Effluent Pipeline Deal Could  Cost Storey County Taxpayers up to $60 Million

The August 1st Commissioners Meeting agenda included a proposal for Storey County Taxpayers to borrow $35 Million Dollars to purchase 19 miles of pipeline for the TRIC General Improvement District to transfer effluent purchased from Washoe County. TRIC will upgrade their existing plant on their own dime and Storey Count and Nevada State Taxpayers will build the pipeline from Sparks to the TRIC. TRIC will then sell the liquid gold to water hungry clients like Google and Switch to cool server farms that they currently run (Switch) or will build (Google).

This pipeline “deal” once again confirms to anyone paying attention that Commissioner Lance Gilman does not serve at the pleasure of Storey County Residents Voters. Rather, we and our pocketbooks serve at the pleasure and plunder of Lance Gilman, Don Norman and the band of merry TRICsters.

This pipeline “deal” proposes the use of taxes that would otherwise be spent to benefit all of Storey Count instead of being diverted to directly benefit Commissioner Gilman’s enterprise.

Nicole Barde has been the Lone Ranger in her reporting of County Commissioner Meetings since she started in 2015. In her breakdown of the August 1st meeting (which I encourage you to read here), she delivers a lengthy in-depth and dead on point dissection of the latest effort of Brothel Owner, TRIC Executive and self serving crony County Commissioner Lance Gilman to once again have Storey County Taxpayers forfeit $35 Million Dollars of future tax revenue from a “special tax area” so he and Don Norman can make even more money.

In the real world projects like this pipeline “deal” would normally be borne by the developer as part of the improvement of their development. But here in the surreal world we call Storey County, the chumps errr… Storey County Taxpayers gleefully divert tax revenue directly into the band of merry TRICsters pockets.

Ms. Barde accurately called this Corporate Welfare, I call it reverse graft. In the alternate reality call that exists in the Courthouse, it’s a “public-private partnership-investment-thingy”.

If nothing else, you have to admire the ginormity of the brass balls these hucksters clang around in broad daylight.

I read Ms. Barde’s piece and was almost finished with my assessment of the deal when I read TRIC employee, and Lance Gliman bunkmate Kris Thompson* defend the proposed swindle and personally attack Ms. Barde’s piece labeling her as “progressive, anti-business and liberal”. I will break down his post in a separate piece but you can read it for yourself here. In his defense of TRIC, he uses his Houdini like attention deflection skills to cleverly avoid the facts that Ms. Barde revealed. All while attacking her by painting her as a bleeding heart, knee-jerk, commie pinko, sjw libtard.

While I can’t speak for Ms. Barde, I want to make one thing perfectly clear before I deliver my assessment of this hustle.

I am not a Progressive Liberal. Not. Even. Close.

I like to tell folks I am a Reformed Liberal, but technically I am Classical Liberal. A Libertarian.

I read works by F. A. Hayek, Bastiat, von Mises, Albert Nock, Lysander Spooner, Hans Hoppe, Jeffrey Tucker and Tom Woods.

I listen to daily podcasts from Tom Woods, Jason Stapleton and the Liberty.Me Network.

I encourage you put a shotgun to your TV and Radio and join me in the real world of ideas.

One of the most rewarding things I have done in the last 30 years is being able to represent the Libertarian Party at High Schools in Placer County including the school where three of my children graduated; Del Oro High School. Placer County’s Office of Education registers seniors to vote with their Rock the Vote program where they invite all registered political parties to introduce their party to freshly minted voters.

In my 5 minute Libertarian Party Platform overview, I include the following passage:

“When I moved here in 1983, I got a job at an Apple Dealership. This was before the Apple Store that you are all used to. A local businessman opened a dealership and sold Apple Computers to hobbyists. I met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak four days before the Macintosh Computer was released in 1984. I bought my Macintosh 128k Computer from Jobs and brought it back to Rocklin and proceeded to sell the pants of it.

In 1986 I quit selling computers and founded The Electric Page in downtown Sacramento. Within 5 years I had 50+  employees, owned an 8,000 square foot building and had a 5 million a year run rate.

And I did it without any help from the government.”

Small Government Free Market Capitalist Entrepreneur. Not. A. Liberal.

Back to the Pipeline Hustle

When this deal is approved by Marshall McBride and Jack McGuffey, TRIC will have accomplished another spectacular job of bamboozling Storey County officials. It will mean that Storey County and Nevada Taxpayers have dumped $100 million dollars of what can only be described as “reverse graft” directly into the pockets of the band of merry TRICsters.

The details of this deal legally encumber 2.1 million dollars of “future tax revenue” to pay for the pipeline that is the legal property of the TRIC GID.

When I was at the podium expressing my “activist”** opinions on this matter, Storey County Manager Pat Whitten told me that they are trying to use tax revenue provided by SB1, Tesla-like business stimulation legislation passed by the Nevada Legislature designed to lure now defunct Tesla wannabe Faraday Futures. Mr. Whitten suggested the State of Nevada would pay half of the $ 2.1 Million dollars with money in the Faraday Futures pool leaving the balance coming from “future tax tax revenues from new business”. Mr. Whitten said on record this revenue would not be available if they didn’t try to capture the money.

Being the eternal skeptic, I am in the process of confirming this claim by contacting the State of Nevada. So far I have had no luck getting confirmation, but I am only two rounds of voicemail into the process. I will report my findings in a followup article.

Jeremy Aguero of Las Vegas consulting firm Applied Analysis said in his presentation that his projections beyond three years are conjecture. I suggest they lie somewhere between Wild Speculation pure Fantasy.

Take a Look:

 

 

I call these projections speculative fantasy mindful that we are one Orange Tweet or North Korean Missile into Seoul away from a major deviation from the ice cream and lollypops shown in the charts above. The debt, however dwells firmly in the real world. If the tax revenues fall short, the taxpayers of Storey County are obligated to pay the loan. That is why they need Storey County Commission Approval.

The last point I want to make on this is to remind sober-minded residents of Storey County that encumbering us with this debt takes the cream off the top of the annual flood of mythical revenue from the Oceans of Cash floating in the Sea of TRIC. The first Million Dollars goes to buy the TRICsters a pipeline to transport the liquid gold they will make a killing on.

• Shaun Griffin of the Community Chest could use a million dollars to pay for the Community Center instead of begging for nickles near freeway onramps.
• Stacey Gilbert could use a million dollars to build a new Senior Center. Storey County is 55% 55 and older. We need that.
  
• With a million dollars we could build a new pool.
• A million dollars to use to benefit the Storey County Residents anywhere.

But no.

Commissioner Lance Gilman wants our money to pay for infrastructure to benefit him and his band of merry TRICsters.

Final thoughts on Reverse Graft, Creative Math, and the pipeline “deal.”

In her piece, Ms. Barde places the debt we already owe for the TRIC boondoggle at $67 Million once this pipeline “deal” is rubber stamped and rammed up our checkbook. Yet my headline puts the number at breaking the $ 100 Million Dollar mark. How do I get $100 million out of $67 Million?

I include the $42 Million dollars the TRICsters pocketed when they sold USA Parkway to the State of Nevada. Yes, Pat Whitten and the County Commissioners gave Lance and the TRICsters our little stretch of USA Parkway (the one we paid for). We got a maxed out $45 Million “Interest-Free” credit card (for all those developer expenses us taxpayers were bamboozled into paying for), and the band of merry TRICsters sold the road to NDOT for $42 million. We gave away our part of the road for free, they sold it for millions.

Mad Props on world-class negotiating skills, “Team Storey“!

An elected official is supposed to selflessly serve the interests of their constituents to the best of their ability, not the other way around.

This pipeline “deal” is the latest effort to benefit TRIC at the expense of every person in Storey County and should make everyone stand up and voice outrage.

If our current County Leadership fail to recognize this for what it is and approve it, it’s time to demand a change of those leaders.

Marshall McBride is our only hope to shoot this hustle down. If you think Lance should finance his own projects, call or email Marshall and let him know.

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Marshall McBride – County Commissioner

• mmcbride@storeycounty.org
• 775-847-0968

Please call him and tell him the Teller sent you

* According to public records, Commissioner Gilman and Planning Department Board Member Kris Thompson are bunkmates in a double wide trailer near the swimming pool at the brothel Commissioner Gilman owns. Riiiiiiight.

** Kris Thompson called Sam Toll and Nicole Barde anti-business activists during public comment on August 1st, 2017.

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