Denton’s PR Tour & Pork Butt

Interesting Step 1 removed the photos of Grant Denton on their social media page, but we featured an article so we had copies.

We probably wouldn’t be writing this article if Karma Box Project Executive Director Grant Denton was not currently engaged in what appears to be a full-court public relations campaign aimed at repairing his public image.

But the timing is difficult to miss.

Three former Karma Box Project employees, they were terminated when they were arrested, are currently sitting in the Washoe County jail on Parr Boulevard facing various alleged criminal charges. At the same time, Denton’s organization has lost its contract with Washoe County Government operating the Safe Camp as of June 30, 2026, meaning the end of a significant stream of taxpayer-funded revenue. Per Our Town Reno - looks like the City of Reno is just having them pick up trash, and we hear the City of Sparks is no longer working with Denton;

Taken together, those developments make the recent PR push a little easier to understand.

But the arrests are only part of the story.

Since May 2024, nine women have come forward with allegations regarding Denton and how they say they were treated. Denton denied those claims and critics say he mounted a campaign to dismiss or belittle their accusations, which many observers felt resulted in the women not being taken seriously at the time.

Now, with several former employees facing criminal allegations, some in the community are asking whether those warnings should have been given far more attention. Or at the very least looked into.

That brings us back to the current image-repair effort by Denton. How about the women’s images. Their reputations. Where is their equal time?

Denton has recently appeared in opinion pieces in the Reno Gazette Journal and This Is Reno, where the message has largely been that he knows more than the critics and that his approach is still the right one. We’re not going to link to the pieces, because we don’t want him to have that many views.

But perhaps the press might consider asking a few tougher questions instead of simply providing space for those explanations, you know like Our Town Reno has been asking.

For instance: Mathew Grimsley, who allegedly battered his wife, is currently sitting in jail while asking for a reduced bail amount. Yet he is represented by a high-priced attorney reportedly charging hundreds of dollars an hour.

If he cannot afford to post bail, a simple question follows: who is paying the legal fees?

Is it personal funds?
Outside donors?
Someone connected to Karma Box Project?

The questions also extend to the leadership structure surrounding Denton. The Karma Box Project has a board of directors. When the nine women came forward in 2024, many are asking why Denton’s board did not appear to reach out and hear their concerns directly.

Boards exist for oversight. That is their job.

One board member drawing particular attention is John Firestone, who serves as the executive director of another nonprofit while also sitting on Denton’s board. Observers might reasonably ask whether Firestone’s own board has questions about how he responded when those allegations first surfaced.

The web of community connections goes even further.

Organizations such as Step 1 Recovery recently featured Denton at their gala. That decision naturally invites questions about what due diligence their leadership performed before putting him front and center at a major fundraising event. Oh, and then removing the photos after being called out.

Local media also plays a role in shaping public perception. Denton has appeared on KOLO Morning Break, hosted by Katie Ramlko. Ramo;lp often speaks of her infant daughter, as a mom would she want her daughter to endure what the nine women have.

The show frequently features cooking segments connected to Jonathan Chapin, who is associated with Reno Recipes and also sits on the board of Step 1. Why was Chapin so quick to be photographed with Denton at the Stap 1 Gala only a few days ago. You know that same event Morning Break’s Katy xx MC’ed.

Which leads to another layer of the conversation: sponsors.

One of the businesses sponsoring the cooking segments on the show is Blue Ribbon Meats. A real all American flag sort of business in Sparks. Businesses that sponsor media programming often do so because they want their brand associated with community goodwill and positive exposure.

But sponsorships also raise questions when controversies surface around the personalities connected to those programs.

Would sponsors want their customers asking why their brand is tied to a segment featuring individuals publicly aligned with someone facing allegations and mounting criticism? Probably not — especially when those customers are simply stopping by the butcher counter to pick up a pork roast or a pork butt for the weekend barbecue.

None of these questions are particularly complicated.

But they are the kinds of questions that tend to arise when public funding, nonprofit leadership, media exposure, and criminal allegations intersect. Instead of repairng Denton’s persona or allowing him to be rebranded. It is time these women be allowed to come out of the shadows and be heard and taken seriously.

During the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, activists used what they called “targeted exposure” — asking uncomfortable questions in the places where institutions expected business to continue as usual. We urge the nine women to employ some targeted exposure and start to ask questions, take your reputations back, ask Denton’s board members, especially John Firestone, KOLO, Katey R. Step 1 Board, Jonathan Chapin, and go buy some meat at Blue Ribbon, tell them your experiences, and then ask them all why they continue to support Denton.

The strategy “targeted exposure” wasn’t about spectacle.

It was about accountability.

Because no matter how polished the opinion columns may be, public relations campaigns rarely succeed in answering the questions people are already asking.

And in this case, those questions appear to be multiplying about the Karma Box Project Executive Director.

The “Art” of the “Block”