Veteran commissioner says good-bye

At 6 feet and 5 inches, former Douglas County Commissioner Kelly Kite is a physically imposing figure.

But when he speaks, especially when he speaks of the county he has served for the last 12 years, his voice fills with tenderness.

"Driving down here, I looked west of 395 and saw the cattle in the fields and saw the mountains taking off, and I thought, 'It doesn't get better than this,'" Kite said on Wednesday at The Record-Courier Building. "I want to thank residents for giving me the honor of serving three terms. When I was elected, I had no agenda other than to keep the county I chose to live in a county others would want to live in. It was an incredible honor and I did the best I could."

Dec. 18 was Kite's last meeting. The 61-year-old Johnson Lane resident and District 5 commissioner served three consecutive terms that bridged two millenia and served as chairman for three-and-a-half years.

With humor and nostalgia, Kite recalled the events in his life that led him to Douglas County.

The self-described "farm boy from Missouri" served two tours of duty with the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. During a trip from San Diego to Reno in the late 1960s, he met and fell for a Smith Valley resident named Cathie.

"Our 40th year anniversary is (today)," Kite said.

After Kite left the military, the young couple moved about the western United States taking odd jobs before returning to Nevada and permanently settling in Douglas County in 1984. Kite had started a degree in forestry but went into other fields to support his growing family, his two daughters. He eventually became an account executive for Pro Group Management in Carson City, where he still works today, alongside his successor to the board, Mike Olson.

"I wanted to be a forest ranger," Kite said. "If I could get a job doing that, I'd do it right now."

Kite was first elected to the county commission in 1996. His first day on the job was during the New Year's flood of 1997.

"I didn't know if it would ever quit raining," he said. "The immediacy of the flood made it very tough."

Kite said he initially sought the commission seat because of problems he saw in the county.

"I never dreamed of being in politics," he said, "but Douglas County was going through some tough times in the early 1990s and I thought I'd help."

Kite said there was a $1.5 million deficit at the time he took office. He said there was infighting among elected officials and department heads and also a reputation among the business community that Douglas County was "anti-business."

Kite said one of his greatest accomplishments on the board was working with the business community to foster economic development, from the construction of the Starbucks production plant in Johnson Lane to the development of the Carson Valley Plaza and other shopping areas near Carson City.

His support of redevelopment in north Douglas County drew criticism from opponents who worried the county was giving away too much.

"A lot of people felt we gave up too much," he said. "But if you look at it, we didn't give up anything."

Kite said redevelopment payments were financed by taxes from the new buildings, a trade off to procure a strong sales tax base.

"People said the businesses would have come anyway, but they weren't coming," he said.

Kite also drew criticism for his sole support of the Park Cattle Co. land proposal to convert agricultural land north of Minden and Gardnerville into receiving area for about 4,500 new houses.

He said what critics missed in the proposal was the permanent preservation of thousands of acres of agricultural land and flood plain west of Highway 395 in exchange for the zoning change east of Highway 395.

"I did not want 4,500 new homes," he said, "but it was like giving up one acre to save 10."

Kite said conservation has always been important to him, stemming from his childhood on a farm and his fondness of forestry.

"Growing up on a farm, I was a conservationist before it became popular," he said. "The green pastures and mountains are why I live here."

But Kite said the key to effective conservation is working with and not against the business and ranch communities.

"I come from the old school of thinking were nothing is free," he said. "If you want low taxes, you got to bring someone else in to pay them. If you want to save ranch land, you have to be willing to give up other things to do it."

Kite said growth will always be an issue in Carson Valley.

"It's a beautiful place to live, and people will always want to live here," he said. "The downside to growth is more people in the Valley, but the upside is the permanent preservation of 12,000 acres that can never have houses on it."

Growth and other controversial issues aside, Kite said the biggest challenge on the board was balancing the budget.

"It's a narrow line you walk being fair with taxes and providing services," he said. "Luckily, I have served with some of the finest people."

Among his other accomplishments, Kite mentioned the completion of two emergency centers in the Valley, and the expansion of the sheriff's office and fire departments, all while keeping taxes relatively low.

But Kite also expressed some regrets:

"I would have liked to have seen a senior center, and to have saved more ranch land," he said. "There are three things I always did on the board: I never did anything to embarrass myself because that would have embarrassed the whole county; I respected the chair I was sitting in and the position I had; and I never forgot the voters that put me there."

Kite said his successor and the future board face some tough challenges: An aging population with a demand for more services, growth and water issues, and the economic viability of the Lake Tahoe portion of the county.

"Being a commissioner is a hard job," he said, "but it is also personally rewarding. You have a sense of accomplishment that you share with a lot of people."