Persistence Pays Off

Way to go Our Town Reno you wouldn’t let this story die.

Credit where it’s due.

Kudos to Nico and the team at Our Town Reno for staying on the Reno-Tahoe Airport trustee residency story and refusing to let it fade into the next news cycle. Accountability reporting isn’t glamorous. It requires documents, timelines, follow-ups, and the willingness to ask the same question until someone finally answers it.

And in this case, the persistence mattered.

Eddie Ableser — appointed to the airport board by City of Reno AKA Mayor Hillary Schieve — has now resigned. Public reporting had raised questions about whether he met residency expectations to serve. When you live primarily in another state, that’s not a minor technicality for a public board seat. It’s foundational.

Picon was amused Mayor Hillary Schieve spoke at yesterdays Reno-Tahoe International Airport Concourse A and B project ground breaking. Behind the scenes all anyone was talking about was the Airport Authorities request for Eddie Ableser’s resignation and why in the world Schieve was hell-bent on keeping him on the board.

Back on February 26, Mayor Schieve told News 4 Reno that Ableser lived in Reno the majority of the time and was qualified to serve. She also indicated the matter had been referred to the Reno City Attorney's Office for review.

Now, with Ableser’s resignation, the timeline speaks for itself. Hey, Hillary seems like you were WRONG, but nothing new.

This isn’t about personalities. It’s about standards. Public appointments carry public trust. When questions are raised, they deserve real scrutiny — not dismissal. And when those questions turn out to be valid, corrections should follow.

Independent journalism exists for exactly this reason.

It’s easy to move on.
It’s harder to keep digging.

Our Town Reno kept digging.

At a time when many residents feel like cities and counties aren’t always guarding taxpayer interests closely enough, watchdog reporting fills the gap. It asks the uncomfortable questions. It checks the fine print. It verifies the residency.

That’s not negativity.
That’s civic duty.

And on this one, persistence made the difference.