Washoe County's Housing and Homeless Services staff says its resources are overwhelmed with the amount of people in need of assistance.

The department has reported to the board of commissioners that it's to the point where their existing resources are stretched thin, depleting, or even being cut.

They say as rent continues to rise with no signs of slowing down, affordable housing is unable to catch up with the population growth in Washoe County, and the same goes for shelters.

Director of Housing and Homeless Services Dana Searcy says even though they managed to more than triple the shelter capacity since 2020, they still have a large waiting list.

To help services catch up, these programs will no longer be accepting shelter enrollments from outside of Washoe County.

Searcy says they're also trying a new solution for housing called the Tenancy Support Shallow Program.

She says this program is client-centered and more cost-effective than a shelter. It will reduce the demand for additional shelter construction and helps house clients while waiting to be accepted on the housing authority list.

Following the upcoming retirement of Washoe County Manager Eric Brown, the board of county commissioners is beginning the search for the next person to fill his shoes. With Brown planning to retire at the end of this month, recruitment officially started today.

The county's human resources manager says this will be a seven-month process from picking out an executive search firm to conduct the recruitment today, to the selected candidate starting at the beginning of January.

Washoe County will be researching and interviewing different executive search firms until they make a decision on who to hire July 18th. Once they find their firm, the hunt begins for potential candidates to become the next county manager.

September will be filled with interviews and background checks with the top candidates, followed by meet and greets October 23rd through 25th.

In a special session, the board will interview the final candidates then vote on October 27th.

The official start date of the new county manager will be January 5th of 2026, though that could change depending on the candidate.

Meanwhile, the board has voted unanimously for Kate Thomas as Interim Assistant County Manager. She will start July 1st.

Thomas says, "I'm looking forward to working with them, to hold the reigns in the interim, support the staff and work with the board on communication and you heard public records requests, agenda items, things of that nature that will really help to focus on to help the organization and the public law."

However, multiple public commenters have shared their views against Thomas, urging the board to not hire her due to her past experience and alleged involvement in the current lawsuit former elections chief Cari-Ann Burgess has filed against the county for a toxic environment.

"She does not have the experience needed for a county manager of 3,300 employees; not the budget experience to handle the budget of over one billion dollars," says one woman during public comment.

However, many board members disagreed, referring to Thomas as a great candidate to fill in as Interim Assistant County Manager.

Commissioner Chair Alexis Hill shares in discussion, "I get upset when I hear these accusations about a candidate who I think is overly qualified for this position."

Commissioner Clara Andriola adds, "This is just a short period of time. There's no elections that are happening - there's no changes."

Commissioner Mike Clark says, "I'm willing to say that was then and this is now, and I'm ready to move this along."

Due to the ongoing lawsuit, Thomas says she's unable to make a comment on it at this time. She also mentions that she has no interest in applying for a permanent county manager position.