Wait, hear me out:

It’s not what you think. Let me rewind a little to explain.

Back in 2018, while I was working for the legal human petting zoos in Mound House, my boss told me to roll with a few of my coworkers to watch a county commissioners meeting in Yerington, where a really confusingly worded item was trying to creep onto the ballot to put us out of business. When I arrived to the packed chambers, I really had no idea what was going on.

Having attended a few more county meetings, along with many really heated school board meetings, I would always struggle to keep up with WTF was going on, or knowing what was in need of public input at what time. To keep up, I read a lot, and even watched some ancient YouTube videos of 4-H kids explaining the Roberts Rule of Board Meetings. My knowledge was patchy at best, even though I got the crazy idea to run for County Commissioner against then appointed Tammy Hendrix.

I ran with my stupidity, trying to cure it in (almost)” every way possible. The one thing I never did, out of fear of revealing my shameful stupidity, was simply ask a stupid question. What horrors would I unleash upon myself if I were to reveal I was not wired and trained to dominate the scene of any county meeting?

Everyone else HAS to know more than me… right?

Speaking with my fellow citizens while we all try to figure out this data center debacle, I am coming to the realization that many people don’t have any clue about the details of government affairs and open meeting laws. Most seem to fall into the same lazy pattern I do, where it’s expected someone smarter will pay attention and tell us later if there is something to worry about. We even expect that big brained hero to speak on our behalf.

I have been in too many rooms full of people with no clue, who are afraid to be “that guy” with their hand up to ask a stupid question. That fear, our handlers thrive on.

---

Be that guy

During the last Dayton Advisory Board meeting I attended via Zoom, I witnessed a brave soul raise his hand in the middle of the meeting, asking the most basic questions about the process, while admitting this was the first he’d ever attended. Without fear of being judged, this gray haired legend got his answers, while many others in the room absorbed this divine knowledge they were afraid to seek out-loud themselves.

My new meeting hero broke down a wall for me. Considering I am a high school drop-out who’s just skated by for a few decades as a graphic artist, I have much insecurity when I am surrounded by a bunch of suits talking politics. Often when I get into social media arguments with folks like Ken Gray, I am a little terrified whenever I see a notification of their response.

Now it has become apparent that this is the only way for us Lyon County citizens to keep tabs on our dear leaders, reducing the frequency and intensity of them screwing us – we need to lead with our stupidity. Make the guy in the big red chair slow the whole meeting down to explain it to us like 5th graders when necessary!

---

And of course, follow me!

When I cover an agenda and do the video breakdowns for our county meetings, I’m designing it in a way that even I can understand and navigate. Third party services the county uses currently are not mobile friendly, and are even a little clunky on a desktop. With my version, you can stroll into a meeting already in progress, ask someone what agenda item they’re on, then tap two buttons to catch up.

When meetings are over, and the county uploads their super long YouTube video, I go in and set start times to each separate item and add those to the agenda. This way, you don’t have to sit through 3 hours of a static video to find the topic you wanted to hear them discuss and/or vote on.

Be stupid and proud!

Even if you are an expert at politics and open meeting laws, you are stupid at something. When this happens, don’t be afraid to ask questions, even if every single person in the room gives you ‘tude.

Never judge the person who is brave enough to ask the dumb questions loud enough for all to hear them.