Washoe County’s budget crisis reveals some twisted priorities, putting staff over services, and politics over public health. Despite $27 million deficit, officials choose to cut mosquito control, deny a fire station, and ignore radon concerns rather than trim administrative bloat

Washoe County residents are about to learn a harsh lesson about government priorities: when push comes to shove, protecting bureaucratic jobs matters more than protecting public health and safety.

The Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation (TMPF), once a staple of local conservation and community programming in Northern Nevada, has announced it is shutting down operations effective immediately. Staff have been laid off, programs are ending one by one, and the community is being left without services that once thrived under the organization’s stewardship.

The cause? What’s being described as significant financial mismanagement by former Executive Director Heidi Anderson.

If you happened to stroll through Caughlin Ranch tomorrow and catch a “Concerts on the Green” show, you may have noticed a curious name among the sponsors: Beth Smith, Washoe County School Board Trustee.

Now why, exactly, would a school board trustee be sponsoring a concert in an upscale neighborhood?

Back in November 2022, the public learned something both unsettling and bizarre: a GPS tracker had been found on Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve’s car. Cue the political fireworks. Fingers were pointed fast, and one private investigator we’d worked with was thrown under the bus—by the mayor herself.

But facts are facts. The Sparks Police Department did their job and cleared him of any involvement in anyway - his name should have never come up. They told the mayor straight: the tracker had been planted by another private investigator—David McNeely—a man Picon has never hired, never spoken to, and frankly, wouldn't recognize if he walked by us.

Let’s call it what it is: a developer-funded PR push disguised as a community forum. And much like the City of Reno Ward 1 and Ward 3 forums we bet this won’t be recorded or documented either.

Wood Rodgers, the consulting firm paid by the owners of Lakeridge Golf Course, is hosting a “community meeting” to talk about proposed changes to the site—including a Master Plan amendment that could reshape the neighborhood. But here’s the real story: this same firm is a major donor to multiple Reno City Council campaigns.

Recently, Reno’s Ward 1 and Ward 3 councilmembers held community forums—but don’t bother asking for a recording or meeting notes. There aren’t any. That’s right: no recordings, no transcripts, no official records.

These forums are pitched as chances for residents to connect directly with their elected officials—sort of like NABish meetings, but stripped of any formal accountability. And without documentation, what’s discussed simply vanishes into thin air. No public record. No follow-up. No way to hold anyone to their word.

Just when you thought your local government couldn't get any more tone-deaf, Washoe County delivers again — this time with a $27 million deficit and raises for county elected officials. Because nothing says “fiscal responsibility” like giving yourself a pay bump while the ship is taking on water.

Thanks to legislative magic from Skip “Spin” Hansen and Commissioner Alexis Hill, a bill made its way through Carson City ensuring that county commissioners (yes, the ones running multimillion-dollar deficits) get more money — every year, for the next few years. Public service never paid so well, right?

A contentious online exchange highlights the urgent need for third-party verification of county homelessness claims.

A heated social media exchange between two local figures has crystallized a critical question that Washoe County officials have been avoiding for years: Why won't they allow an independent audit of their homelessness programs and spending?

As the City of Reno and Washoe County shake hands over the idea of a new parks district, residents are right to ask: what’s really growing here—green space or government?

The City of Reno has signed a $223,550 taxpayer-funded contract with PROS Consulting to explore a new Service Plan, a first step toward creating a park district. This sounds nice on paper—more trails, open space, and recreation—but let’s not forget: this is also the first step toward new taxes.

As cowboys, rodeo fans, and tourists poured into Reno for the annual Reno Rodeo, some local seniors at the 9th Street Senior Center were witnessing a different kind of roundup — one that has nothing to do with bucking broncos or barrel racing.

According to several residents who frequent the center, during the rodeo brought an unusual level of law enforcement activity to their street. Seniors say sheriff’s deputies and county employees were patrolling the area immediately outside the county fence that encloses the senior center and adjacent county facilities — an area long known to be an unofficial campsite for people experiencing homelessness.

Every year, Reno News & Review holds its beloved “Best Of” contest — a little popularity parade where locals nominate and vote for their favorites, from burgers to bands to (somehow) politicians. But this year, something smells less like civic pride and more like campaign cologne.

Apparently, it's still 2020 for Councilmembers Devon Reese and Miguel Martinez, who are hosting virtual community forum meetings. Either they’ve forgotten the world reopened… or they’ve finally accepted that no one’s showing up to their in-person events. We lean toward the latter.

Let’s be honest: when a councilmember holds a community conversation and the only attendees are a Neighborhood Advisory Board, someone from AARP, a couple of seniors and one other under 50 it’s probably time for some self-reflection. But instead of asking why nobody shows up, Reese and Martinez have decided to dodge the answer entirely—by going virtual.

After hiring outside consultants to evaluate its County Managers Office leadership dysfunction, Washoe County got exactly what it paid for: a detailed Raftelis report outlining what many residents have known for years—there’s a breakdown in trust, communication, and strategic priorities at the top.

But instead of focusing on the actual substance of the report—like rebuilding credibility or creating a strategy that doesn’t resemble a bureaucratic scavenger hunt—Commissioner Mariluz Garcia had a different takeaway: Let’s move commissioner comments to the end of meetings. Because obviously, the real problem here is the order of the agenda, not the disconnect between elected officials and the public they serve.

In a state facing real, urgent problems — skyrocketing housing costs, crumbling school infrastructure, underfunded healthcare, and overburdened services for families — one of our state legislators has sprung into action with what she clearly considers a priority emergency.

No, it’s not school funding. It’s not the opioid crisis. It’s not even DMV wait times. It’s... changing the word "Assemblymember" to "Assemblyperson."

Reno Councilmember Kathleen Taylor is hosting a public forum, but don't call her "Councilmember"—she's billing herself as "Vice Mayor Kathleen Taylor."

Here's the thing: nobody elected her to that position. Vice mayor isn't a democratic choice—it's a rotating assignment that gets passed around the council like a ceremonial gavel. One day you're Councilmember Smith, the next day you're Vice Mayor Smith. It's not exactly a mandate from the people.

County Manager Eric Brown's June 30th retirement marks the end of a five-year stint—and the beginning of some uncomfortable questions about how Washoe County hires, and potentially rewards, its top executives.

As the county gears up to hire another pricey headhunter firm to find Brown's replacement, it's worth remembering how well that worked out last time. In 2019, Washoe County paid handsomely for professional recruitment services, only to end up with a candidate pool so thin that former Commissioner Marsha Berkbigler had to personally call her old friend and former boss Eric Brown to convince him to apply.

While Reno’s senior citizens were being quietly kicked off the city’s funding bus, Mayor Hillary Schieve was boarding an actual one a few weeks later — or more accurately, a plane bound for sunny Tampa, Florida, for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

You might remember on May 5, 2025, Schieve claimed she wasn’t going to “die on the hill” defending Reno’s $15,000 annual membership in the very same mayoral conference. But guess what? She didn’t die on the hill — she flew right over it. Business class, anyone?

In the always-entertaining world of Northern Nevada politics, career paths have a funny way of curving in on themselves like a cul-de-sac. Case in point: former Washoe County Registrar of Voters Jamie Rodriguez, who has landed herself a new gig at NVR Government Affairs, the lobbying arm of Nevada REALTORS® — a group that checks notes advocates for private property rights and, well, keeping taxes in check.

Washoe County might want to invest in mucking boots — not just for the fairgrounds, but for the growing pile of bureaucratic nonsense it keeps stepping in. This week’s rodeo stunt? A memo quietly urging county employees to work from home because gasp... the Reno Rodeo makes it hard to park.

Let’s get this straight: After over 100 years of the Reno Rodeo, now it’s too difficult for county employees to do their jobs from the office? Welcome to the Wild West, folks, where public servants apparently clock in from the couch when parking gets inconvenient.

Once again, Washoe County's Human Services Agency has proven they fundamentally don't understand the people they're supposed to serve. In a masterclass of poor communication, the county announced today that the senior center would be closing June 30th for 14 days of flooring work.

Seven days' notice. For a 14-day closure. To people who live by their calendars and plan their lives around routine and reliability. Let’s remember the last ‘remodel’ of the 9th Street Senior Center was delayed by a couple of weeks - could that happen in Sparks - sure Washoe County Government doesn’t care. This is the same pattern of not caring on the part of the county staff the art of not giving a damn