Silver Springs GID race finds a crowded field

Sewage seems to be in style in Silver Springs.

Eight candidates are competing for four seats on the Silver Springs General Improvement District, and most say they want to get things done.

Ray Johnson, who ran the GID when it was first created, wants to see it combined with the water company and run more like a business.

"I hope to combine the water and sewer together as they need to be," Johnson said. "We need to go back to the basics and run the utility as a business."

Johnson said creating an expansion plan was the main challenge facing the district, and he was critical of the current board for not taking action.

"They seem to be thinking and acting like they don't want to expand; they don't want to do anything," he said. "They're trying to change rules and regulations that were well-thought-out and put in the very beginning."

Johnson, who also sits on the Lyon County Planning Commission, has a bachelor's degree in business and said has spent more than 20 years in corporate business management. He currently owns an organic farm in Silver Springs, where he has lived for 18 years.

Incumbent trustee Bill Holler said he moved to Silver Springs 35 years ago, and likes the rural atmosphere, and plans to work hard to keep it that way.

"Growth does come and I want to see quality growth," he said. "But I want to keep the rural atmosphere; keep it to where people can live and not pay taxes through the nose like Reno, Carson City or California."

Holler, a retired truck driver who has served on the GID for about two years, said expansion of the sewage treatment plant was the most important issue facing the GID, and he didn't want to see current residents have to pay for it.

"I think the contractors and the people who want to come here should pay, not the people here," he said. "It ain't going to happen, not on my watch."

Bob Freeman, another incumbent wants to keep prices down for GID customers.

"I want to keep things fair and above board," he said. "To get the GID to run as efficiently as possible without any rate increases and still have the expansion we need."

Freeman, a former mechanic who has served on the board since September, said he wants to see growth in the area, business, jobs, recreation and housing expand at equal rates.

He also said he would work to create a "good, solid plan on how we're going to expand and how we're going to utilize the effluent water, look into different processes."

Freeman has lived in Silver Springs since 1992 and plans to open a real estate business in the area.

Dick Linderman, a real estate broker who have served on the town's advisory board as well as the water company's board, is angry enough at the current GID to run.

"I just can't believe what they've done in the last four years," he said. "I just want to get on the board to try and straighten up the mess they created."

Linderman, who has lived in Silver Springs since 1992, alleges the current board has mishandled grant and loan money, deterred businesses from locating in Silver Springs and raised rates unnecessarily.

He would like to see the GID merge with the water company and faulted the current board for not accomplishing that.

Other candidates, who could not be reached, include Silver Springs Airport co-manager Kay Bennett, Matt Dufresne, Chrysti Barbee and Robert Wells.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.