Carson City Board of Supervisors: Abowd wins Ward 1; McKenna sweeps Ward 3

The winner of the Ward 1 Supervisor race in Carson City said her victory showed an overwhelming referendum for the City Center Project. Karen Abowd swept the election with 54.1 percent of the vote over her opponent, former city planner Rob Joiner, who drew 45.8 percent.

"I feel that the citizens of Carson City have given clear testimony to the benefits of this city moving forward. That's what this election was all about. It wasn't about me," she said.

Although neither Ward 1 candidate officially ran on a City Center platform, both consistently made it clear during their campaigns where they stood on the $87 million plan. The project has deeply divided the Carson City community more than any other issue in the city's history, according to many locals.

"This is very exciting," Abowd said from a celebration party at Adele's Restaurant, which she owns with her husband Charlie.

"In the primary, we had six guys saying the same thing, and then, after the primary, they all supported my opponent, but the citizens of Carson City have said they want us to move forward, and I agree wholeheartedly. My prayer today was to show a clear sign, and that's what we got," Abowd said.

"I'm prepared to roll up my sleeves. We can't wait for the state to get us out of our predicament. I'm ready to get to work right now," she said.

In the Ward 3 race, where John McKenna, a certified public accountant, beat lawyer Day Williams with 63.65 percent over 36.35 percent, the lines were less clear. Although Williams was adamantly opposed to the project, McKenna took a wait-and-see approach until the project's feasibility study is complete.

"The project has yet to prove it has viability," McKenna said. "We haven't seen anything that says it is viable."

"If you have to work really hard to put it together, it usually doesn't work or it's very difficult to make it work," McKenna said.

He said he believes his advantage over Williams was name recognition and his history working on city boards and commissions.

Short-term goals he would like to address are making sure the city is solvent while providing necessary services. Long-term, he wants to see that Carson City moves into a position where people can be put back to work, stimulating the economy.

Although the total population votes on all supervisor races, Ward 1 supervisor represents voters in northwest Carson City and southeast Carson City is represented by the Ward 3 supervisor.

In the assessor's race, incumbent Dave Dawley was re-elected to a third term with 78.22 percent of the vote over his opponent, Ian Mindling, who garnered 21.78 percent.

The 17-year veteran of the office said he was "extremely happy" with the outcome of the election.

"We've tried to do a good job in the Assessor's Office and we'll continue to fight for the taxpayers of Carson City and do the best job we can," Dawley said.

He admitted he was shocked during the filing period.

"I always thought we were doing a good job and we heard we were doing a good job, so you can't help but take it personally," he said.

"It's been a long race, and it's a very big relief right now. Tomorrow I'll be out taking down my signs and then we'll get right back to work," Dawley said.

Carson City Question 2, a local revenue advisory question, passed with 10,430 yes votes, or 56.29 percent, to 8,099 no votes or 43.71 percent.

The question asked: Shall the consent of the governing body of the local government be required before the State Legislature can act to decrease revenues or reserves collected by, distributed to, or held by the local government, or impose fees on or mandate new or different services be performed by the local government?