About Dave Aiazzi

I was born in Reno at St. Mary's Hospital in 1956.  My family moved to Sparks in 1960 and then moved to the "outskirts" of Sparks at 11th & York in the mid 60's.  I still remember airplanes flying overhead spraying the potato fields on the Oppio Ranch on what is now Sparks Middle School .

As a kid, I used to deliver both the Reno Evening Gazette and the Nevada State Journal with my route being on B Street and all the bars.  I also had the Nugget on my route.  Bar patrons are good tippers.  I played Little League at Northmore Park (now Burgess, I believe) and played Junior League at the then Burgess Field (now Sparks City Hall ).

My elementary school was Alice Maxwell, which I attended from kindergarten through sixth grade, never missing a day or being late and getting an “A” average.  I actually kept that record through the eighth grade and have not been on time for anything since.

At Sparks Junior High I met DeLores Stevens.  We didn’t start dating until our junior year at Sparks High.  I lettered in tennis and was active on the ski program (we didn’t have ‘teams’ then, only clubs).  I made the honor roll and did pretty well in high school.

DeLores and I got married right out of high school while I was working at Ralston Purina (a good job) and we moved to Reno.  I was fortunate to get into the Electrical Workers Apprenticeship Program in 1975 – they only took six apprentices that year because work was scarce.  After my four years of apprenticeship, I stared teaching other apprentices in their classroom work.

Construction work picked up for a few years but there was another downturn in the 80’s.  My wife earned a B.S. in Medical Technology from UNR and was hired at Renown (formerly Washoe Medical Center), where she worked for 25 years before switching over to Saint Mary’s.  My wife’s education allowed me to start my own computer consulting business in 1987 (remember the Tandy?).

I started getting involved in politics in the early 90’s when the Reno Recreation Department was floating the idea of selling off Sky Tavern and using the money to fix up the golf courses.  As one of thousands of people who learned to ski on the Reno Junior Ski Program (even though I lived in Sparks), I thought this was a bad idea.  I gave a presentation to the Reno City Council and the then Mayor Pete Sferrazza said, “If you think you can do a better job than the city, go try”.  So we did.  I am the founding President of the Sky Tavern Junior Ski Program and served in that capacity for three years.  We built the first chair lift, we ran the program at Mt. Rose and Diamond Peak when there wasn’t enough snow at Sky Tavern and generally dealt with the myriad of problems that springs up from a newly formed 501c(3).

What I learned from that wonderful experience is that it is easier to work with government than it is to work against it and if you are going to point out a problem, you should be prepared to come up with a solution.

I thought I could take this experience in the community to the City Council level when I heard the plan to tear down the Riverside Hotel and extend Mill Street from Virginia Street to Sierra Street.  I had been working with the daughter-in-law of the man who owned the Mapes to try to find solutions and funding to save that building but I also saw a great building in the Riverside.  My friend from the Sparks City Council, Cindy Henderson, gave me encouragement so I filed and won.

DeLores and I have two children and two grandsons.  Our son Tony graduated from the Culinary Arts Institute in Hyde Park, New York and is the chef of Aureole in Manhattan .  Our daughter Jessica is married to Nik Palmer.  They both graduated from UNR where she also got her Masters degree.  Nik graduated from the Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego and is now a practicing attorney at a local firm.  Nik and Jessica have two sons, Aden and Asher.

The rest, as they say, is public record.