Bonnie Weber, an active North Valleys community leader, today filed for the Washoe County Commission District 5 seat.

    "I'm a uniter, not a divider," Weber said. "I will strive to establish a positive, working relationship among the three local government agencies-Washoe County, the City of Reno, and the City of Sparks."

    "I am a vigorous and energetic consensus builder" who will strive to encourage local governments to work together as a team to tackle the complex problems of our area.

    Weber, an entrepreneurial small business owner, said she would call for a Business Summit within 60 days of election to the County Commission. This summit will include both large and small business owners, and members of the Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce.

    "My husband and I are small business owners," Weber said. "We have seen from a first- hand experience just how challenging it is to make things work and to make a profit. "

    While other events are aimed at trying to attract major industries and/or big business to the area, Weber's proposed summit would, instead, seek to draw small business and industry that would employ 50 persons or fewer.

    A resident of the North Valleys for over 19 years, Weber has served on the Stead Neighborhood Advisory Board, as president of the Nevada Republican Assembly, and as secretary of the Washoe County Republican Party. She has also served on the Reno Commission on the Status of Women and as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Weber is currently chairman of the Friends of the North Valleys Regional Sports Complex, an organization made up of business leaders and residents, working together to support the park and its affairs.

    She has been involved in a number of federal, state and local political campaigns and issues.

    Weber, 48, and her husband, Michael, have been married for 20 years. The couple has two children, Lori, 25, and Matthew, 7. Lori, who is married to Will Wilson, is a schoolteacher for the Washoe County School District.