Washoe County Commissioners appoint three to vacant Washoe County legislative seats

Commissioners appoint to Nevada State Senate Districts 13 and 15, as well as Nevada State Assembly District 25.

Reno, Nevada. Sept. 27, 2016. At Tuesday’s Board of County Commissioners meeting, County Commissioners appointed Julia Ratti to Nevada State Senate District 13, Jesse Haw to Nevada State Senate District 15, and Dominic Brunetti to Nevada State Assembly District 25. Appointees will serve each of their respective districts until a newly elected official takes office after the General Election on Nov. 8, 2016.

County Commissioners unanimously appointed Ratti to Nevada State Senate District 13.

Ratti has served on the Sparks City Council for the past eight years. She was first elected to the Sparks City Council in 2008 and again in 2012. Ratti is a business owner and former President of Strategic Management Services, which provided capacity building, project management, facilitation services and association management to nonprofit and governmental organizations. She received a Master of Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco and Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography from the University of Nevada, Reno.

See Staff Report and Ratti’s submitted bio.

In a 4-1 vote (Herman dissenting), County Commissioners appointed Haw to Nevada State Senate District 15.

Haw is President of Hawco Properties and the Reno Tahoe Open Foundation. He is the former Director of Nevada Security Bank and its parent company the Bank Holdings and also is the former President of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada and the Homebuilders Association. Haw served on the Washoe County Organizational Effectiveness Committee from 2009 to 2014 and was raised in Sparks and now resides in Reno.

See the Staff Report and Haw’s submitted bio.

In a vote of 4-1 (Herman dissenting), Brunetti was appointed by County Commissioners to Nevada State Assembly District 25.

Brunetti is a commercial real estate agent who co-founded Alliance Commercial Real Estate Services and Dickson Commercial Group. Brunetti serves on the Board of Directors for the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada and was the Chief Volunteer Officer for the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows. He graduated from Stanford in 2000 with degrees in Political Science and Sociology on scholarship as a football player.

See the Staff Report and Brunetti’s submitted bio.

Washoe County received notice from Governor Brian Sandoval on Friday, Sept. 16, to declare the seats vacant, allowing for the County Commission to appoint to the vacant legislative seats.

County Manager John Slaughter received requests from 28 people vying for the vacant seats. The Washoe County Registrar of Voters Department vetted the 28 individuals and determined that 18 were eligible, according to Section 2 of NRS 218A.260. The individuals who were deemed ineligible, per NRS, were either not a member of the same political party or a resident of the same district as the former legislator of that district.

“Thank you to all those who threw their name in a hat and were willing to represent Washoe County,” Washoe County Commission Chair Kitty Jung (Dist. 3) said. “I hope all three of you will serve us well in this short amount of time.”

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