Board of Directors

Ernie Schank serves as Vice Chairman and an agricultural representative on the CWSD Board appointed by the Churchill County Board of Commissioners.

Ernie was born and raised in Fallon, Nev. He was educated in the local schools and attended and graduated from Brigham Young University with a B.S. in Animal Science. He served a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in New Zealand. Ernie has been married to his sweetheart, the former Carmen Sorensen, since 1972. They enjoy their three sons and one daughter, as well as 16 grandchildren.

Ernie owns and operates a family farming/ranching business. He has worked as an instructor for Western Nevada Community College, served on the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation board of directors, and served as president of the Newlands Water Protective Association. In 1978, he was named Outstanding Young Farmer/Rancher of Nevada by the Farm Bureau.

Ernie was first elected to the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District (TCID) Board of Directors in 1978. He served four years at that time. In 1998, he was again elected to the board until he retired from the board in 2018 after 24 years of service. He served for 20 years as the president of the board of directors. In his capacity as president he represented the TCID before congressional committees, has been involved in negotiations on all kinds of water-related issues and has been a witness in many legal proceedings. From 1982-1984, he was appointed and served on the Governor’s select committee to study the feasibility of building additional dams on the Carson River. In 1994, he represented the Newlands Water Protective Association on the second-generation negotiations for implementation of P.L. 101-618. He also currently serves on the Carson Truckee Water Conservancy District board of directors.

He has done extensive research on the Newlands Reclamation Project history in preparation for the 100th-anniversary celebration of the Project’s authorization and construction, which occurred in 2003. He has spent many years putting together a picture history of the building of the Truckee Canal from collections at TCID, Churchill County Museum, Nevada State Historical Society, and Bureau of Reclamation. He has enjoyed the opportunity to make historical presentations on the building of the Newlands Project before many organizations, clubs, and groups. He has also written many articles on water-related issues for local newspapers, Nevada Policy Research Institute, and for In Focus, a Churchill County Museum publication.

Major accomplishments at Truckee-Carson Irrigation District:
• Improved relationships and communication with governmental leaders
• Committee structure of the board of directors
• Passage of Public Law 106-265-Transfer of Headquarters from US to TCID
• Long-term lease with Sierra Pacific Power Company
• Purchase of New Lahontan Hydro Plant
• Improvements and modernization of Old Lahontan and V-Line Hydro Plants
• Bonding of Truckee Canal Conduit Rehabilitation Project
• Big Dig and V-Line Spill to protect the Fallon area from flooding

Dave Nelson serves as on the CWSD board as treasurer. After working his way through college at a variety of jobs, he graduated from California State University, Pomona with a B.S. in Business Administration. Upon graduation Dave moved into real estate, starting in real estate sales, then managing a real estate office and becoming a real estate appraiser. He eventually earned a Class 3 designation with the state of California. Dave then become a regional loan underwriter in southern California and later held a national director of claims position for a mortgage insurance company for more than four years.

Dave moved to Nevada in 2003 and ran for Douglas County Commissioner in 2008. Although he did not win, in 2016 a group of supporters encouraged him to run again. He then won a commissioner’s seat and served the public for four years. He founded Nelson and Shizuru, Inc. and today remains its CEO.

Besides serving on the board for CWSD, Dave serves on the Douglas County Planning Commission.

Charlie Dobson serves on the CWSD Board as a representative of the Alpine County Board of Supervisors.

Mark Gardner serves on the CWSD Board as a representative of the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

Stacey Giomi has been a resident of Carson City since 1977.  He is a graduate of Carson High School (Class of 1980) and received his Associate of Arts Degree from Western Nevada College.  Stacey went on to obtain dual Bachelors’ Degrees in Public Administration (Fire) and Fire Prevention Technology from Cogswell College.  He started as a Volunteer Firefighter with the Carson City Fire Department in 1980.  He was ultimately hired to a full-time position and served for over 31 years before retiring as Fire Chief & Director of Emergency Management in 2015.  During his career he held every rank in the Carson City Fire Department.

Stacey is currently the Director of Facilities & Emergency Preparedness for the Carson City based Nevada Health Centers.  This is a state-wide organization that provides medical and dental care to low-income, uninsured, underinsured and geographically isolated residents of Nevada.  Nevada Health Centers is the largest community health center in Nevada with locations in seven different Nevada counties

Having been appointed by three separate Nevada Governors, Stacey has served on several state-wide organizations: State Emergency Response Commission, Homeland Security Commission’s Funding Committee (where he currently serves as Chairman), and he is the former President of the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association.  Personally, Stacey has a long history of community service:  he is the immediate Past President of Advocates to End Domestic Violence and Secretary on the Board for the RSVP Program.  He has also served on everything from AYSO to PTA organizations.

Giomi raised two children in Carson City – both of whom graduated from both Carson High School and the University of Nevada Reno. He has one granddaughter.  In his spare time, he enjoys golf, hiking with his black lab (Lexi), travel, cooking and spending time with family and friends.

Stacey Giomi serves on the CWSD Board as a representative of the Carson City Board of Supervisors.

David Griffith serves on the CWSD Board as a representative of the Alpine County Board of Supervisors.

Sharla Hales was elected in 2022 to the Douglas County Board of Commissioners. She has lived in Minden, Nev. for 35 years. She spent 12 years as a school board trustee, during which she served on various statewide education committees and as president of the Nevada Association of School Boards. By vocation, Sharla is an attorney currently serving as general counsel for Churchill County School District.

Sharla and her husband of 40 years, Jim, raised their children in Carson Valley and love living near the Sierra Nevada mountains. Sharla and Jim enjoy skiing, biking, kayaking, boating, and rafting. Sharla appreciates the opportunity to be part of a group dedicated to preserving the health of the Carson River Watershed and to protecting the environmental health of Carson Valley.

Tammy Hendrix serves on the CWSD Board as a representative of the Lyon County Board of Commissioners, District 3. She retired from a 30-year career in civil engineering and land surveying. Tammy and her husband, Tom, who serves as a trustee for the Lyon County School District, have been married for 39 years and own a business that provides site design services to homeowners in Stagecoach and Silver Springs. They have a son and granddaughter, and volunteer for many community events throughout Lyon County. Tammy has been an avid long-distance runner throughout her life.

Jim is the Storey County clerk & treasurer. Jim previously served eight years on the Storey County Planning Commission – his last four years as its vhair. Jim is also treasurer of the Nevada State Association of Parliamentarians and is a former communications chair for the National Association of Parliamentarians.
Jim founded Cascade Survey Research, a boutique market research and development firm serving an international clientele. Prior to that Jim enjoyed a 20-year career with the Inland Steel Company and its international subsidiary, Ryerson China.
In addition to holding an M.B.A. in marketing and financial management from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Jim has a B.A. in biology from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis.

Cassi Koerner is a fifth-generation rancher in the Carson Valley. She received her bachelor’s in animal science from Colorado State University. Cassi is excited to be on the board of the Carson Water Subconservancy District as an advocate for the present and future farmers and ranchers of this beautiful valley she feels blessed to call Home.

Cassi serves on the CWSD board as an ag. representative appointed by the Douglas County Board of Commissioners.

Harry “Bus” Scharmann was born in Modesto, Calif., and grew up on a Central Valley dairy farm. In 1970, Bus graduated with an Associates of Arts degree from San Joaquin Delta Junior College in Stockton, Calif. He went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in education with a minor in sociology from Brigham Young University in 1973.

After working a variety of jobs, Bus was selected to enter a new graduate-degree program in community education with BYU in 1974. Along with his classwork, he entered a nine-month internship sponsored by the Mott Foundation of Flint, Mich. Bus’s internship working to develop the community schools concept as a part-time counselor for Western Nevada Community College (WNCC) at its Hawthorne, Nev. Instructional Center, was life-changing.

In 1975, Bus went on to receive his master’s degree in education, with an emphasis in community education. He later was offered a full-time position working jointly with WNCC and Mineral County School District developing dawn-to-dusk education and recreation programs utilizing school, county, and military base facilities. Two years later, Bus accepted a position with the WNCC Fallon Campus, where he worked as a career counselor, and in 1981 was promoted to assistant dean.

In 1993, Bus was given new responsibilities as the dean of off-campus programs, where he directed other rural centers, the prison program, the Douglas campus, and the WNCC nursing program.  In 1999, he served for a brief time as the interim vice president of academic affairs, and before the year’s end returned to his home campus of WNC Fallon as dean.

After serving a rewarding career with more than 12 years as dean, Bus retired from WNC in June 2011. Bus reflects fondly on his community-college experience and believes in his own humble way that he was able to leave his mark on higher education in Nevada.

Life after retirement for Bus has not slowed. In 2011, he and wife Lana began serving as adoption specialists for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints through their family services department in Reno. In 2012, Bus was approached by the Churchill County School District to work as superintendent of schools. He agreed to the challenge for one school year, where he dedicated himself to budget management, easing tensions throughout the district, and hiring a new superintendent. His dedication proved fruitful, and Bus’s goals were accomplished by the conclusion of the 2012-2013 school year.

With aspirations to continue serving his community, Bus was elected as a Churchill County commissioner in 2013, and currently serves as chairman of the board.

Bus and his high-school sweetheart and wife of 50 years, Lana, enjoy living in Fallon, traveling, and spending time with their five children and 18 grandchildren.

Born and raised in Carson City, Lisa graduated from Carson High School and the University of Nevada, Reno with a Bachelor of Science in English. Lisa has served this community as a sheriff’s deputy, juvenile probation officer, and middle school health teacher, being named Carson City Teacher of the Year in 2013, and Nevada Department of Education HIV Educator of the Year in 2009. Lisa founded Carson Animal Services Initiative (CASI), spearheading the effort to build and help equip the new animal shelter and make access to spay/neuter services more available.  She served on the Ron Wood Family Resource Center’s board of directors and in 2018 was honored as one of Northern Nevada’s Top 20 Powerful Women by Northern Nevada Business Weekly. Lisa and her husband, Steve, share their home with Hank the dog.

Lisa Schuette serves on the CWSD board as a representative of the Carson City Board of Supervisors.

Fred Stodieck serves as an agricultural representative on the CWSD board appointed by Douglas County.  Fred is a lifelong farmer from Carson Valley. Fred operates Stodieck Farm with the help of his wife, daughters, and grandsons. Stodieck Farm has been in his family since his great- grandfather bought it in 1868 for $2,600 in gold coins. Mentored by his father, Cecil (who was also federal water master for the Carson River), and uncles, Elven and William, Fred learned animal husbandry, equipment management, ditch maintenance, water law, and many other ranching skills. Fred has also worked as a road surveyor and in construction, and all of these practical skills have helped him remain successful in the difficult task of cattle ranching.

Lee is a Storey County Planning Commissioner.

He grew up in a lumber mill on the Washington State side of the Columbia River Gorge. The house he lived in was less than 500 feet from the river and only separated by a highway.  After moving to Seattle, he missed the forest and joined the Seattle Mountaineers as an active backpacker and mountain climber. The rivers and their watersheds provide beautiful access to the mountains and glaciers in addition to fishing.

He worked five years with Boeing while attending the University of Washington. He was invited to join the U.S. military and his tenure as a Navy Seabee was the start of his career in heavy-construction management.

He worked on a large variety of projects, mostly in management positions that included project manager. He was employed for 10 years by Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Marine Construction Division on projects that included dredging, piers, underwater pipelines, shoreline protection, salvage, environmental protection and environmental cleanup.

He moved to Nevada in late 1997 to work on the original Las Vegas Spaghetti Bowl Interchange and has been a Nevada resident ever since.

Lee moved from project to project and resided in Washington, Idaho, California, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada, New York, Colorado and Texas. Usually, his family moved with him. However, when they were relocating for the I-580 Galena Creek project in November 2003, Lee’s wife informed him that that was her last move, and he has maintained his residence in Virginia City since then.