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From the 11-9-1997 Daily Sparks Tribune Updated 6-17-2012
 A couple
of us are dead, but most are still around. For the past 15 years, we
have lain low in every corner of Nevada. Like weed seeds standing dormant
until the weather is just right, we have watched and waited for the
call.An El Niņo-worthy wind
now wafts across the barren landscape of the High Desert Outback of
the American Dream. She whispers to all of us: fly, disseminate, re-sow
the soil with seething apathy. The None of the Above for Governor Political
Action Committee (NAGPAC) once again stands poised for action.In 1982, political junkies
far and wide shook their heads at the sameness of the choices for governor.
Incumbent first-term Republican Robert List was opposed by Democratic
Attorney General Richard Bryan. Voters expected a banquet and found
two pieces of dry white toast on the menu.So we dreamed up NAGPAC,
the organization spawned by seething apathy and committed to electing
the whole horse for a change. Our slogan: Apathy is never having to
say you're sorry. We held a "What? Me Worry?" press conference at the
Depression Deli on W. Fourth Street in Reno. Free food was served via
soupline: white bread, water and anemic cream of nothing broth.The turnout was surprising,
the media coverage overwhelming. We made NBC News and ESPN (which suggested
None of the Above for baseball commissioner). Alas and alack, a decade
and a half down the road, not much has changed in either baseball or
follytix.Fast-forward 15 years.
Millionaire business mogul Kenny Guinn has been anointed by the gambling-industrial
complex to replace Gov. Bob Miller, the retiring anointee. The top three
Democrats have all chickened out of an eminently winnable race. It looks
like time for NAGPACkers to engage in another act of political futility
and try to knock some horse sense into this horse race.If I ever doubted that
the ghosts of NAGPAC are calling, those questions evaporated when I
saw Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin tell Reno KOLO TV-8's Sam Shad how he was
planning to solve the city's homeless problem. On the Oct. 4 edition
of "Nevada Newsmakers," Griffin practically licked his chops at the
prospect of rousting homeless people from the riverfront as soon as
the city's land is given away to private corporations. He also raised
anew the specter of a homeless concentration camp where arrestees have
a choice of either going to the homeless shelter or to jail. Former
Reno police chief Richard Kirkland and ex-D.A. Dorothy Nash Holmes presented
the same idea to the Sparks City Council a few years ago.The mayor, who once referred
to the homeless as "human debris," said "one of the interesting reasons
I don't want open space on the river is that I consider that an attractive
nuisance for single men to hang around downtown. When this (riverfront
redevelopment and handover to corporations) is done, that will be private
property," Griffin said. "We have a big issue constitutionally with
public parks, but when it's private, there is no issue. You can't be
here, you can't hang around here, you can't loiter."Griffin noted that as
soon as three goals are accomplished with now-Sheriff Kirkland's help,
"and also talking to judges that when we put this together, we want
you to sentence these people to jail and they will have the option of
doing community service on Fourth St. or spending 23 hours a day in
a jail cell on Parr Blvd." This takes us right back to the Holmes/Kirkland
concentration camp proposal.It is also the last sign
I need to bring NAGPAC back. Griffin's three goals for starting his
concentration camp include establishment of a homeless resource center,
expanding the Nevada Mental Health Institute and purchasing Flanigan's
Warehouse on E. Fourth St. as a work projects center.Flanigan's is about two
blocks from the site of the now defunct Depression Deli down in the
low rent district. The Nevada Mental Health Institute became the site
of NAGPAC's biggest battle and greatest success.Amid laughter and friendship
at the Deli on that delicious September day so long ago, I also raised
some serious issues which NAGPACkers thought needed addressing by candidates
for the state's highest office. The long list included nuclear waste
dumping, lack of a clear public records law and continuing patient care
problems at the Sparks mental health institute. All of the above plague
us today.Always-deficient mental
health care got badly cut when Gov. Miller needed easy ways to slice
the budget earlier this decade. Sen. Randolph Townsend (R-Reno), facilitated
a substantial budget increase this year, but the catalyst was not humanitarian
compassion. The gambling-industrial complex needed a flesh warehouse
as noted by Griffin to Shad.In 1982, I was informed
that the imposingly-named but toothless (and industry-funded) Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals was coming to town to review
the mental hospital. I had to threaten a lawsuit to even get an appointment
with a guy named Frank Mims. I warned him of patient dangers, especially
in bathing areas where several deaths had occurred over the years.Mims ignored me but was
forced to come back to town three days later when a patient drowned
under circumstances I had described.So, welcome to 1982 deja
vu. El Niņo's coming back and so is NAGPAC. The candidates for governor
number only two thus far, Republicans Guinn and a recent Hollywood transplant
named Aaron Russo. Running on his looks and bank account, Mr. Guinn
seems comfortable giving only name, rank and serial number. I guess
Russo's in because Nevada candidacy looks cheap for rich guys compared
to California.NAGPAC served an important
function in 1982 getting candidates to respond to serious issues. Gov.
List and Libertarian Dan Becan took it all in good humor and responded
with serious answers. The eventual winner, now-U..S. Sen. Richard Bryan
(D-Nev.), ignored us. I don't think he's forgiven me to this very day.Ridicule can produce
response when all else fails. And maybe another candidate or two for
good measure.NAGPACkers, this is a
message from your chairman: time to nag the horses into the race again.
Let's ride.Be well. Raise hell.
NAGPAC's
Ghost Riders Saddle Up Again
Andrew
Barbano, a Reno-based syndicated columnist and 29-year Nevadan,
is editor of U-News. Send
an E-mail if you want
to join the inaction with NAGPAC '98.Barbwire by Barbano
has originated in the Daily
Sparks Tribune since 1988.
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