Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.
What did it take, maybe 45 minutes between the breaking news of Mayor Bob Cashell’s successful heart surgery and speculation that he’d be stepping down after the election? (If I’m breaking news to you, the 74-year-old had a heart valve replaced.) The wagging has him installing Dwight Dortch as mayor, after the election, in order to deny Reno citizens a vote as to who will lead our city into such things as negotiations with the owners of the Aces Ballpark. It seems the billionaire ballpark owner wants $1.5 million annually in support from the citizens of Reno and Washoe County. And if we don’t pay, they’ll take their national champs elsewhere.
Apparently, Dortch seems like a great negotiator because in addition to his job for the citizens of Reno, he also worked for the Reno Aces ballclub as a special advisor for corporate sponsorships.
I gotta tell you, it’s about the millionth time I’ve heard this rumor in the last year or so, but it’s always a different impetus for the resignation. It’s actually not the craziest theory I’ve ever heard, and this election year has everyone rattled.
Politics in Reno is a mean frickin’ game, and there are plenty of people out there who like to talk (and strike) from the shadows. Watching it is like watching one of those lion vs. hyena videos on Youtube—something between entertainment and pathology.
Anyway, Bob Cashell was an original investor in this newspaper, as he mentions every time we’re in the same room. I think he’s been great for the Reno City Council during his tenure, an authentic Nevada statesman and politician in the grand old tradition. There isn’t a person here at the Reno News & Review who would wish him anything but a speedy and full recovery.
Here’s to you, Mayor Bob. Get well soon.