Stonewall

verb [with object] delay or block (a request, process, or person) by refusing to answer questions or by giving evasive replies, especially in politics: (as noun stonewalling) : the art of stonewalling and political intimidation | the highest level of bureaucracy stonewalled us.

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As many of you know, Storey County Commissioner Lance Gilman is suing me for defamation. Judge James Wilson tossed out 7 of the 8 counts of defamation earlier this month. The remaining count involves the injury Mr. Gilman sustained when I accused him of perjury. I made this accusation suggesting he lied when he said he lived in a double-wide trailer behind his brothel to qualify for residency in Storey County.

On March 28th, 2017, I sent an email to Austin Osborne requesting the zoning classification of the parcels that house the Mustang Ranch. My question was simple, Is the Mustang Ranch Zoned for Residential use. If Mr. Gilman is telling the truth (which I remain convinced otherwise), then the brothel must be zoned properly for him and Kris Thompson and Jennifer Barnes-Milsap to live there. In Storey County, you can’t park your double wide trailer at a commercial or industrially zoned parcel and call it home.

On March 29th he responded:

We’re On It.

On April 29th, 2017 Mr. Osborne asked me to not bug the rest of Storey County and direct my questions to him:

We’re super busy right now and this isn’t as important as what we are super busy on.

Had I asked Assessor Jana Seddon, I would have gotten my answer in two minutes as she has access to the same data that Mr. Osborne has.

The reason I asked Mr. Osborne is that he is Assistant County Manager and Manager of the Planning Department. He is the compliance officer for the County regarding zoning matters. He would be the guy to enforce a zoning violation.

After waiting 6 months for Mr. Osborne to act, I got fed up and wrote the infamous piece that describe my filing a complaint with DA Langer and AG Laxalt regarding Commissioner Gilman. My complaint (which you can read here) essentially said:

• If Gilman does not live at the Mustang Ranch (as I continue to believe) then he committed perjury or
• If Gliman actually does share a double wide with Kris and Jennifer, then he is in violation of Storey County’s rules.

Shortly after the letter to DA Langer, Austin sent me this:

The Matter Is Being Addressed Otherwise

I got more annoyed about being blown off and since he finally disclosed that the Mustang Ranch is zoned “Agriculture”,  I wrote my most popular posting on The Teller, the satire piece about Glance “The Thrill” Thrillman’s partnership with the Mustang Ranch to open a Petting Zoo at the Brothel.

Within thirty minutes of the posting, Gilman’s bunkmate Kris Thompson fired off an email demanding an apology and getting none, Gilman served me two days later with his lawsuit.

On April 23rd, I decided to see how the looking was going. I send Austin the following email:

From: Editor [mailto:editor@thestoreyteller.online] 
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2018 10:35 AM
To: Austin Osborne; Anne Langer
Subject: Zoning Violations

Mr. Osborne and Ms. Langer,

Mr. Hames from Battle Born Consulting tells me that zoning violations are not under the venue of the Community Development Department. 

Mr. Lance Gilman, Ms. Jennifer Milsap-Barnes, Mr. Kris Thompson, Ms. Shirley Jensen, Ms. Ciara Martin, Ms. Rachelle Ussia, Ms. Luz Armas Ms. Yu Kang,  claim 1000, 1011, 5, 56 and 5B Wild Horse Canyon Drive addresses as their legal residences according to records on file with the County Clerk.

These “legal residences” are all located on the Mustang Ranch and Wild Horse Brothel properties located on parcels 004-161-021 through 124.

Parcels 004-161-021 through 124 are zoned A/I-2.

Anything more than a single family dwelling is not permitted under the zoning designation A/I2.

I sent Mr. Osborne a public record request over a year ago, which means that the county has known at least that long of this violation, yet there has been zero enforcement of this violation. 

Are Mr. Gilman and his flock exempt from obeying the rules that govern the rest of us?

If  I were to start a 1000 head pig farm in Gold Hill it would be shut down in a New York Minute. 

I am tired of being stonewalled on this issue and my readers ask me 3 times a week about the county’s handling of this matter. 

In the dozen or so email requests which I’ve sent to numerous Storey County officials over the past year and the responses I have received I have yet to see an unequivocal and definitive answer to this question. If there was one I’d appreciate one of you pointing it out. Otherwise I’ll ask you the same question I asked Mr. Hames:

Will  Storey County continue to allow Mr. Gilman/Cash Management Services/Mustang Ranch and the group of people listed above to remain in violation of County Code/Ordinances without enforcement action?

A simple yes or no will suffice.

Sam Toll – Editor

You’ll never guess what his response was:

We’re Looking Into It… From Behind Our Stonewall

And there you have it, gentle reader. If you start a thousand head hog farm or grow an acre of weed on your property, you will likely feel the full force of Storey County on your fanny.

If your name is Commissioner Lance Gilman the County will give you a pass.

Once again I invoke the words of Orwell’s Animal Farm: All animals are created equal; some animals are more equal than others.

My guess is that the County will change the rules for Commissioner Gilman once again, or they will wait until I toss another email their way where they will respond “We are still looking into it behind our stonewall”.

June 12th is right around the corner. November 6th follows. Will things stay the same or will we change it?

Your call.Stay Tuned