Nevada Appeal Profile On Assembly Candidate JoEtta Brown

JoEtta Brown (pictured above with Rep. Shelley Berkley and CD-02 candidate Jill Derby) was profiled in the Nevada Appeal on Friday. The 39th Assembly district (Douglas County) is one of the reddest districts in Nevada. There hasn't been a Democrat representing this district since Truman was President. You know, Harry Truman, the one in between FDR and Ike.

This is an open seat this year. JoEtta Brown's opponent is James Settelmeyer who won the Republican primary against three other candidates. Brown lives in Minden - as coincidently does Jill Derby. What I love about her is that she has moved here after retiring six years ago. A lot of people will cry "carpetbeggar" which is relatively easy to do but just plain dumb. For one probably no other state has so many people from around the country move to the state as Nevada. Also, what better way to say you love your new home than getting active and engage with people, for example by running for office.

In the profile JoEtta Brown talks about her background as a banking executive, her thoughts on the Property Tax Cap and development issues in Douglas County. Some excerpts:

"I found I was interested in politics, but I loved my job," she said. "So I decided to defer politics until after retirement."

A vice president when she retired, Brown said she came up through the ranks in the banking industry and calls herself a fiscal conservative.

In Nevada, she testified before the Legislature in support of the Property Tax Cap in 2005. She advocates maintaining a 3 percent property tax cap for Nevada homeowners.

"I still believe it can be done without increasing taxes," she said. "We need to look at the budget in creative ways to cut expenditures. That's managing your money and that's possible."

...

"We moved here to get away from the congestion," she said. "We felt closed in. There was no open space in Southern California anymore, but we're very happy here."

Brown said she's not opposed to development in Douglas County, but a solid vision is needed.

"We shouldn't have shopping centers before we look at the market share or development without considering the look of the land," she said. "Growth has to be managed, or we'll have overcrowding, pollution and traffic.

"That's another reason I want to run," she said. "I want to maintain the look of District 39. It's beautiful here. There's a sense of peace."

Read the entire profile here.

As this might just turn out to be a very good year for Democrats there is no better time for this district to be an open seat. So, possibly and hopefully we can win in Douglas County with JoEtta Brown for the first time in more than 50 years.

On a personal level, when I was an exchange student ten years ago I lived in Stateline up at Lake Tahoe which is part of this district. Nothing would make me more happy than see JoEtta Brown win this fall.

You can help JoEtta Brown win by contributing to her here.