Schuette delves into ‘overlapping’ issues facing Carson

Carson City Ward 4 Supervisor Lisa Schuette is a runner. She’s run more than two dozen marathons around the world, now aiming for 30. Recently, however, she waxed poetic about a run closer to home: the trails of Prison Hill.

“Just the feeling. The beautiful views of the city. The smells of the sagebrush,” she said. “It’s also really wonderful seeing other people out there using the trail. People on horseback. People on mountain bikes. Running. Walking. It’s wonderful.”

The 61-year-old former law enforcement officer, coach, teacher and nonprofit leader (Carson Animal Services Initiative) just won re-election to her second term on the Board of Supervisors. A lifelong resident of Carson City, she described her home at the western base of Prison Hill as the “fixer upper from hell.” Her home., presumably fixed up, and her affinity for the trails and roadways of Carson City informed her priorities heading into the new term.

Having grown up on Mountain Street near what is now the Andersen Ranch development, Schuette said, “I understand the impact of growth, but growth happens, and we want our kids to be able to live here; we want our grandkids to be able to live here. It’s nice to have the amenities, the shops, the medical resources, all of that, so it’s about finding that balance.”

Schuette’s interrelated priorities as laid out to the Appeal were the Master Plan update, economic development, and the Carson City Housing Plan designed for unsheltered individuals.

The Master Plan update is expected to see board adoption in March. Led by city staff and Clarion Associates, the update process has seen various outreach meetings, joint sessions between supervisors and the Planning Commission and an open draft process.

Although the plan was still in draft phase at the time of the interview, Schuette was excited about mixed-use development including a new “corridor mixed-use” land designation proposed for the city’s major corridors.

She maintained mixed-use brings people together, neighbors, businesses, in shared utilization of an area with better access to services. And she saw the city’s embrace of Complete Street projects, such as multimodal improvements on South Carson, as a component of such connected neighborhoods.

“I think it allows more people to actually participate in community,” she said.

A Complete Street project for East William Street is underway, and Schuette looked forward to supporting an anticipated study of the North Carson corridor for similar improvements. She called downtown a destination instead of a passthrough and thought other areas of the city could be strengthened with themes of their own.

“I think it’s important for people who live in north Carson or east Carson also to have those walkable neighborhoods, everything a Complete Street model brings, the interconnectivity, the investment in infrastructure, the investment in streetscape and all of that,” she said.

Schuette’s second priority was also a goal in the Master Plan draft: economic development. She said she’d like to work with the Community Development Department to find ways to help “facilitate business creation, to continue to make the process more user-friendly.”

“I think it’s important in our community that we work with our small businesses and help the process really fit the needs,” she said.

She additionally pointed out the Master Plan update emphasized infill development: vacant sites, underutilized sites and adaptive reuse. She described how a privately owned vacant lot being developed in the city could seem like development of open space, though vacant lots are not the same as public open space. She said she’d like a smoother process of development for both potential businesses and concerned residents.

Another priority for Schuette is working with the city’s homeless population and finding ways “to help more people gain their independence.”

Since the implementation of the Carson City Housing Plan in 2023, which included ARPA funding allocations to local nonprofits, Carson has seen a 40 to 50 percent drop in homelessness as measured by the point-in-time count conducted at the beginning of each year, according to figures previously provided to the Appeal.

According to Carson City Health and Human Services, there were 39 unsheltered individuals in 2024 from the point-in-time count compared to 68 in the same snapshot the year before. For those in emergency shelters or transitional housing (considered sheltered but still homeless), the count was 31 in 2024 versus 62 in 2023.

Schuette said the plan’s three stages — survive, stabilize, thrive — are geared toward independent living for those who want to change their circumstances. Assistance can be as simple as procuring documents for someone so they can access their VA benefits or coordinating with a nonprofit for temporary shelter.

“Nothing I talk about is its own silo… everything is overlapping,” Schuette said, noting Complete Street projects create better access to work and services for those without vehicles.

She also wanted nonprofits involved in the plan to coordinate, “so there is not a duplication of service.”

“That is currently being worked on,” she said. “I think it’s important the public be a part of the solution.”

Not unrelated, Schuette, who has worked in law enforcement and juvenile probation, said city leaders and CCSO prioritizes “de-escalation.” CCSO’s MOST units that include social workers are examples of outreach work. The units respond to people in crisis hoping to offer connection to services instead of incarceration.

“There are stigmas associated with law enforcement, but I think Carson is very good in terms of prioritizing de-escalation,” Schuette said. “It goes back, again, to what is the objective of being in law enforcement, and it’s about public safety. And I don’t think you ever make things safer by escalating.”

When asked if she would support more MOST units, Schuette said, “We currently have two. If there is a need for more, I would absolutely be in support of more. I’m in support of addressing the community’s needs the best way possible.”

One of the last things Schuette touched upon was road funding. She expressed disappointment that voters rejected two tax proposals to raise money for local neighborhood roads, which aren’t eligible for federal grants like regional arterials or collectors. The ballot proposals in the General Election were a .25 percent sales tax and government services tax collected at the DMV.

Schuette said revenue, such as from fuel taxes, has not kept up with road maintenance costs.

“I would like to bring the measures back in two years,” she said, hoping for a “more robust conversation about the whys behind the shortfall, the whys behind the gap.”

Schuette said she’s also willing to return to voters a 2016 fuels tax indexing measure that failed.

“We have an opportunity as a community to invest in our roads, just as we invest in our homes, we invest in our health, we invest in our education,” she said. “We invest in things that are important to us, and if we can see our roads as an asset to our homes, as an asset to our neighborhoods and our communities, it benefits everyone, and I would like to really have that conversation because I think it’s important.”