Appointment of Wylie has woman seeing red

Carolyn Crain, a regular speaker during public comment at Clark County Board of Commissioners meetings, accused the commissioners Tuesday of appointing a communist to represent the 49th Legislative District.

Crain was so steamed she couldn’t bring herself to even name the alleged communist, who was appointed in April to replace Jim Jacks.

Crain said she attended a 49th District town hall meeting and heard from Rep. Jim Moeller, Sen. Craig Pridemore and “that woman.”

“Her name is Sharon Wylie,” said Chairman Tom Mielke.

And what did Crain cite as evidence? The fact that Wylie declared herself to be a “proud progressive.”

Sure, Crain said, look up “progressive” in the dictionary and it’s an “awesome” word. (My Webster’s New World lists “moving forward or onward” as the first definition; “favoring, working for, or characterized by progress or improvement, as through political or social reform” is listed as the fifth.)

But, Crain said, it’s really code for communist.

“You guys appointed a communist to represent me,” Crain said.

Another regular speaker, Judy Tiffany, later disagreed with Crain’s assessment.

“Just because you are a progressive doesn’t mean you are a communist,” Tiffany told commissioners.

I will note, for the record, that Clark County Administrator Bill Barron was wearing a red tie.

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