From the Dais to the Cheap Seats: Ed Lawson’s “Ferntucky” Moment

Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson with his 2025 award from the Nevada League of Cities.

Picon was out in the field yesterday following up on a Gregg Kidd story and missed the Sparks City Council meeting. That turned out to be unfortunate timing—because we almost missed what may be one of the most telling moments of the meeting, delivered casually by none other than Mayor Ed Lawson himself.

As Mayor Lawson wrapped up the meeting and prepared to adjourn, he went through the usual checklist:
Public comment? None.
Announcements from council or the city manager? None.

And then—on the record, with the meeting still live—Lawson offered this unsolicited aside:

“We had Donald Abbott Day today and all his cousins, thought we were in Ferntucky for a minute… sorry, that was uncalled for, my apologies.”

Let’s pause there.

If it was uncalled for, Mayor Lawson, why say it at all?

The remark wasn’t a joke that missed—it was a deliberate jab. A cheap shot at Fernley, its people, and by extension its elected officials and city management, whom Lawson has never bothered to hide his disdain for. The apology came only after the insult had already landed.

Which brings us to the truly baffling part of this story.

Why, exactly, did the Nevada League of Cities name Ed Lawson its 2025 Public Official of the Year?

This is supposed to be a significant honor—one that recognizes leadership, professionalism, and contributions to community development. So we have to ask:
Did the League miss Lawson’s repeated social media tirades against anyone who disagrees with him?
Did they overlook moments like this—where he publicly disparages another Nevada community from the dais?
And what, precisely, qualifies as “leadership” here?

Was there a full-court press behind the scenes to secure this award? Perhaps from the familiar duo of Chris Barrett and Scott Bensing—the same lobbyists who spearheaded Lawson’s beloved Lands Bill? A bill that failed. Again. Yet somehow the City of Sparks kept paying the duo long after it was clear the effort was dead.

If the Nevada League of Cities can bestow its highest honors without so much as basic fact-checking, one has to wonder what value the City of Sparks is getting for its membership dues.

Maybe it’s time Sparks stopped paying to belong to a league that celebrates rhetoric over results and insults over leadership.

At the very least, Fernley deserved better. And Sparks residents deserve honesty about who’s really representing them—and how.