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Twenty-four years ago, Renoites were in the process of choosing a new mayor. Some of the big topics in that 2002 race: cleaning up downtown, the fate of the former Mapes location (today known as Believe Plaza), a need for members of the City Council to work better together, homelessness …
Sound familiar?
That said, one issue from the 2002 contest—the biggest, actually—has been resolved: The Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor, aka ReTRAC, aka the train trench, has now been in place for 20-plus years.
This week in 2002, the RN&R‘s cover story, by Deidre Pike, looked at the seven candidates running for mayor, and primarily focused on the two frontrunners, Bob Cashell and Mike Robinson. (Back then, the primary took place in September. Can you imagine another 2 1/2 months of primary campaign signs and ads?)
You can read Diedre’s piece here. Below, you’ll find the intro and the Q&A portion with (spoiler alert!) the eventual winner, Bob Cashell.
It’s still pretty early in the election season. Lots could happen between now and the primary election on Sept. 3. But there are plenty of campaign signs already cluttering the intersections. And two Reno mayoral candidates debated Wednesday at a luncheon for the Republican Round Table and Republican Men’s Club.
While the other five candidates’ names will be on the ballot, none seems to be actively campaigning in the sense of fundraising, making countless public appearances and doling out signage on every other street corner. Two of these five men weren’t reachable at numbers listed in their candidate information and one candidate didn’t want to answer questions about his campaign. …
Bob Cashell and Mike Robinson both have a significant number of supporters in the community. And though Cashell’s political experience includes heading the University and Community College System of Nevada’s Board of Regents and serving a term as lieutenant governor in the 1980s, Robinson is perhaps a “better-known commodity in terms of Reno politics,” says political analyst Eric Herzik, an associate professor of political science at UNR. “He’s got, for better or worse, one primary issue—the trench—and some, oh, additional anti-status quo issues, a lot of criticism of what the council has done during the (Jeff) Griffin years.”
This year’s campaign for Reno mayor took a weird turn when Mayor Jeff Griffin announced in April that he would not run for re-election. At that point, casino owner Cashell had announced an interest in the race, a move that caused some community mucky-mucks to have divided loyalties.
“Everybody I’ve talked to likes Cashell,” Herzik says. “He has some very impressive experience in its variety. I like that. … How Cashell relates to Reno is harder to call. Most of his political experience has been at the state level.”
While Cashell preaches a message of unity—that is, bring those squabbling city and county leaders together—Robinson has chosen a campaign slogan that’s arguably divisive: “One of us.”
“That’s hardly the stuff that promises to bring a city together,” Herzik says. “If you’re not ‘one of us,’ you’re ‘one of them.’ … Robinson has not put down the bickering. It’s a ‘take-no-prisoners’ campaign.”
Bob Cashell
The possibility of running for mayor was something Bob Cashell had been thinking about for the past 15 years or so. “Ever since I owned Boomtown, I’ve been involved in the community,” he says. “I think I can bring some different dimensions to the game. I sit around and complain about what’s going on. I talk to my wife on every road trip: ‘This is what Reno should look like.’ “
Then, a pivotal moment in January: About two days before longtime newspaperman Rollan Melton died, the Cashells and the Meltons went out for dinner. Rollan told Cashell’s wife Nancy: “Let him follow his dream.”
“Nancy’d been kinda hesitant,” Cashell says. “No wife likes to hear her husband criticized and picked on. That’s hard on wives and children.”
When Cashell, 64, announced he was going to run for mayor, it caused a bit of to-do among the community’s prime movers, many of whom had already pledged dough and support to the re-election campaign of Mayor Jeff Griffin.
A short bio of Cashell would be likely to include the following details: Born in 1938. Grew up in East Texas. Did time in the U.S. Air Force. After leaving military service, got a job as a bill collector and learned to hotwire and repossess vehicles. Earned a bachelor’s of business administration from Austin State University and signed on at Humble Oil and Refinery Company. He started at the bottom, driving a truck in Houston for a year.
He married Nancy Parker in 1964. The oil company moved Cashell to Reno. While coaching a Pop Warner football team, Cashell met entrepreneurs Don Carano and Bob McDonald. In 1967, when Cashell (then making about $18,000 a year) tried to figure out how he might purchase a truck stop known as Bill and Effie’s on the edge of town, he hit up these men for some capital. They bought the diner with its 75 slots for $1 million.
Cashell did well at this “truckers’ Hilton.” He bought out his partners and renamed his digs “Boomtown.” By the time he sold the property, it was worth $50 million.
Cashell’s held gaming licenses for nearly 20 casinos since 1967, including Harrah’s in Las Vegas, the Comstock and Horseshoe Club in Reno, four casinos in Winnemucca, a couple in Sparks and an Indian gambling establishment in Laughlin. Right now, Cashell’s son Rob operates the Alamo Travel Center in Sparks and the Topaz Lodge at Topaz Lake.
On the political side, Cashell chaired the UCCSN Board of Regents more than 20 years ago—he helped get former UNR president Joe Crowley hired—and was Nevada’s lieutenant governor from 1980 to 1984. He won that race by getting nearly twice as many votes as his challenger, R. W. “Bill” Boyd. Cashell was a Democrat back then. Though he’s been out of the political arena for more than a decade, he hasn’t been sitting around. He served on Nevada’s Millennium Committee and on the Reno-Tahoe Olympic Bid Committee. In June 2000, he was one of the gaming moguls, including casino lobbyists, the chairman of IGT and gaming consultant Sig Rogich, who held a quarter-million-dollar fund-raiser for George W. Bush.
Here’s where Cashell stands on a few things, in his own words:
Vision for Reno?
It’s not just downtown that needs to be cleaned up; it’s the whole area. You have to include the Peppermill, Atlantis and John Ascuaga’s. It’s a community effort, and that’s how we’ll take on foreign gaming. To get 10 million people to Reno, you’ve gotta run the show right. I have a reputation for being able to get people to work together.
…Personally, I like the idea of open space where the Mapes was. Turn that into a small Rockefeller Center with a skating rink, outdoor amphitheater, gardens. It could be designed with the flood plain in mind. We’ve all grown up loving our open space. The river’s too pretty to have all these buildings hanging over it. … Then take one of these studies that show what Virginia Street should be like. We’ve done 10 or 12 studies. Pick any one of the 12, and you could have a beautiful downtown. It isn’t all about casinos. If we do the river right, we can raise the value of all properties downtown.
Running the city as a business?
The only reason Bob Cashell is a success is because of my employees and the way they treat customers. Everybody who comes to town is a customer of the city. [If elected], this will be the biggest board of directors I’ve ever sat on. I’m going to try to satisfy the majority of the people and listen to them and then make the right decision.
Most important issues facing the city?
Well, for the long run, the City Council working together and treating one another with respect. Every member needs to be well informed and briefed as to what’s going on. Then, [they need to] get together with the city of Sparks and the [Washoe] County Commission and start communicating and working together. Also, I think we really need to address issues of cleaning up and doing stuff on Wells Avenue and on Fourth Street. Both of these areas are blighted. The city needs to jump in the middle and work with the property owners. … These people are all trying. They need a little help.
Homeless services?
You can’t send people somewhere unless you’ve got a place to help them. We should have a place. Get together with property owners [on the Sage Street site chosen by the city] and make sure their property values stay up. We need to listen to them and work with them, and we need to build it. … It doesn’t have to be the Taj Mahal. Let’s give ’em the help we can. Once I saw former governor Mike O’Callahan go home and make sandwiches to take down to homeless veterans in Las Vegas. That’s the kind of government we oughta have. You gotta have a caring government and caring people.
A casino guy as mayor?
Some say you don’t elect a gambler [to be mayor]. But somebody needs to understand the business. And just because I understand the business doesn’t mean they own me. My main concern is what’s good for this community. That’s the nice thing about running at this age. I’m the old guy who’s proposed a state lottery for education and gaming taxes at certain times for education. Call up any one of these casino owners and ask them if they own me. They don’t.
Economic diversification?
That’s one of the biggest challenges I see. (Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada) is doing a great job. If elected, I want to work closely with EDAWN. We need to broaden our employment base, attract high-tech jobs, better-paying jobs. One of the areas we are overlooking is the arts. Arts and culture [contribute to] diversification. We need a performing arts center. We need the arts community working together.
Convention centers?
(Long sigh.) The big one downtown might have been a little premature, but (it was) needed. You gotta do it right so that it doesn’t fall back in the lap of the citizens. I think they’ve structured this (debt) pretty well. It seems like that will protect citizens from a tax increase. Mr. (President/CEO Jeff) Beckelman at the RSCVA is a smart man, intelligent. He can fill it up. The boys downtown have to realize they can help fill it up.
ReTRAC?
The ReTRAC program has a lot of merit. It’s a shame it’s been handled the way it has, that the community feels it’s been rammed down its throat. There are some questions I haven’t gotten answers on. I’m not worried about the casinos, but what about the small-property owners? There’ve gotta be some protections.
The people have signed a petition to vote on the trench. I don’t have a problem with that. If (the city) had done a better job selling it, it wouldn’t have come to that. (Trench critics) have misrepresented facts to the community because they had no facts. It’s in the courts. If the courts rule for them to vote on it, I have no problem.
It’s really not a trench; it’s a redevelopment project. Somewhere down the line we need to do something with this. From what I understand, if we don’t do it now, we lose sources of funding. We can’t spend the $231 million on the river. I see it as part of cleaning up downtown, making it more viable. But it has to be done right. And if they don’t take care of the small-property owners, they’re not doing it right.
I like a tunnel better than anything, if I had a pick. Maybe there are still some options open that I don’t know about. It’s very unfortunate, though, that the opposition is using scare tactics. That’s a shame. They’re doing a good job of selling scare.
Ever get sick of the trench debate?
So many things are more important. I want that river open. I don’t want any buildings on that river. It should be a place where people can walk down and sit. You’d have bright lights so you feel safe and comfortable. And you’d have policemen walking around saying hello to everyone.
How would you handle city critics like Sam Dehne?
I’ve met with Sam and talked to Sam. If I treat Sam with respect, he’ll treat me with respect. He’s a very smart man. If you listen to Sam, cut through some of his rhetoric, you’ll see what he’s saying.
Dealing with the media?
I want to be open with the media. Even though I’m kind of country, I hope they don’t stick words in my mouth or try to read into what I’m saying or doing. I’ve been going back and looking at news clippings from before I was on the Board of Regents. Overall, I’ve gotten good grades and fair treatment. … I’ve been meaning to call Cory Farley. He wrote that I had more money than Bolivia. I was going to tell him that I called Bolivia and that day they had $28 in the bank and I had $30. So I did have more that day.
Operating philosophy of life?
Be truthful and open. Practice what Mom taught us between the ages of 1 and 12. Say “yes, ma’am,” “please” and “thank you,” and it’s really not so tough to get along in this world.
Cashell would go on to best Robinson in a close race, getting 53.5 percent of the vote compared to Robinson’s 46.5, and he’d be re-elected easily in 2006 and 2010. (Cashell, the most popular Reno mayor in years, passed away in 2020.)
In 2014, Hillary Schieve would follow in Cashell’s footsteps to become mayor and serve three terms. Yep, Reno’s only had two mayors over the last 24 years. And through those 24 years, many of Reno’s biggest problems have remained the same.
But at least the train-trench matter was resolved, right? Well, yeah, except for one thing: Locals are still paying for the trench project … and will be for quite some time, as Jaedyn Young explained in the Reno Gazette-Journal last year:
Reno’s train trench project is still being paid off over two decades since it rerouted freight and passenger rail traffic underground through the city center.
City officials said around $212 million is left to be paid, with most of it already designated from a portion of the county’s sales tax.
The debt grew over the years because the city refinanced the trench bonds three times and hit a significant snag when the Great Recession hit in 2008.
The approximate timeline for final payoff is 2058. However, Reno Regional Infrastructure Administrator John Flansberg thinks the debt can be paid off sooner than that.
Twenty-four years from now, it’ll be 2050. Will Reno still be dealing with all the same problems then? Will Renoites still be paying for the trench?
Stay tuned.
—Jimmy Boegle
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