Partlow's Observation Point affords up-close view on northern Nevada's most pressing public issues.
Since 1991, Frank Partlow's newspaper columns have dissected the touchiest and thorniest public policy issues in northern Nevada - from growth, taxes and water conservation, to the smaller ones that never seem to go away, such as potholes. Some readers find his opinions informative - others take them as infuriating. Yet Partlow backs up his biweekly writings with a thorough knowledge of the inner-workings of local government and an understanding of the issues gleaned the hard way: by sitting through endless board and council meetings, and poring over hundreds of staff reports.
Now, Partlow has collected a selection of his Reno Gazette-Journal columns and other essays into a book that serves as a quick yet concise primer on the issues and public decision-making that affect the quality of life of all who call the Truckee Meadows home.
Partlow's analytical skills were honed at highest levels of U.S. military planning
Born in San Francisco, Frank A. Partlow Jr. grew up as an Army brat on U.S. bases around the world, and ended up pursuing a military career like his father, a retired colonel. Partlow Jr. graduated from Orleans American High School in Orleans, France, in 1956, and from the U.S. Military Academy in 1960. His formal education didn't end there; while he moved up the Army ranks to brigadier general, Partlow earned a master's degree from Stanford University in 1964 and graduated from the National Defense University in 1979. He also was a senior fellow at Harvard University 1982-83.
Over his 34-year military career, Partlow performed a great deal of work as an information gatherer and analyst, including representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the U.S. negotiating team that reached the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the Soviet Union in 1987. Later, he served in the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency as director of estimates, responsible for providing the president, his cabinet and defense officials with international long-range forecasts.
A legal resident of Nevada since 1964, Partlow and his wife, Kay, settled permanently in Reno in 1990, following his retirement from the Army. "We loved the friendliness of the people, the proximity to California and the whole range of professional and cultural opportunities," Partlow says. "The Army had dictated where we lived, but the first time Kay and I had a chance to pick the place we wanted to live, we chose Reno."
Since 1991, Partlow has served as executive director of the Northern Nevada Network, providing a monthly newsletter and reports on local governmental decision-making and public policy issues to a list of clients spanning the spectrum of the region's business community. Since 1991, Partlow also has penned a biweekly newspaper column - first for the Lahontan Valley News/Fallon Eagle Standard; and since 1995, for the Reno Gazette-Journal - addressing local issues and governmental actions.
Observation Point: An Outsider's Look Inside Northern Nevada, is Partlow's first book.
The Partlows have two married daughters and four grandchildren.
