3-Term Reno Mayor, Casino Owner, Civic Booster Dies at 81

RENO — Bob Cashell, a three-term former Reno mayor, civic booster and casino owner was remembered Tuesday for his personality and his legacy of development in the northern Nevada city he adopted more than 50 years ago.

Cashell died Tuesday morning at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center with family members at his side, longtime friend and publicist Jim Bauserman told the Reno GazetteJournal . He was 81.

Cashell “touched so many lives with his larger than life personality,” Mayor Hillary Schieve tweeted. “He loved the entire Reno community like they were his very own family. His legacy will forever be remembered.”

Cashell was mayor from 2002 to 2014. He served on the state Board of Regents and switched party affiliations from Democrat to Republican after becoming lieutenant governor in 1983.

He moved to Reno in the late 1960s from Longview, Texas, buying a truck stop just that eventually became Boomtown Casino.

Cashell pressed for a rail trench that eliminated 11 city railroad crossings when it opened in 2006 at a cost of $282 million. He also supported construction of the Reno Aces baseball stadium, a new City Hall and other projects.