Special Interest Money Dominates Storey County Commissioner Races

As the first weekend of early voting draws to a close in Storey County, The four candidates vying for the two open County Commission seats filed their financial documents. They are very telling.

Candidate Filings

According to the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office the four candidates got and spent money thusly:

Lance Gilman	Q1	Q2	Q3	Total
Contribution	$0.00	$16,692.00	$4,527.95	$21,219.95
Expense	$0.00	$16,692.00	$4,527.95	$21,219.95
Clay Mitchell
Contribution	$1,378.03	$2,130.00	$3,764.00	$5,894.00
Expense	$920.28	$1,542.67	$2,558.04	$4,100.71
Phillip Hilton
Contribution	$0.00	$0.00	$500.00	$500.00
Expense	$0.00	$1,200.00	$5,378.00	$6,578.00
Sam Toll
Contribution	$0.00	$0.00	$1,400.00	$1,400.00
Expense	$0.00	$0.00	$1,304.32	$1,304.32

According to his filings with the Secretary of State, Commissioner Gilman failed to disclose the source of his contributions. You can view his filings here.

According to his filings with the Secretary of State, Phillip Hilton only disclosed $500 of his contributions. You can view his filings here.

According to his filings with the Secretary of State, Clay Mitchell revealed that he accepted $2500 from Switch. Switch is the second largest abatement recipient in Storey County and was the driving force behind the effort to have Storey County taxpayers fund up to $100 million of the TRIC effluent pipeline for their own use. You can view Mitchell’s filings here.

According to my filings with the Secretary of State, I raised $1400 contributions from donors of $100 or less. You can view my filings here. All the money received up to this point have come from residents of Storey County. Full disclosure, I am in discussions with a group of Libertarian supporters out of Las Vegas about having them help fund a direct mail piece. Stay Tuned.

Special Interests First

It’s disappointing Commissioner Gilman didn’t report who gave him money. This lack of transparency only adds to the notion that he is supported by global billion dollar companies. We won’t know until after the election, if then. In looking through his past reporting in 2012 and this year, Gilman has yet to reveal the source of his funds.

Using the reasonable person standard, we might conclude that his money is coming out of his pocket. But we all know that the money in his pocket came from his business connections in the Industrial Park. Gilman has made millions from companies like Tesla, Switch, Google, WalMart, and Stericycle.

I’m also very disappointed that my opponent Clay Mitchell revealed that he is in the same pocket that Commissioner Jay Carmona crawled into in 2017. Voters may remember Carmona accepting $2500 in special interest money from Switch to fund his victory over Nicole Barde.

I spoke with Phillip Hilton today, and he confirmed that, with the exception of the $500.00 he detailed in his filings, his campaign effort is self-funded.

Residents First?

With these reports in public view, we can see there is one candidate who has only received money from residents, and another who funded the vast majority of his campaign out of his pocket.

Mitchell and Gilman have campaigned on the notion that it will be business as usual in Storey County. They both want to see continuity in the way business is done with a continued sunny outlook for one and all. With Gilman the conflict of interest is obvious with his business connections in the Industrial Park. Gilman has made millions from companies like Tesla, Switch, Google, WalMart, Stericycle, and hundreds of other companies at TRIC.

With Mitchell, his acceptance of Switch money sends a message that, like Carmona and Gilman, he will be singing from the “what’s good for TRIC is good for residents” songbook. His support of the Stericycle Special Use Permit shows us he is willing to turn a blind eye to a company with decades troublesome behavior in the name of growth at TRIC.

While I support continuing to work closely with companies at TRIC and in making Storey County a great place to do business, I won’t do so at the expense of the interests of our residents or by enriching the few at the expense of the many.

Gilman will continue business as usual in Storey County. And while Mitchell has talked a good talk that is blush on prose but shy on substance, by accepting Special Interest money, he sets the stage for being another rubber-stamper next to CommissionerCarmona.

I have campaigned on pivoting the county’s focus back to the residents and taxpayers while cultivating success at TRIC.

Residents First. Special Interests Not First.

I am the only person to sign the Taxpayers Pledge to fight any and all new taxes (and license and fee increases) in the race. I am one of very few who have fought against waste, abuse, and exposed downright monkey business and shenanigans in Storey County in the past four years.

Our residents deserve a lion who will stand to protect their wallets from the special interests and fight for the most vulnerable people here in The Richest Place On Earth.

I pledge to do exactly that when elected on November 3rd.

Sam Toll – Candidate for Storey County Commissioner