My longtime friend Jean Stoess was a tiny giant. Barely five feet tall, the former Washoe County Commissioner built a leviathan career of public service that many of the more exalted could not hope to approach.
She died at her Reno home on Dec. 3 at 85. If ever there was a hall of fame for community involvement, Jean would have been awarded the key to front door on the day the building was named for her.
After earning a business administration degree from the University of Oregon, she had to fight the good ole boy establishment to become a graduate assistant while working toward her master’s. (Some old anachronism considered it for men only.) That engagement led to permanent one. She met Al Stoess when he borrowed a typewriter. They eloped to Reno and Nevada was thus forever enriched by both.
She earned her master’s in journalism from UNR but Jean Louise Babcock’s news career was well underway by high school. She later completed an editing and publishing course at Stanford University. She composed the text for legendary photographer Donald Dondero’s “Dateline Reno” book. I treasure a couple of autographed copies.
Democratic and Republican governors appointed Jean to a wide range of boards and commissions. In 1971, Mike O’Callaghan named her to the state Gaming Policy Committee and in 1977 made her the first woman to serve on the Washoe County Commission where she filled a vacancy. She won election to the post in 1978. She chaired the Regional Transportation Commission and also served on the Airport Authority and the State Board of Medical Examiners.
As western area manager of the News Election Service/Voter News Service from 1985 to 1996, Jean coordinated reporting in 13 western states delivering results to major television networks and international wire services. In 1998, she became Nevada manager of the Associated Press, responsible for hiring, training and managing journalists in all seventeencounties. She was a guest member of the Reno Gazette-Journal editorial board. Back in her early days in San Francisco, she became a member of the Office and Professional Employees International Union/AFL-CIO while working at Continental Freightways.
Jean chaired the Sierra Club’s Toiyabe Chapter, served as publicity chair of the Nevada Environmental Education Council and became a founding member of the board of directors for PBS affiliate KNPB TV-5.
In 2002, she chaired a successful bond issue campaign for the county’s regional animal shelter.
She is survived by her husband of more than 60 years, university professor Dr. Alfred Stoess, three children and two grandchildren. Her complete biography will be linked to the expanded edition of this column at NevadaLabor.com/
Thanks for coming to the High Desert Outback of the American Dream and helping us out for a lifetime, dear friend. You done us proud.
BLUE NOTES. Can’t blame current Sparks Police Chief Chris Crawforth for wanting the Reno job. He’s the most community-oriented cop I’ve experienced in all my time in this state. After fighting independent review for many years, Las Vegas Metro PD finally caved to getting a citizen police review board after a few fatalities, “accidental” shootings and choke-hold “accidents,” especially that of Charles Bush.
He was a black casino executive killed by a choke hold as he was rousted out of bed during a mistaken no-knock raid. Bush was once a UNR student.
Perhaps the kicker came when two Metro officers were arrested for getting into a pickup and doing drive-by shootings for sport. (References at NevadaLabor.com/)
When the heat of night subsided, LV’s citizen review apparatus fell into disrepair. Former Reno Police Chief Steve Pitts established citizen review during his tenure but it likewise went sideways when he left.
Mayor Hillary Schieve’s attempts to get Reno to establish citizen review met with start-stop hiccups. A panel was authorized. I attended initial formative meetings. Then the city staffer in charge left for greener pastures and matters stagnated. Mlle. Mayor then began working toward a regional human rights commission five years ago. Washoe County said no.
Sparks said we can’t afford it. (What else is new?) Then came the plague. Today, Reno’s human rights commission meets quarterly.
Enter Chief Crawforth who initiated a citizen board as one of his first official acts in Sparks. He is now a finalist for the Reno job and I hope he gets it. In that position, he will be able to set the standard for the region and perhaps the state.
LIFE IMITATES ART IMITATES LIFE DEPT. I just caught a re-run of the killer 1990 action film “The Hunt for Red October.” British actor Peter Firth, who later starred in the BBC series “Spooks” (re-titled “MI-5” for PBS), played a stereotypical Communist Party apparatchik assigned as “political officer” on star Sean Connery’s nuclear submarine.
Firth proved that there are no small parts. In his only scene, he made you hate him from his first words. Connery deftly dispatched the weasely watcher.
The point of this movie trivia? Firth’s despicable character was named (drum roll, please) Ivan Yurievich PUTIN. When author Tom Clancy’s book was published in 1984, the current warmongering Russian dictator was an unknown KGB spy.
Now you know why the late Mr. Clancy was so highly respected by the U.S. intel establishment.
Where is Sean Connery when we need him?
ART IMITATES ART. I finally saw director James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar” when it hit Disney’s ABC network last week in promotion of the sequel “Pandora.”
Watching “Avatar,” I swore I’d seen it before. And I had. Fortunately for Mr. Cameron, Disney acquired the rights for “Avatar” when it acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019.
The script of “Avatar” was a complete ripoff of the 1992 animated feature “FernGully: The Last Rainforest,” distributed by Fox and starring the voices of Robin Williams, Samantha Mathis, Tim Curry and Christian Slater.
The real god of Pandora is Mammon. So what else is new?
Happy High Holly Days to you and yours.
Stay safe and pray for Ukraine and 53 other currently war-torn lands.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Quarantino Barbano is a 54-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us
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