PR vs. Public Service
The social media comment we received from a Washoe County Media and Communications employee regarding our August 28, 2025 article.
Nevada’s state systems were down for a week. Data has been exfiltrated in a “sophisticated, ransomware-based attack.” And we thought it was a legitimate question to ask if Washoe County’s $240,000-a-year Chief Information Officer, Behzad Zamanian was in Reno when he wrote the Monday memo.
According to the Reno Gazette Journal, Zamanian works less than five days a month in Reno—spending the rest of his time in Southern California. So when Monday’s update went out detailing the crisis, it was fair to ask: Was Zamanian in Reno or phoning it in from a beachside café. Or we thought so, guess a county employee disagreed.
Picon got a PR swipe from a county spokesperson:
“Did you actually ask or just throw questions out in the ether in order to have something to write? You have my email.”
Well we threw the question out into the ‘ether’ because, frankly, the PR team at Washoe County are not fans of Picon’s and really don’t get back to us in a timely fashion, but they do enjoy calling us out. However, when you take the time to post on Facebook, then why not provide a response. Why not confirm if your CIO was on the ground or out of state.
This is the problem with Washoe County’s culture. Public relations is being mistaken for public service. Rather than answer a simple question with transparency, the county prioritized damage control over accountability.
If Washoe County leadership wants to restore public trust, they can start with this: Stop dodging, stop spinning, and start treating taxpayers like stakeholders—not hecklers.
Because when your IT chief is rumored to be closer to Disneyland than the county complex, and your PR team’s biggest concern is tone, —you have a credibility crisis.
And yesterday afternoon Commissioner Mike Clark copied the press on an email he had received from Washoe County IT Manager, James Wood, reporting that state connections were reestablished and some state applications were coming back online. So why no email update from Behzad Zamanian.
The last communication Commissioner Mike Clark sent to the press on Friday, August 29, 2025.