For Martinez and Reese Accountability Stops at the Curb
This is what the Washoe GOP was sending out over the weekend, however we added Reese and Martinez to the car because they both allowed Rodriguez to drive after drinking having been at an event together Friday night.
Today’s Reno City Council meeting should be lively. Vice Mayor Miguel Martinez and Reno’s mayor-in-waiting (at least in his own campaign emails) Devon Reese will be perched on the dais, no doubt refreshed after Reese’s fabulous fundraiser at the Grand Sierra Resort — you know, the same Grand Sierra that benefited from all that generous Tax Increment Financing (TIF) support Reese voted to approve. Pure coincidence, we’re sure.
Meanwhile, local Republicans were busy firing off memes about an alleged DUI involving Sparks Councilmember Joe Rodriguez over the weekend.
But here’s the multi-million-dollar question no one seems to be asking:
If Martinez and Reese were there with Rodriguez at the Friday event, did either of these leaders-in-action think to grab the keys? Call an Uber? Phone a cab? Offer the back seat of their own car? Or was everyone suddenly very interested in looking at their phones? Was Reese busy posting the photo with Rodriguez on Facebook, you know the one he later took down after the news broke of the DUI.
It’s amazing how quickly “public safety” becomes a campaign slogan instead of an actual practice.
We keep hearing about accountability. Transparency. Leadership. Protecting residents. Wonderful words — especially when spoken from the dais. But leadership sometimes happens before the meeting starts.
If you’re attending today’s council meeting, maybe ask a simple question: When it comes to keeping constituents safe, does responsibility end when the fundraiser does? Why did Martinez and Reese allow Rodriguez to drive if he was under the influence.
Because in Reno, apparently, the only thing getting driven home consistently is the political spin.
The trio together at the Reno Events Center on Friday night. Reese later took down the photo with Rodriguez after learning he had been arrested for an alleged DUI.