Carson, Douglas make a good start

Residents of Carson City and Douglas County have to be encouraged that their elected officials at least are talking about solutions to their border standoff.

Of course, we'd like those discussions to be public -- and apparently they will be at the end of the month when supervisors and commissioners get together to try to resolve their differences over federal land to be auctioned in northern Douglas County, presumably for private development.

So far, as reported in the Appeal on Tuesday, individual supervisors have talked with individual commissioners to find some common ground. That's a worthwhile start, because at least we can hope the potshots and name-calling phase has ended.

Carson City still has a protest on file with the Bureau of Land Management holding up the auction. The worry is that development of 146 acres along Highway 395 will suck more retail development across the county line, eroding Carson City's sales tax base while at the same time causing infrastructure pressures on Carson City itself.

From residents' point of view, although we understand the issues and the rivalries involved, we ultimately can't understand why two elected bodies can't get together to find solutions that will provide more benefit than harm.

As we've noted before, Carson and Douglas have far more in common than they have in conflict. Most of us don't think twice about the political implications of where we shop or work or watch our kids play soccer -- mainly because we elect supervisors and commissioners to worry about those issues, not to snipe at each other.

The biggest issue now seems to be whether Douglas County would try to lure auto dealers across the county line, putting a huge dent in Carson's sales-tax base. So each side has some bargaining chips to lay on the table.

A new year brings some renewed optimism that both Carson and Douglas can achieve their goals on behalf of their residents without trampling on the other's. Good luck.