Sixteen counties. Seventeen school districts. Nineteen cities. Add up all of the local governments that most Nevadans have likely heard of and the sum pales in comparison to the dozens of general improvement districts providing services throughout the state.
General improvement districts are designed to provide limited public services, such as television access or swimming pools, to communities that can’t receive said services from their county government. Conceptually, they’re supposed to operate as miniature towns or cities. With the exception of a small number of such districts in Clark County, which are represented by the county commission, each general improvement district in Nevada is represented by an elected board of five nonpartisan trustees who are elected by plurality vote.
When there’s a trustee election, that is. Much of the time, there aren’t enough candidates for trustee races to justify holding one…