Bagwell's State of the City: ‘We are in good shape’

The theme of Carson City Mayor Lori Bagwell’s 2023 State of the City address was “painting a path forward,” and the mayor used words to paint a vision of the future while also highlighting successes from the last year — a generally positive picture but not without challenges in the community.

The 13-page speech was delivered on Tuesday at Gold Dust West. The Chamber of Commerce organized the event, and Southwest Gas sponsored it. Early on, Bagwell joked that she would highlight more accomplishments than just numbers, referring to herself as the “spreadsheet mayor.” Financially, she said, the city is doing well.

“I’ll just tell you, we are in good shape,” she said.

One of the only parts from her presentation with funding amounts involved federal grants. The mayor reported the city brought in more than $17 million in federal grants in 2022, which is equal to about 20 percent of the city’s general fund. Jump Around Carson received $2.3 million, a new fire station and emergency operations center off Butti Way received $2 million, and street and infrastructure improvements around the city saw more than $10 million in grants, roughly.

Another $1.5 million in federal funding went to upgrading the Quill Water Treatment Plant. Bagwell touched on this later in her speech. The upgrade is at 60 percent design stage and will eventually increase the city’s water production from 1.5 million gallons a day to 6 million gallons a day. Bagwell said treating surface water will protect the city’s water rights, making sure they’re put to beneficial use, and will also meet the city’s water needs in the winter months without using wells.

“You don’t have to be a math major to know that’s a lot more water,” she said.

Bagwell highlighted past and future priorities of city departments, often pointing out department heads in the audience. She said serving the public means getting the best people for the job or getting “the aces in their places.”

One accomplishment Bagwell touted in the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department was hiring a full-time volunteer coordinator, Chelsea Kincheloe. Last year, Kincheloe worked with 562 volunteers totaling 4,643 labor hours. Bagwell put the value of that volunteerism at $139,030. One of those volunteer groups is Muscle Powered, a local nonprofit helping to construct 10 miles of new trail this year, including the completion of the Capital to Tahoe Trail.

Bagwell lauded the Community Development Department, too, for overseeing 350 housing permits issued last year. That number is still below the more than 600 permits allowed annually under the city’s Growth Management Program. The mayor anticipates more than 400 apartments and condos will be built in 2023, including 36 apartments as part of the Friends In Service Helping project along North Carson, 207 units at East William and North Plaza streets, and 126 units at Northridge Drive and Roop Street.

As part of her update on community development, Bagwell shouted out some new businesses, such as Panera Bread off Cochise Street and System’s Edge, a new virtual reality arcade in south Carson.

“It’s hard to take money and take a risk and open a business,” she said. “But I want to thank them.”

For those concerned about zoning and development laws, a March 3 meeting between the planning commission and Board of Supervisors will offer review of Title 18, which deals with zoning, and Title 17, Chapter 17.10, which deals with common open space developments. Bagwell said the latter is one of the top issues brought up during public meetings. Supervisor Lisa Schuette later added 17.10 was designed to provide interconnectivity between neighborhoods. She said the March 3 review will be “a way to learn from what we have.”

Supervisors (left to right) Lisa Schuette, Curtis Horton, Maurice White and Stacey Giomi with Mayor Lori Bagwell during the State of the City address on Tuesday. (Scott Neuffer photo) 

Moving to public health and safety, Bagwell noted Carson City Health and Human Services organized a point-of-dispensing exercise at Fuji Park in October that provided free flu vaccinations but also ensured the department is ready to handle a large-scale event. Furthermore, Bagwell said, the Carson City Fire Department presented fire and life safety programs to more than 2,000 elementary students last year.

Operations at the senior center are looking bright as well, Bagwell said. Last year, staff served more than 148,000 meals and delivered more than 110,000 to homebound seniors. This year, seniors will see a remodel of the main bathrooms, the dining hall and kitchen areas in the center.

Not everything in the speech was good news. Bagwell mentioned several challenges facing the community. She said the tobacco prevention coordinator at CCHHS is continuing to educate teens about flavored vape products. Bagwell said the city is going in the wrong direction when it comes to underage vaping.

“We’re really seeing youth vaping as an epidemic in our community,” she said.

The city lists tobacco and vaping prevention resources online: https://gethealthycarsoncity.org/tobacco/.

Another challenge facing the community is road funding, particularly for neighborhood streets that make up the bulk of city roadways but don’t qualify for some federal grants.

“There’s no easy answer except one: it takes more money,” said Bagwell.

Even after Carson City voters approved a 5 cent diesel tax in the November general election, the city still faced a $21 million gap between funding and maintenance needs. A report prepared for the Regional Transportation Commission last fall explored potential funding sources, such as a new quarter-cent sales tax and general improvement districts with special assessments on properties, among other measures.

Speaking later, when Bagwell opened the floor to supervisors, Supervisor Curtis Horton said roads are a huge problem throughout the city. He said it’s going to take a collective solution.

“We have to participate as a team,” he said.

Making Carson City the best team possible was a prevalent theme of Bagwell’s speech. She commended the human resources department for screening more than 4,500 applications last year for 227 open positions, a 14 percent increase in applications from the previous year. She emphasized 63 promotions last year as well.

“We have to retain the employees we have,” she said. “That is good for all of you.”

Bagwell expressed gratitude for the finance department, too, which oversaw an upgrade in the city’s bond ratings and a clean year-end audit.

“Let me tell you, that’s pretty spectacular to not have any audit findings,” Bagwell said.

Bagwell told audience members to check out the city’s finances at https://carsoncity.finance.socrata.com/#!/dashboard.

“We are a very transparent government,” she said.