Marsha Berkbigler Is Failing Our Community

I recently published an op-ed in This is Reno educating the voters on my opponent’s record. My opponent responded, and her post is full of inaccuracies, mudslinging, and falsehoods. I won’t get into the mud with her on the inaccurate personal attacks, however, I will point out these major issues of her poor choices, support for Trump, and lack of leadership in times of emergency.

Trump’s agenda

I claimed my opponent was following Trump’s lead. She countered that she is not devoted to Trump’s agenda. Aside from her vote that goes against medical science and doctors’ recommendations, but that does follow Trump’s agenda very directly, I will let my opponent speak for herself:

See the full Sam Shad interview on Nevada NewsMakers interview on January 9, 2020 - http://www.nevadanewsmakers.com/video/default.asp?showID=3094.

Emergency Management is not for amateurs

I said my opponent went against her FEMA training when she spoke prematurely, without all the facts, to media outlets regarding the closure of a school. I made an assumption that Berkbigler had, at some point in her long government career, taken the time to complete a FEMA training for emergency response. These are typically free online courses which train people in positions of leadership on how government response works, and how to be a part of it without getting in the way. These courses are standard for staff ranging from first responders to communications staff.

It is very distressing that my opponent hasn’t taken the opportunity to get FEMA certified (which is pretty status quo for most elected officials) but she felt qualified to brief the media to promote herself. Let me repeat that - she is chair of the Washoe County Health District and she has not bothered to get trained through FEMA in best practices of incident response. This woman is “leading” our community through one of the worst public health crises in modern history. The idea that she doesn’t even have the basic training and certification to know how the chain of command works is, frankly, terrifying.

So I apologize, Commissioner Berkbigler, for saying you went against your FEMA training. I was wrong, you don’t have that basic knowledge and training. If I had known about that glaring hole in your skills and background, I would have pointed out that scary fact, instead.

From one parent to another

My opponent said I wouldn’t understand her motives to leak sensitive information to the media because I don’t have children. As an ovarian cancer survivor; my plans have stalled to have children. But that’s beside the point: in 2020 it is hard to believe anyone would try to attack another candidate for their family choices, or, in my case, lack of choice. My opponent marched and had a table at the Women’s March, but she clearly missed its point.

Being a parent is a convenient “excuse” my opponent uses to explain violating citizen privacy rights to get her name in the paper. Unfortunately, being a parent wasn’t a good enough reason for her to support schools when she had the chance with AB46 in 2013. Instead, when Berkbigler actually had the chance to support children with school repair and construction funding, she helped kill the bill. She finally came around on the issue, three years later. This community can’t afford too-little, too-late as we recover from current challenges, we deserve better than Berkbigler.

Commissioner Berkbigler has a long history of being wrong on the big issues of the day. If you think we need a new direction for our county, please check out my actual background (not the one she made up or maybe doesn’t even understand), look at my issues page to see what my priorities are, get in touch me with me if you’d like to have a conversation, request a campaign sign and if you’re so inclined, make a contribution today toward moving us in a better direction.