Master Plan or Master Manipulation? Lakeridge, Wood Rodgers, and the Stench of Influence ..

Residents are receiving emails about this meeting on Tuesday July, 2025 at Lakeridge Golf Course Clubhouse.

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.

There will be no neutral facilitators of public input, the people presenting they’re actually wearing two hats: one for the developer, and one for the politicians who will ultimately vote on the project.

How can anyone expect a fair, unbiased presentation when the people hosting it are financially entangled with both sides of the decision-making process?

Let’s be clear: this isn't about community engagement—it's about controlling the narrative before the public can push back. Wood Rodgers’ involvement isn’t about transparency. It’s about getting ahead of the criticism, soft-selling the plan, and shielding elected officials from tough questions.

The residents of Reno, especially those in the Lakeridge area, should be asking:

• Who really benefits from this so-called “community meeting”?

• Why are campaign donors playing both sides of the process?

• And why is public trust being treated like an afterthought?

A true community forum is built on independence, objectivity, and public trust.

If our elected officials want to maintain even a shred of credibility, they should publicly disclose these relationships and demand that any future community engagement efforts be conducted by neutral third parties—not consultants on the developer’s payroll and the City Council’s donor list.

Until then, residents are right to question the motives—and the process.