Go Hoosiers! (What's a Hoosier?)

Revised Claudia Hanson blog posted below. Since I am in Bloomington, IN this weekend, I figured I'd include a little Hoosier pride in this post in honor of it being Homecoming.

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Claudia Hanson: Building a Better Reno

Claudia Hanson may be a key player in the changing the face of Reno, but walking into her home, you’d never know it. The house is a warm and inviting place; the sounds of children playing echo from the upstairs and a fire burns in the wood stove. Hanson’s life is not filled with scandal or uproar, but she is a city official who has a story worth telling.

Claudia and her husband, Nate, have called Glenshire, a small community situated on the Truckee River between Truckee and Reno, their home for the past eight years.

Hanson was raised in Marin County, outside of San Francisco. After graduating High School, she attended California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo, where she studied architecture. Following her graduation from Cal Poly she had a quick stint in the Peace Corps. Upon returning from overseas she started working for the City of Reno and has been there almost consistently ever since.

Claudia began as a Junior Planner working mostly with zoning and special use permits. Over the years, she has seen many changes in her department, most notably in the size of her staff. Like just about every city in the U.S., Reno has faced numerous budget cuts and layoffs have been abundant. When Hanson started she was one of 21 staff members; today, there are only eight.

“Not getting laid off in the past three years,” is one of Hanson’s major accomplishments, she said with a laugh.

Today, her official title is Planning and Engineering Manager. On a given day she proofs and edits staff reports, works on current housing developments, ordinance developments, creates parcels, adjusts boundaries, reviews bonds, secures agreements, and presents staff reports. She is hard working and passionate about her job, a sentiment that is often reiterated by those who are part of Claudia’s life in both a personal and professional capacity.

When speaking to Claudia’s husband, Nate, it is clear that not only is Claudia a committed wife and mother, she also does phenomenal work for the city. Nate is his wife’s biggest fan. “She does one hell of a job. It’s a tough one, he said. The couple celebrated their 12-year wedding anniversary this past year and are very supportive of each others professional endeavors. Nate finds the most interesting aspect of his wife’s career, “her ability to quickly rise into a leadership role.”

Other than not losing her job, Claudia is most proud of the work she has done introducing mixed-used developments to the city.

“It’s good for gentrification, is more centrally located and allows for the less sub-division developments,” she said.

A fairly new concept in the Reno area, mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Brining more mixed-use areas into downtown Reno could bring many positive changes to the area and make downtown a much more efficient area.

In addition to be a hard worker, another attribute Claudia embodies, which is echoed by her friends, family and co-workers, is her kind nature and gracious tendencies. Claudia’s best friend, Michelle Prestowitz, whom she met at a dinner party in 2003, is a champion of Claudia both personally and professionally. Michele also works in the public sector for the Truckee River Watershed Council. In addition to having children that are the same age, Michele said that she was, “attracted by Claudia’s combination of wit, intellect, enthusiasm for the outdoors, and ability to call it like she sees it.” Michele’s high praise for Claudia continues when she speaks of Claudia’s ability to thrive in a male dominated industry.

Claudia is “just a really impressive person, someone who understand herself and stays true to her values,” Michele said. “Someone you feel can really get things accomplished, but not too big for her britches.”

Donald Naquin worked under Claudia as a landscape architect for the City of Reno until last year, when the time came to cutback on staff the city laid him off. Although Donald is still slightly resentful about his early termination, when he speaks of Claudia, there is a clear change in his tone. During their time working together, Claudia and Donald operated side by side on a wide array of projects, including all the major commercial and industrial projects developed in the city. Some of the well known projects they worked on were the Summit Sierra Shopping Center, ReTrac Land Use, and Cabelas. He still has fond memories of his time working with Claudia that date back to some of their first meetings together.

“When I first met Claudia she and some other planners took the time to put me in a car and take me around the city to look at past, present and future projects, the entire time asking my opinion on what I thought and what I might have done differently to improve the look of the projects,” he said. “As a new employee it made me feel that my opinions would be valued and that I was welcome.”

Even though loosing his job was tough for Donald, he made sure to note that to this day he and Claudia remain great friends.

The last time Claudia was interviewed, she was being questioned by a Reno Gazette Journal reporter about “risqué” strip club signage in downtown Reno. Strip clubs and casinos aside, Claudia is happy to be helping develop Reno in to a thriving city, “as long as there are positive changes being made, I’ll sleep well at night.”

Claudia Hanson: Building a Better Reno

Walking into the home of Claudia Hanson, one would never know they are walking into the home of a woman who is one of the key players in changing the face of Reno. Claudia and her husband Nate have called Glenshire, a small community situated on the Truckee River between Truckee and Reno, their home for the past 8 years. It is warm and inviting place; the sounds of children playing echo from the upstairs and a fire is burning in the wood stove. Claudia’s life may not be filled with exciting scandal and uproar, but she is a bright woman who has a story worth telling.

Claudia Hanson was raised in Marin County, outside of San Francisco. After graduating High School, she attended California Polytechnic, more commonly known as Cal Poly, and majored in Architecture. Following her graduation from Cal Poly she had a quick stint in the Peace Corps and upon returning from overseas she started working for the City of Reno and has been there almost consistently ever since. Claudia began working for the City of Reno as a Junior Planner working mostly with zoning and special use permits. Over the years, she has seen many changes, most notably in the size of her staff. When she first began in the planning divisions there were 21 staff members, today, there are only 8. Just like every other town in America, The City of Reno has faced numerous budget cuts and layoffs have been abundant. When asked about the most significant milestones in her career, Claudia jokingly remarks, “Not getting laid off in the past three years.”

Today, her official title is Planning and Engineering Manager. On a daily basis, you will find her proofing and editing staff reports, working on current [housing] developments, ordinance developments, creating parcels, adjusting boundaries, reviewing bonds, securing agreements, and presenting staff reports-just to name a few. She is extremely hard working and passionate about her job, a sentiment that often reiterated by those who are part of Claudia’s life in both a personal and professional capacity.

When speaking to Claudia’s husband Nate, it is clear that not only is Claudia a wonderful wife and mother, she also does phenomenal work for the City of Reno. When questioned about what Nate thought of Claudia’s choice in career, he emphatically replied, “She does one hell of a job. It’s a tough one.” The couple celebrated their 12-year wedding anniversary this past year and are very supportive of each others professional endeavors. Nate finds the most interesting aspect of his wife’s career, “her ability to quickly rise into a leadership role.”

Other than not being laid off in the past three years, Claudia is most proud of the work she has done introducing mixed-used developments to the city, “It’s good for gentrification, is more centrally located and allows for the less sub-division developments.” A fairly new concept in the Reno area, mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Brining more mixed use areas into downtown Reno could bring many positive changes to the area and make downtown a much more efficient area.

In addition to be a hard worker, another attribute Claudia embodies which is echoed by her friends, family and co-workers is her kind nature and gracious tendencies. Claudia’s best friend Michelle Prestowitz, whom she met at a dinner party in 2003, is a champion of Claudia both personally and professionally. Michele also works in the public sector for the Truckee River Watershed Council. In addition to having children that are the same age, Michele remarked that she was, “attracted by Claudia’s combination of wit, intellect, enthusiasm for the outdoors, and ability to call it like she sees it.” Michele’s high praise for Claudia continues when she speaks of Claudia’s ability to thrive in a male dominated industry and notes that Claudia is, “Just a really impressive person; someone who understand herself and stays true to her values- someone you feel can really get things accomplished, but not too big for her britches.”

Donald Naquin worked under Claudia as a landscape architect for the City of Reno until last year, when in lieu of recent cutbacks, the city laid him off. Although Donald is still slightly resentful about his early termination, when he speaks of Claduia, there is a clear change in his tone. During their time working together, Claudia and Donald operated side by side on a wide array of projects including all the major commercial and industrial projects developed in the city including Summit Sierra Shopping Center, ReTrac Land Use, and Cabelas. He still has fond memories of his time working with Claudia that date back to some of their first meetings together, “When I first met Claudia she and some other planners took the time to put me in a car and take me around the city to look at past, present and future projects. The entire time asking my opinion on what I thought and what I might have done differently to improve the look of the projects. As a new employee it made me feel that my opinions would be valued and that I was welcome.” Even though being loosing his job was tough for Donald, he made sure to note that to this day he and Claudia remain great friends.

The last time Claudia was interviewed, she was being questioned by a Reno Gazette Journal reporter about “risqué” strip club signage in Downtown Reno. While unfortunately this issue appears to still be in the press, there is no doubt that the work Claudia is doing for the City of Reno and her passion for making the city a better place is a much more deserving topic. Strip clubs and casinos aside, Claudia is helping to develop Reno in to a thriving city, one building at a time.

If the photo above of Antipasta Mista (marinated olives, roasted peppers, gorgonzola & fresh mozzarella, roasted garlic, proscuitto, salami & mortadella with grilled toast) doesn't make you salivate then hopefully these ideas to enhance my final project will:

A Photo Story:
Showing who the real “game changers” have been in the Reno food scene.

A List:
Of resources for those who are interested in becoming involved in local food groups and events.

Sound Effects:
The sounds of cooking and eating: the sizzle of butter on a hot pan, the sound of a whisk hitting a bowl, people chewing with simultaneously having a conversation, the sound of a drink being poured.

An Interactive Map:
An easy to use map showing people where they can go to experience new restaurants and new foods- “5 places within 5 blocks.”

A Panel:
A discussion with the consuming public, chefs, restaurant owners and experts about how food can change the face of a city, and how this is happening in Reno.

My Dad Would Be Proud

I come from a long family lineage of lawyers. My dad is a lawyer, a pretty good one at that. He is a member National Board of Trial Advocacy, and has been voted one of California’s “Super Lawyers” for 8 years in a row. A lot of people assumed that I would choose law as a career, but it never interested me. Most of his friends are lawyers, and their children have gone on to become either lawyers or doctors. One is even a brain surgeon-talk about pressure. I thought I was going against the grain by choosing a career as a journalist-apparently they are more similar than I originally thought.

Scott Glogovac, is an attorney at the Reno based firm Burton, Bartlett & Glogovac. In addition to his many clients, Glogovac also represents the Reno Gazette Journal. He came and spoke to our class about how the law and journalism apply to each other and how as journalist we go about requesting and obtaining documents. Prior to meeting Scott, I was unaware that the majority of media companies have lawyers on staff to help gain access to public records. Glogovac remarked that, “The [Reno Gazette Journal] gets a lot of blow back from government agencies,” however that does not negate the essential fact that, “The most important function of the media and reporters to fulfill their role as public watch dogs.” Three principal things in the law that help reporters carry out these duties:

Pubic Records Law
This law exists at both a state and federal level and includes the FOIA, The Freedom of Information Act. The primary purpose of this law is to allow members of the public and media to obtain records. The key provision in this law states that all public books and records of a government entity must be open at all times during office hours to inspection by any person. If the records are requested via email, they must respond in 5 days, and they are allowed to charge a fee for their services. Even though a document is public, if there is some privacy interest in the document, that can outweigh the publics access to the record and then it becomes a private record.

Open Meeting Law
“The Open Meeting Law supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. The Open Meeting Law requires that most meetings of governmental bodies to be held in public.” Although this law now pertains to the majority of the 50 states, it was enacted in 1960 in Nevada. Specifically in the state of Nevada, it is required that the public have access to have “minutes,” and that the minutes must preserved for 7 years and additionally, the meeting must be recorded by audio. This applies to any government body that exists through taxpayers for funding.

The First Amendment:
Last but certainly not least, Scott discussed the First Amendment, which guarantees the public and the media access to judicial proceedings. If public and media access jeopardizes the accused to a fair trial then there can be limitations places on public and media access. One example Scott gave of this happening was when former NFL player OJ Simpson tried is Las Vegas.

To conclude his lecture, Glogovac pointed out that, “There is no reason why the media can’t cover all three major branches of government.” He explained to our class that government agencies tend to think that the media isn’t fair since they assume that if you’re asking for information, you are going to say something negative about them. And from the perspective of a lawyer, there is a governmental hesitation to cooperate with reporters for the same reasons. However, the “real world” does not tend to be forthcoming about offering information to reporters so we must be persistent.

Note: My parents never actually encouraged me to become a lawyer and are very supportive of my career choice (here's to hoping it eventually leads to a career). I think my parents might Google me, so if you're reading this, thanks!!