By the time you read this article, Election Day 2024 will have passed, and we’ll all know who we elected. I hope you registered to vote and cast your ballot in this election. Statistics show that one in three Americans is now age 50 or older. By 2030, one in five adults in the US will be 65 or older—that’s more than 70 million people per AARP’s count. By 2035 there will be more Americans over 65 than the number of children under 18. As a person 50 or over, you are part of the majority bloc of voters in many jurisdictions.

Every office is important, from our local courts, city councils and county commissions all the way up to the state legislature, Congress and President of the United States. It is critical when you vote that you learn about the qualifications of every candidate so that you choose people with the skills to perform their duties well if they are elected. Your thoughtful vote matters for every office up for election. Decisions about how public funds are spent to provide programs and services you want and need, what staff to hire, what developments are built and where, how our courts are run, what laws are passed or not, all happen in the public space and we can participate in person, by letter or phone call or online. Our voice is a big one and we can and should use it.

And your involvement with the people who are elected doesn’t end with the election. It actually begins there. Now is the time to go to local meetings or go online ahead of the meetings and give your opinion at meetings of Sparks and Reno city councils, the county commission and other elected officials. We are lucky that we are so close to our state capitol that we can easily give our opinions in the next legislative session to senators, assemblypersons and the governor.

You can go in person to many meetings and sign in with the clerk to speak for usually three minutes. Your opportunity to speak is called “public comment.” It’s a good idea to write your notes or a short speech before you go. You can also submit your public comment to the clerk of the meeting via email or phone message, or on zoom if the meeting is live-streamed. If you can’t go to the meeting, there are other ways to give your opinion depending on which elected body you want to speak to.

Here is how you can give your public comment at meetings of the local governments in Washoe County. Public comment is heard at upcoming city and county meetings at the beginning and end of the agenda and on a specific item on the agenda:

Sparks City Council usually meets every 2^nd and 4^th Monday at 2pm at the Sparks Legislative Building at 745 4^th Street in Sparks. you can email [email protected] with the following information in the subject line: PUBLIC COMMENT, Meeting name, and Agenda item number. Emails must be received by 12:30 PM on the day of the meeting to be included in the agenda packet. While the comment will be recorded, it will not be read aloud during the meeting. Other Sparks boards and commissions also meet, and you can find specifics at https://www.cityofsparks.us/your_government/public_meetings/index.php or call 775 352 2350.

Washoe County Commission usually meets the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th Tuesday at 10am at the County Commission Chambers at 1001 E. 9^th Street, Bldg. A in Reno. Washoe County residents can now comment on agenda items electronically through eComment https://washoe-nv.granicusideas.com/# and/or offer public comment in-person on an agenda item or at the beginning and end of the Commission meeting. Both eComments and in-person public comment will process as public record.  For more information, call 3-1-1, Washoe County’s information center.

Reno City Council usually meets on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday at 10am at Reno City Hall at 1 E. 1^st Street in Reno. You can find agendas and more information at https://www.reno.gov/government/city-council  and https://reno.primegov.com/public/portal. If you cannot attend the meeting, you can email your comment to [email protected] or use Reno’s online public comment form that you can submit the day before the meeting by 4pm.  Call Reno City Clerk at 775-334-2030 for more.

Next month, I’ll cover public comment at other local public meetings and how you can use your voice   to influence decisions of those you elected on matters that are important to you. For more information, please contact me at [email protected] or 775-240 -2745.