Livermore, Bennett decide against runs for mayor

Provided any of us will be able to afford enough gasoline to get to the polls when it's time, here's the latest from Carson City's version of Super Tuesday:

- At least Carson City Mayor Ray Masayko won't have to watch his back as he seeks another four-year term. Fellow Supervisors Kay Bennett and Pete Livermore both told me Monday morning they will not be running against Masayko. Both had been widely rumored to be positioning themselves for a shot at the mayor's gavel this year.

"I thought about it over the weekend and decided not to run," said Livermore. "Some people had come to me and asked me to run, but I've decided to stay at the post I was elected to."

Smart move. Most office-holders look at four-year terms as really two, with the other two spent running for something else.

Livermore spent $17,488 to win his Ward 3 supervisor's seat in the 1998 primary election. The longtime Carson City businessman and community advocate garnered 55.8 percent of the vote and his term runs through 2002. Had he run for mayor and won, he and his fellow supervisors would have had to appoint a replacement for Ward 3 for the remaining two years. That's probably not what Livermore's Ward 3 constituents had in mind when they elected him.

Bennett has been Ward 4's supervisor since 1989 and her third and final term will end this year. And while she had already announced she would not be seeking a fourth term, Bennett had been kicking around the notion of running for mayor.

"I certainly gave it a lot of thought," she said Monday. "I know I'd do a great job, but there's just no way I can make a four-year commitment at this point because of the work at the airport."

Kay and her husband, Hale, own property and have some operating agreements with the Lyon County airport out in Silver Springs.

"I'm going to miss the people," Bennett said of her impending departure from Carson City's political arena. "This will be my 12th year and the years go by quickly. It has been a huge amount of time, but I have absolutely no regrets."

And she hasn't ruled out a return to politics in a few years. "I expect I will never get very far from the politics," she said. "It would have been nice to become Carson City's first woman mayor, but right now I've just got too much on my plate."

Former Carson City Planning Commission Chairman Vern Horton has already announced plans to run for Bennett's soon-to-be-vacant seat. He did the right thing and resigned his planning commission seat in order to pursue one on the Board of Supervisors.

Ward 2 Supervisor Jon Plank said he'll make it official on Thursday, but that will be a mere formality. Plank will be seeking a second term.

"My wife and I discussed it and it (reelection) fits into our plans," he said Monday.

- Carson City Justice Court Judges John Tatro and Roby Willis will also be running for new six-year terms. The two will likely run as a "ticket" of sorts and the early betting line (since this is Nevada) has them as prohibitive favorites to repeat. There's an unwritten rule that you don't run against a sitting judge. Especially two as popular as Tatro and Willis seem to be.

- Three seats on the Carson-Tahoe Hospital Board will come due this year. Those seats are currently held by Basil Chryssos, Tom Metcalf and Caleb Mills.

- There will also be three seats on the Carson City School District Board. Trustees John McKenna, Julie Butler and Gary Ailes will have their four-year terms expire at the end of the year. Butler resigned from the board last month and they are seeking an interim replacement.

The school board races, if there are any, ought to be interesting as they will probably coincide with a school bond measure. Previous bond measures have been met with general apathy, but district officials will try to convince voters that our schools will continue to deteriorate without the additional funding. You need only to visit one of our schools to see that.

The filing period opens May 1 and closes May 15.

Jeff Ackerman is publisher and editor of the Nevada Appeal.