Devon Wants a Moratorium, Eddie Wants a Parade
Free Press Frenzy: Devon and Eddie Chase Headlines
Picon is amused that today the City of Reno is holding a gathering to discuss data centers.
Why? Because suddenly City Councilmember Devon Reese has discovered concerns about data centers after voting for them and accepting campaign contributions from people connected to the industry. Then, after apparently noticing he might be struggling in the mayoral primary, he called for a moratorium.
Picon's guess is that Devon is simply chasing headlines.
Of course, he's not much different from Hillary Schieve's new bestie, Eddie Lorton, who spent months pitching a Reno 250th Fourth of July parade. The result? A whole lot of free press. Then came even more free press from obtaining a temporary restraining order against Mike Leonard of Mike's Reno Report over a meme.
As for that case, it once again leaves Picon wondering whether Judge Pierre Hascheff is asleep at the wheel. But what else is new?
Eddie Lorton’s campaign team sit behind him during the hearing in Washoe County Justice Court … last week.
Meanwhile, we called the City of Reno to ask a simple question: How many people have signed up to participate in the parade?
The answer? We were told we would need to file a public records request.
A public records request?
Come on. If signups were through the roof, wouldn't the city be shouting the numbers from the rooftops? The response naturally raises the question: Are the numbers underwhelming?
So here's Picon's takeaway. The local media appears to be handing out free marketing and public relations to both Devon Reese and Eddie Lorton as they try to gain ground on mayoral rivals Kate Marshall and Kathleen Taylor.
Perhaps they have heard the same rumors we have — that one or more polls show Marshall and Taylor leading the field.
If that's true, then every press conference, every parade announcement, every moratorium proposal, and every courtroom appearance starts to look less like governing and more like a desperate search for free publicity.