Commissioner Mike Clark’s $10,000 donation to a motorcycle group for their annual toy drive remains intact after being reconsidered on Tuesday, with a 3-2 vote in favor of retaining the donation.
Clark and commissioners Clara Andriola and Jeanne Herman voted to retain the donation. Chair Alexis Hill and Mariluz Garcia voted to rescind.
Hill had asked for the donation to be reconsidered after a man wore a vest with the Branded Few motorcycle club insignia, which includes a swastika and eagle similar to that on Nazi insignia, at the June 18 meeting .
Hill said that the symbol is used by different cultures with many meanings, but that it means something hateful here.
“Hitler kidnapped the swastika. The swastika has become a symbol of hate, racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, bigotry, discrimination and othering of people who were different,” Hill said.
Ronny James, a member of the Branded Few, argued the symbol is not a swastika but a bent cross, symbolizing four L’s, “luck, light, love and life” and that the eagle represents strength and freedom.
Troy Regas, a representative of the Northern Nevada Confederation of Clubs, told the commission that he was against the swastika and that the Reno Toy Run organization doesn’t tolerate hate.
When Hill asked Regas if the members of his organization are allowed to wear a swastika, he said no.
“You’re trying to put words in my mouth, and I don’t like that. They call it a bent cross. I’m going to stick with that. I’m not calling it a swastika,” Regas said.
Derek Shawk, director of the Reno Toy Run and a member of their five-person board, said his organization consists of volunteers who care about the community, calling it a “labor of love.”
“Of course I condemn all forms of hate,” Shawk said. ”I and the toy run condemn it, as hate has no place in our organization, nor in our society as a whole.”
"We welcome everybody. We accept everybody. We live here, this is our community and we want to take care of our community," Shawk said.
Hill said a swastika is a sign of Nazism and white supremacy, so she was not going to vote in favor of donating to an organization whose members can wear the symbol.
Clark disagreed, saying that he does not condone the symbol or Nazism, but his donation was not to Regas’s organization.
“My donation was clearly to the Reno Toy Run,” Clark said. “None of those members of that board were wearing a swastika, bent cross, whatever you want to call it …
“To smear them and drag their name through the dirt over what somebody was wearing, I hope it doesn’t cost them any more donations.”
Commissioner Mariluz Garcia voted to rescind the donation.
“People keep saying it's about helping the kids and I agree, and that is exactly the context from which I’m basing my decision on,” Garcia said. “For us, swastikas illicit fear and they always will.”
Commissioner Clara Andriola said she supported maintaining the donation after hearing all of the public comment.
“The reality is, we’re not here to judge, we’re here to actually follow the policy that’s in place and they’ve met all that policy, and I’m going to be supporting the initial donation,” Andriola said.
This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Washoe County Commission retains Reno Toy Run donation after swastika incident
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