On council recall detail

More than 5,000 cars a day drive by Scoggin Realty on Center Street in downtown Reno. But it’s not perhaps the best place to hold a drive to collect signatures on a petition to recall four Reno City Council members who vote consistently in favor of the railroad trench project.

“About three-quarters of the cars are from out of town,” said citizen activist Tom Scoggin, owner of the firm. He and partner-in-activism Janyce Rossall of Reno noted that they’d collected only seven signatures in a two-hour period on Tuesday.

“Next time, I’m going to sit out in front of my house on Plumas,” Scoggin said. “I’ll probably get 100 an hour there.”

Scoggin and Rossall were moved to take part in the recall efforts after a judge ruled, essentially, against the Citizens for a Public Train Trench Vote petition with 15,000 signatures of individuals demanding to vote on not building a depressed railway in downtown Reno. Now Renoites have formed a new group under the leadership of Reno City Council Ward 4 candidate Martin Crowley—the Citizens for the Right to Vote.

“It’s not about the trench,” Scoggin reiterated. “I’d just like to vote on it. We are the government. The citizens can’t be wrong. All the citizens want to do is vote. How could it be wrong to want to vote?”

The two activists sat behind a table adorned with red, white and blue ribbons. A man on a motorcycle gave the pair a thumbs-up as the bike grumbled down the street.

“The people who are stopping are shaking our hands and saying thanks,” Scoggin said. “They’re looking for a place to sign the petition. … At least no one’s flipping us off.”

Lillian Blacher, 57, walked by on the sidewalk.

“What’s this about?” she asked.

Rossall explained the failure of the City Council to let people vote and the recall effort.

“Are you a registered voter?” Rossall asked Blacher. “Do you want to sign?”

Blacher, a stay-at-home grandmother, was less than optimistic.

“It doesn’t matter what we think," she said. "The City Council’s going to do what it’s going to do. I’ll sign, but it’s not going to make a damn bit of difference."