Hunter Rand Steps Forward to Serve Sparks:Announces Bid for Ward 2 Council Seat

Today, I’m proud to announce my candidacy to serve as the next councilmember for the City of Sparks, representing Ward 2.

I grew up in Sparks. I’ve seen both the best and the worst sides of our city - moments of incredible unity and moments where we’ve struggled. Many of our elected leaders have worked hard to get us where we are today. But we now face new, urgent challenges - and we must face them together.

Sparks is confronting a multi-million dollar budget deficit. City services are at risk of being cut. Fire stations are at risk of service brownouts. The Sparks Police Department is understaffed in mission-critical positions. These issues are not new; they’ve been decades in the making, beginning in 1963 with AB168 and compounded over the years by successive legislation that has choked local revenues - from SB204 in 1979 to SB69 in 1981, and AB439 in 2005. Our financial foundation has slowly eroded, even as the needs of our residents have grown.

Today, Sparks stands at a crossroads. Growth is slowing due to land scarcity. Economic uncertainty means fewer resources and reduced revenues, but our population hasn’t shrunk - if anything, it's grown. Yet we are being asked to do more with less. This affects all of us. It affects our neighbors. It affects our future, together.

We need leadership with diverse real-world experience, with the creativity and courage to break the mold. We need someone who listens, leads with compassion, and acts with the future in mind - not just for today, or the next four years, but for the next 50, 75, and 100 years. We need leadership that brings people together, that prioritizes community over partisanship, and that puts our neighbors first.

My hope is to be that leader - for Sparks, for Ward 2, and for all of us, together.

I’m not a career politician. I started working retail at the Best Buy in Ward 2 while I was still in high school. I worked my way through college as a student employee at the University of Nevada, later serving as a professional faculty member. I taught high school students as a licensed educator. For the past six years I’ve worked in the television and film industry and I’ve built a small business and helped other local entrepreneurs grow. I’ve worked in risk management. I understand how systems break - and how to build them stronger.

I am different from the status quo. And right now, Sparks and Ward 2 need something different. They need someone who can unite experience with empathy, and bring people together to build solutions that last.

Let’s shape the future of Sparks - together.