Our Citizen's Forum: Why I'm running for Washoe County Commissioner for District 5

A message and photo shared by Brian Wadsworth running for Washoe County Commissioner for District 5:

"We are One Washoe County”
“Somos un solo Condado de Washoe”
“Tamme sumuoo Washoe County”

My name is Brian Wadsworth, and I am running for Washoe County Commissioner for District 5. I am a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. I was born and raised here in Washoe County, and I am a product of growing up in rural Nevada. I graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with two Bachelor of Science degrees: one in Business Administration and the other in Accounting. I also graduated from Gonzaga University with a Master of Business Administration in American Indian Entrepreneurship.

My journey to run for Washoe County Commissioner began out of concerns for public safety, when I learned our neighbors up in Gerlach were potentially going to be without life-saving emergency services.

Some context behind this statement: the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe had a contract with Washoe County to provide ambulance and firefighting services for Gerlach; however, at the beginning of 2025, the Tribal Council announced that the Tribe would not be renewing the contract.

This left Washoe County having to scramble and piecemeal a plan together for Gerlach. At the time of the contract expiration on June 30th, 2025, the county was able to secure a contractor for ambulance services, but not for firefighting services.

In talking with the community, they had a house fire a week before the contract expired. If the house fire would have happened on July 1st, imagine how catastrophic it could have been for our neighbors up in Gerlach.

I have been a public servant for most of my career. From serving my Tribe protecting the Truckee River, Pyramid Lake, and our endangered cui-ui fish as the Water Quality Manager, to conducting performance audits on State of Nevada Executive Branch agencies, I stand for serving the public-above anything else.

I stand for responsible growth and development. This means ensuring we have the sustainable resources to support any new growth and developments here in Washoe County.

I stand for public safety, and ensuring all of our communities have access to life-saving emergency services.

I stand for fiscal responsibility and transparency, and ensuring we have a balanced budget.

I also stand for open communication. When I am elected, I am committed to holding quarterly town hall meetings to ensure our communities are informed on what is going on with Washoe County, and are able to ask questions/make comments without being restricted by a 3-minute time limit.

District 5 is the most diverse district here in Washoe County. We have suburban, urban, rural, and Tribal communities-all with unique needs. The motto for my campaign is, “We are One Washoe County,” because I believe all of our communities, no matter how big or small, deserve to feel safe, deserve to have a voice, and deserve to not be an afterthought or forgotten about."

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