In Reno, it seems some lessons don’t quite stick. The Karma Box Project—which previously had its nonprofit status revoked in 2023 for failing to file required tax returns—now appears to be behind again, with no publicly available filings for 2024 or 2025.

That raises an obvious question: how does this keep happening? Especially when the last lapse was quietly smoothed over, allowing operations to continue with little public accountability - thanks to Dana Searcy and Washoe County. For an organization that relies on public trust and community support, transparency isn’t optional—it’s the whole deal.

If you ever wondered how far failure can take you in Washoe County, allow us to present Exhibit A: Eric Brown.

Because apparently, running the county during a time when homelessness wasn’t exactly being solved is no barrier to your next big opportunity. Running the Cares Campus were you failed the taxpayers of Washoe County.

Let’s not forget—under Brown’s watch, the Nevada Cares Campus became less of a success story and more of a spin exercise.

There was an interesting sight at today’s meeting of the Community Homeless Advisory Board.

Former Washoe County Manager Eric Brown — yes, the same Eric Brown who recently exited county government and is reportedly looking for his next professional chapter — made an appearance in the audience.

According to those present, Brown didn’t exactly make a splash.

When Grant Denton talks about accountability in his recent This Is Reno opinion, it’s hard not to laugh — not because accountability isn’t important, but because the people who have been asking Denton for accountability since May 2024 know how little of it they’ve received.

Those were the women who spoke out publicly about concerns surrounding the Karma Box Project Executive Director. Since then, many say they have been dismissed, ignored, or pushed aside by the very community leaders who claim transparency and compassion as guiding principles.

Phil Tenneon you are a marvel breaking another Karma Box employee arrest.

We’re genuinely curious.

Why does Washoe County, Nevada - Government go radio silent every time questions surface about leadership at the Karma Box Project?

No press conference.
No independent review.
No “we take this seriously and are looking into it.”

Just crickets.

Commissioner Mike Clark posted the recently released Washoe County annual summary of deaths connected to the emergency shelter campuses, and while the document checked every administrative box — dates, locations, causes, protocols followed — it missed something far more important: humanity.

Seven people died. Not “incidents.” Not “cases.” Not “data points.”
People.

Picon continues to marvel at the rare and mysterious presence of Her Highness, Commissioner Mariluz Garcia — a public servant said to possess the wisdom of Job, though she appears to keep most of it locked away from the very public she serves. Our humble observation is that she descends from the political mountaintop mainly when votes are required, and otherwise communicates through carefully polished statements and county staff intermediaries.

Picon applauds the journalistic professionalism of Our Town Reno, which reported yesterday that the CHAB: Community Homelessness Advisory Board meeting scheduled for February 9 was canceled due to “logistical issues.” One of Washoe County’s ever-reliable messaging representatives confirmed to Our Town Reno in writing:

“There was a broken link in the agenda that was discovered too late to fix and repost while still meeting the Open Meeting Law requirements. It will be rescheduled as quickly as possible.”

Nothing to see here, folks… just smile for the retreat photo.

We couldn’t help but notice Karma Box Project’s board retreat photo — the kind that looks like it came with instructions: stand close, look proud, project confidence. Message received.

Let’s rewind the tape.

In March 2024, Washoe County commissioners voted on an ordinance that effectively criminalized unhoused people for living in their cars. The split was clear — and telling.

• Commissioners Mike Clark and Jeanne Herman voted NO, opposing criminalization.

• Commissioners Mariluz Garcia, Alexis Hill, and Clara Andriola voted YES, supporting arrests and citations for people who are homeless.

Those votes are not a matter of opinion. They’re a matter of record.

Our Town Reno and Mike’s Reno Report both have reported on Karma Box Project’s Matthew Grimsley’s arrest so we urge you to subscribe and follow them, but in the meantime let’s ask ourselves a very simple question:

Why does the Reno Gazette Journal blast out a major story on former Reno councilman Paul Anderson’s first domestic-violence arrest over Thanksgiving — yet say absolutely nothing when Matthew Grimsley, a third-time domestic-battery arrestee who works for Karma Box Project as a Safe Camp supervisor, is taken into custody?

Holiday weekends are supposed to be quiet… but Reno never met a long weekend it couldn’t fill with intrigue, eyebrow-raising posts, and a few stories that practically write themselves. And because Picon hears from everyone — the kind, the cranky, the concerned, and the borderline-threatening — we figured we’d share a few morsels to go with your football watching.

First Up - Mayor Schieve, Belleville, and Spooge.

Yesterday we published a story hoping someone with a bigger reach might amplify it — and bless their souls, Our Town Reno picked it up. They have a megaphone compared to Picon’s whistle, and for that we’re grateful. We’re happy being the “little engine that could,” the outlet everyone swears they don’t read… yet somehow always seem to react to. That’s our comfort zone.

But today we’re stepping out of that zone.

Because what’s happening at the Safe Camp — and how residents are reacting to it — can no longer be brushed aside with a smile, a ribbon, and a county press release from what we lovingly call the Propaganda Princesses at Washoe County.

Well, well, well — looks like Commissioner Mike Clark been calling out Commission Chair Alexis Hill long enough. Washoe County sent him a “Hold the Date” notice for Tuesday, December 2, 2025, from 1–5 p.m. — a possible meeting of the long-vanished Community Homeless Advisory Board (CHAB).

If true, that’s big. The CHAB hasn’t met since May 2024, which is remarkable considering Washoe County leadership — Commissioner Chair Alexis Hill and former County Manager Eric Brown — have spent the better part of two years declaring the homeless population “down by 40%, maybe 50%, possibly even 60%,” depending on which press piece you read that week. Remember the Wall Street Journal article that poor reporter was led down the garden path.

More than a year has passed since the Community Homelessness Advisory Board (CHAB) last met — the very board tasked with overseeing Washoe County’s most pressing humanitarian crisis. Chaired by Commissioner Alexis Hill, CHAB has gone silent while encampments spread and frustration grows.

At the most recent Washoe County Commission meeting, residents finally said what many have whispered: Why hasn’t Chair Hill called a CHAB meeting in over a year?

It looks like the story of Dana Searcy’s quiet exit from Washoe County isn’t quite the tidy “career transition” narrative the county would like you to believe.

Searcy, who served as Division Director for Housing and Homeless Services and ran the Nevada Cares Campus, reportedly went missing in action shortly after the State of the County event on September 2, 2025. According to our source inside the county, what followed was a string of “closed-door” meetings with Human Resources and the interim county manager — and former Searcy “bestie” — Kate Thomas.

We’ve been hearing chatter from sources who used to work at Our Place that Dana Searcy, once the captain of the Nevada Cares Campus, may have slipped out of Washoe County without so much as a goodbye wave. No announcement, no update — just silence.

As cowboys, rodeo fans, and tourists poured into Reno for the annual Reno Rodeo, some local seniors at the 9th Street Senior Center were witnessing a different kind of roundup — one that has nothing to do with bucking broncos or barrel racing.

According to several residents who frequent the center, during the rodeo brought an unusual level of law enforcement activity to their street. Seniors say sheriff’s deputies and county employees were patrolling the area immediately outside the county fence that encloses the senior center and adjacent county facilities — an area long known to be an unofficial campsite for people experiencing homelessness.

In a perfect example of government logic, Washoe County has decided to replace RISE - Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality, as the operator of Our Place—the facility serving homeless women and children—despite RISE doing a competent job since the facility opened.

Why the change? That's where things get interesting.