pressures for increased taxes, fees, costs, & deficits. Please VOTE for me to make that change. |