Wild horse trapping dogs planning commissioner
The trapping of wild horses in the East Valley resulted in several people turning up to oppose the appointment of the only incumbent on the Douglas County Planning Commission.
Planning Commissioner DeVere Henderson defended calling the Bureau of Land Management to set up a trap on his property, saying he had 14 horses in his yard.
“This horse issue is unrelated to county business,” he said. “It’s between me and the BLM and my right to protect my property.”
Henderson said he felt his record on the planning commission should be considered over what happened with the horse trap, but several people disagreed with him.
Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates spokeswoman Mary Cioffi said her organization has opted to remain silent on the issue of Henderson’s reappointment.
“We chose not to be involved in politics,” she said. “We were created to work with the BLM to try and preserve the horses in this area.”
Cioffi said that until a few weeks ago, there were around 100 horses in the Fish Springs herd.
The Advocates plan was to do incremental removals on their own in order to preserve the herd’s DNA.
When it came time to pick the new planning commissioners, Henderson’s name wasn’t even raised as a possibility.
County Commissioner Wes Rice nominated Bryce Clutts and his opponent in the 2018 election Kristi Kandel.
His nomination was seconded by Larry Walsh, who was on the phone for the meeting.
Commissioner John Engels said he felt both Kandel and Clutts were biased toward real estate and Lake Tahoe issues.
He said he would have liked to have East Valley resident Nicholas Maier considered. Maier was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
Kandel and Clutts will replace Henderson and retiring Planning Commission Chairwoman Jo Etta Brown, who served 12 years on the board.
County commissioners spent the day interviewing and appointing members of the boards, committees and commissions.
Also appointed on Tuesday were:
Airport Advisory Committee
Keith Richter
Alexandra Kingzette
Jon Walters
AJ Ursic
Board of Equalization
Elaine Pace
Genoa Historic Commission
Marian Vassar
Rebecca Pappenfort
Robert Centanni
Senior Services and Public Transit Advisory Council
Felix Lockwood
Bob Cook
Carole Voge
911 Surcharge Advisory Committee
Christine Mills
Larry Werner
Douglas County Parks & Recreation
Debra Lang
Gary Dove
Cherise Smith
Library Board of Trustees
Bonnie Rogers
Jill Harper
Water Conveyance Advisory
Fred Stodieck
Barbara Byington
Russell Scossa
