Gardnerville Town Board member Mike Henningsen and East Fork Fire Protection District Trustees Bernie Curtis and Barbara Griffin take the oath of office Jan. 7, 2019, in the courtroom of the Douglas County Courthouse. All three are among the elected officers who begin new terms in 2023.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
Of the nearly 100 open elected offices in Douglas County, many of those to be sworn in next week didn’t appear on the ballot and some didn’t have anyone sign up, at all.
The Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer’s Office is hosting a swearing-in ceremony 3-5 p.m. Tuesday at the Douglas County Community & Senior Center in Gardnerville.
With the highest per capita number of special districts in Nevada, Douglas County’s 20 rivals the number in Clark County, which is home to 73 percent of the Silver State’s 3.144 million people.
Around 40 town and district board members were declared elected, as were seven of the county’s constitutional officers.
Seven candidates for the boards of the county’s unincorporated towns also got a “free ride” this election season.
Former Gardnerville Town Manager Jim Park and former Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Bill Chernock will join incumbent Mike Henningsen on the Gardnerville Town Board.
Incumbents Bill Driscoll and Bryan Davis will be joined by former Douglas County Commissioner Larry Walsh on the Minden Town Board.
Incumbent Brian F. Crowe was the only person to sign up for one of the three open seats on the Genoa Town Board. Appointment for the remaining two seats on the five-person board.
At least Genoa had someone sign up.
One of the largest single districts with no new candidates is the Douglas County Mosquito Abatement District which had four open seats.
Some of the smaller Lake Tahoe districts, such as Elks Point Sanitation, Sierra Estates and Zephyr Knoll General Improvement districts had all five seats open and no candidates.
Trustees of several of the county’s larger districts were declared elected during the 2022 season.
East Fork Fire Protection District trustees Bernie Curtis and Barbara Griffin retained their seats.
The largest general improvement district in the county representing its largest single community saw one new trustee join LeeAnn Teeter and John Sheridan. Gardnerville Ranchos trustee Brad Newlon was term-limited from a fourth term, so Ranchos resident Susan Stonestreet will take his seat.
Sondra Condron and Chris Shorten will join Ted Thran on the Minden-Gardnerville Sanitation District.
Board member Ray Wilson will be term-limited off a second board in the county after serving 12 years. Michael King is also leaving the board.
It will be a reunion of sorts since both Condron and Thran worked for the Douglas County Clerk-Treasurer’s Office for years. Thran was elected Clerk-Treasurer, the second member of his family to serve in that office in Douglas history.
All of the districts receive funding from both property and sales taxes from within their boundaries. Board members are required to live within the boundaries of the district.
