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.

Three individuals who have worked for the Karma Box Project have been arrested since November 2025. That alone should raise serious questions about oversight and accountability.

At the same time, rumors continue to swirl that Karma Box Project has been replaced at the county’s Safe Camp by either RISE or Volunteers of America. Yet so far, no one at Washoe County seems willing to go on the record to confirm what is actually happening.

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.

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.

What’s Taking So Long? The Grimsley case crawls forward … the slow speed of justice may finally be picking up—ever so slightly.

Mathew Grimsley of the Nevada Cares Campus / Karma Box Project, who was arrested on a charge of battery, now appears to have a court date on the horizon. And with it, the possibility that we may finally learn what is actually happening at Karma Box—the operator of the so-called “safe camp” that is being paid by the Washoe County Human Services Agency. You know those silly taxpayers.

Remember the individual arrested who worked with the Karma Box Project — the same person listed as a supervisor at the Nevada Cares Campus Safe Camp? Yes, that one.

Karma Box Project’s agreement with the Washoe County Human Services Agency requires background checks before employment. Whether that requirement was consistently followed remains an open question. What we do know is this: Matthew Brandon Grimsley is now headed to Second Judicial District Court, case CR25-2902.

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.

We pushed another article to tomorrow because this one needed attention. Phil Tenneson flagged a concern, and as always, we followed up. Commissioner Mike Clark — the only commissioner who consistently speaks with us — confirmed he has already reached out to County Manager Kate Thomas to get the exact facts.

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.

At what point does compassion turn into a blank check?

Washoe County taxpayers are pouring astronomical sums into the Nevada Cares Campus, the county’s sprawling answer to homelessness — and yet, despite the millions spent, the problem on the streets isn’t getting smaller. It’s multiplying.

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.

A contentious online exchange highlights the urgent need for third-party verification of county homelessness claims.

A heated social media exchange between two local figures has crystallized a critical question that Washoe County officials have been avoiding for years: Why won't they allow an independent audit of their homelessness programs and spending?

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.

Our Town Reno reported on this death at the Nevada CARES Campus yesterday. Commissioner Mike Clark sent the FYI announcement to the press. Why are we now reporting on this? Because the tenor of the email just really pissed us off, this is a human life.

The Washoe County manager and assistant county manager's response to a death at the Nevada CARES Campus appears to demonstrate a deeply troubling lack of human empathy. Reducing a human being's death to a mere "FYI" (For Your Information) memo reveals a disturbing bureaucratic detachment from the fundamental value of human life.

Washoe County has effectively silenced homeless residents at the Nevada CARES Campus by minimizing Community Homelessness Advisory Board (CHAB) meetings since September 2023. This started after Teresa Bacon, a resident, publicly criticized the County and Commissioner Alexis Hill about conditions at the campus. Rather than address Bacon's concerns, the County launched a counter-campaign against her.

As Eric Brown's annual review is tomorrow, Washoe County has conveniently "revised" its evaluation criteria – presumably to mask another year of mismanagement behind a façade of independence. The only thing more remarkable than Brown's list of failures is the chorus of commissioners rushing to applaud them.

Piron has been digging into the Commissioner Alexis Hill vs Marsha Berkbigler Community Forum sponsored by Senior Spectrum Magazine a few weeks ago.

Berkbigler has an uphill battle due to the contributions Hill has been able to raise. How did Hill get all that loot? That’s the million dollar question.