A Conversation with
Diana Langs - General Manager
Sun Valley General Improvement District (GID)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
NV: When did you start with the GID and in what capacity?
DL: Well, I started in June 1986 as an Administrative Assistant and was made General Manager in 1990.Interesting, though, before coming here, I had seven years with the RSCVA (Reno Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority) working with HP Computer Systems and I was used to computer systems, word processing, spread sheets and had done all that. Then, when I came here to the GID I discovered there were not any computers, except an old billing computer, that went clunk, clunk, clunk and stamped the bill. They had an old cash register. They had not been introduced to technology.
Pretty much, at that time the General Manager had a clean desk. I worked for that person for a while and then they left. Then they brought in a very talented person, who had been a county manager.
NV: What county?
DL: I think it may have been Nye County, They brought him in and then he left.
DL: Anyway, the Board always did searches whenever the General Manager's position was open. I had been doing a lot of the work, the accountant said you are doing all the work anyway, the Board then insisted I take the job. From then on, I haven't had a good night's sleep since.
NV: You jest?
DL: You are always thinking about it, you dream about it.
So I have been here some 22 or 23 years and seven years with the Convention Authority and that makes for thirty years.
NV: So, you have seen a lot of changes and even shepherded them in?
DL: Oh yes, I worked at getting the office computerized, which it is now.
Of course the most dramatic and visible would be the building itself. The old building was too small and was falling apart
NV: In what way?
DL: Well one example was that a wash basin fell off the wall and then put back at half height.
In 1996 SVGID recovered $1.1 million with which the new building was built. It was built behind the existing building. When the new building was complete and we made the move, the old building was torn down and the parking lot was expanded into its space.
NV: You said that SVGID recovered $1.1 million, how was that money recovered and from where?
We (SVGID) had just purchased $1.2 million in infrastructure from WestPac down by El Rancho Drive and Sullivan Lane. When WestPac was bought by TMWA for $100 plus million more than it was worth, I said they got a gain on assets. So I hired Fred Schmidt for $25,000 and we recovered $1.1 million plus the asset. It's almost like free money.
NV: Is this a tripling of footage?
DL: Oh no, the old building was only 600 square feet and this one is 9,000 square feet.
NV: Picking up on an issue that I have seen at a few GID meetings, I have noticed that the GID is along with everything else, is in the landlord business, how did this come about?
DL: When this building was built, the board decided to design this building to easily accommodate future expansion, and to expand the building into the present parking area. New parking would expand in the remaining area of this block, which would accommodate parking and would also be an area for special events.
NV: What is the service territory for SVGID?
DL: Well after fighting Reno and Sparks in the regional planning process and then taking the issue to Court, it was established (by Judge Hardesty) to be from ridge line to ridge line.
NV: What years were you actually on the Water Planning Commission?
DL: From day one, 1995 -
NV: Are you still on it?
DL: Because I am retiring this year, I asked the Board to allow Darrin Price to represent the GID on the Commission. I turned those over in June 2005; I felt this would allow a smoother transition.
NV: That was going to be a question; Rumor has it that you are retiring soon?
DL: Oh Yes; At least from the GID, I will have my thirty years, in December this year and my official retirement date is January 4, 2008, but my last full month will be October 2007 if the Board lets me. I will be taking a lot of vacation time in November and December.
NV: Will Darren Price be the new General Manager?
DL: No, succession planning will determine that, along with developing a vision for the years ahead.
DL: Having said that though, I think Darren is a real gem, he brings to the table; a class four certification, he already sits on the committees that we need to be on.
NV: He has a good presence.
DL: Yes he does, I think they have a gem in their grasp and I hope they grab it.
NV: Will the Board go for it?
DL: There is one Board member that favors an open process, so you never know which way they will go, they are an independent body.
NV: Besides your position with the GID, you have been somewhat of an activist with Regional Planning, annexation issues and more?
DL: I just think its up to citizens to get involved, I would just encourage new people to get involved.
Having lived here since 1972, I just love it. You hate to see something change as fast as we are seeing now. Change is good depending on how it's done. The new people moving here, love it because of the way it is. Then if they want to keep it this way, they need to get involved, to help keep it this way or provide a direction to minimize the impacts. That's how I feel.
One of the things I find discouraging, is when you drive down the street and see who gets the paper. Why it's only about every twentieth house. How do the people know to get involved?
I have actually asked some of my neighbors who moved here, mostly from Los Angles and the Bay Area, why they moved here?
NV: You actually asked that? What did they say?
DL: They just love it here, they love the traffic, and there is hardly any traffic, the clear skies and the clean air. I say to them, they better get involved, if they want to keep it that way!
I have always been involved, when I first moved here I lived down by the old Post Office in Steamboat I got involved when they were planning the new freeway in 1976-1977. I asked where and why?
NV: What is Sun Valley like?
DL: One neat thing about Sun Valley is the sense of community.
NV: There is definitely a sense of community here, what other areas have a sense of community?
DL: Pleasant Valley, North Valleys, and Horizon Hills. Virginia Foothills used to and Donner Springs not at all.
DL: There are so many issues . . . .
DL: Another issue is RTC and NDOT and getting funding, in Las Vegas their RTC uses Bonding much more than we do up here. I asked Derek Morse of RTC why doesn't RTC take advantage of bonding. His answer was they choose not to. They choose not to use it as a primary revenue stream.
DL: Lets be frank . . .
Continued Part two
DL: Let us be frank, we have all known for how long, that Pyramid Highway has needed help. If you look at our freeway going north and south [395], it's not better, they haven't fixed it, they have not envisioned out ten years, it's still crowded. It seems that we are always behind the curve. We still don't deal with it. We have allowed Pyramid Highway to get the way it is and then we allow commercial to go along side of it. They [RTC] may have to double deck the highway, what other solutions do they have?
NV: Since you remember all these things, do you remember in the 1980's the cry for a real regional planning and something to stop all the bickering. In 1989 they passed the Regional Plan legislation and in 1991 they adopted the first Regional Plan.
Question; is the quality of planning better now?
DL: We still have the bickering. We have more population and more annexation. That's what happening.
NV: Speaking of annexation, what do you think of the County's Bill Draft Request (BDR) that would permit Reno to annex lands that are not contiguous to Reno?
DL: No, I could not support that BDR. Noncontiguous annexation opens up premature development; it would not be using infrastructures and facilities to their fullest extent. There would be problems with services.
NV: I have to ask you this, since it's a hot topic, What do think of SCR26 / BDR 48-183?
DL: Well, I think that is rather interesting, the whole thing . . . I think that you can look at things regionally, I think that each entity can get out of it what they need. And I do think that whatever is done, should be done in steps, you just can't take this whole thing . . . you know this is circular. Storm, Sewer, Water, Flood, Effluent, it's all interconnected.
DL: I can't say much about this topic right now. It's in our consultant's hands. One thing I will say, is that we won't let this district down.
NV: What do you think of so-called Concurrency?
DL: I will believe it, when I see it!
NV: And who pays?
DL: In California they put special bonds on new subdivisions for new schools that they will require. It is set up in the master plan communities and districts within counties.
NV: Do you think Reno or Sparks would ever try to annex Sun Valley?
DL: Well, if they would ever want to, this community would never allow it.
NV: Well along that line I have a question about the board. But, first let me preface the question with it has nothing to do with this Board. It is just a philosophical question that I will apply to SVGID's Board.
The community elects the Board members to represent them (the people) and once on the Board they are responsible for the GID. Is there ever a conflict between serving the community and serving the GID? If there is, how do they deal with it?
DL: No, since we are always working with the community, I haven't really seen a conflict.
DL: I don't know if you know this, but this baby boomer generation is leaving a big gap in the work force. We were looking at how many people are over fifty in this building and it's alarming! This GID is not unique, it is happening everywhere. Three fourths of our staff is over fifty.
NV: What has been one of the more important aspects of your job?
DL: The priority in my tenure, I can't stress this enough. You need to be a part of the community; where they need you and you need them, it's a partnership, if you loose that, then you shouldn't be here.
NV: Until relatively recently, perhaps five years, there was a lot of talk about the "Glass Ceiling." Does it still exist?
DL: You know I never paid any attention to that, other than I was noticing when Susan Lynn and I were on the Water Planning Commission and she left, I was the only woman. Guess what, now that Darrin is on the Commission, there are not any women.
NV: Of course the "Glass Ceiling" refers to women in high level management, so you are a manager, the county manager and airport manager are women.
DL: The new director of Washoe's department of Water Resources is a women, so is the manager of TMWA and . . . I think the "Glass Ceiling" has been met.
NV: Regarding the "Glass Ceiling" the main thing that's left is a woman Governor for Nevada and a woman President [some laughter]. Are you into that? Do you care about that?
DL: Not really, I just hope that the most qualified person gets the job.
NV: What do you think of the women in the legislature?
DL: Well I have worked with Dina Titus and Dawn Gibbons, speaking of Dawn, that reminds me, I really have a passion . . .
Continued Part Three
I really have a passion about this, Methamphetamine (Meth)
NV: How big a problem is it?
DL: Bill [Bill Langs] and I had his niece move in with us fourteen months ago, she graduated from Hillsdale College [in Hillsdale, Michigan]. She wanted to come out west. We gave her a room. She had lost a lot of weight and seemed very absentminded. She would come home and crash for two or three days. Then in November 2006, she said, she was going to move to San Diego. She traveled highway 395. Then in Victorville, CA she ran head on into a semi-truck and was killed. She was 28 years old. At that point, we connected all the dots and learned she was on Meth. It is terrible. Meth controls every aspect of their lives. It's destroying our youth.
Bill and I raised three kids, all girls, and fortunately they all turned out great.
NV: How old are they?
DL: The oldest is 38 then 36 and the youngest is 28. We are a blended family and the two oldest were Bill's and the youngest was mine.
DL: One of our daughters is a Nurse at Renown Health [formally Washoe Med.] they double load their case loads and do not pay them appropriately, put their license in jeopardy, and then they spend all that money on a name change, it's madding.
NV: A new topic; The GID has how many hookups?
DL: About 6,000 now and we are expecting 750 over the next five to seven years.
NV: What is build out?
DL: Build out for our present capacity, although we could acquire additional capacity and we are looking at a total of 7,400 and with the County's portion the total could be 9,000.
NV: Why do you include the County?
DL: Because we share the same sewer interceptor.
NV: Do you had a contract or is it at the Board's pleasure?
DL: We are all at the pleasure, because that is how the State is.
I worked hard. I know that.
NV: How many hours, would say you work a week?
DL: It would depend. It might be forty or fifty. When Lifestyle Homes was building their 1,600 homes, those were very long days. You would not believe this record, he built 300 houses per year, that is unheard of, the average is maybe 75.
NV: Diana talked about Wal-Mart
DL: I have researched Wal-Mart in other states, where they prevented Wal-Mart from building.
In Bakersfield they actually started building and then were stopped.
What they found was that Wal-Mart puts other businesses out of business.
NV: Among other things. There is a claim that the general taxpayer subsidizes Wal-Mart's employment practices.
DL: My husband's parents owned an Ace Hardware store back in Michigan. Probably about ten years ago Wal-Mart put two stores in their small town three miles either side of them. They decided to remodel the store with the idea of competing with Wal-Mart. They spent $20,000 on revitalizing the store. Then went out of business two years later.
NV: Last topic; What do you think of Reno wanting to impose their own sales tax?
DL: I wrote the opposition to the Sales Tax Ballot Question. I am very upset that Reno has taken our redevelopment money, 20 million in extra revenue from the year before. What did they do with it? Reno already had a tax override for Public Safety, since 1988. Reno just spent nine hundred thousand on a study, to study putting a canopy over the ice rink, and now they want to impose their own City sales tax.
NV: Diana, thank you.
DL: Thank you.
