We so enjoy trolling social media posts and frankly can’t believe what elected officials put up online. Our favorites are Reno Councilmember Devon Reese and Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson, but Washoe County Commissioner Mike Clark is moving up.

We saw Commissioner Mike Clark’s post celebrating that Eddie Lorton ignored him and Larry Chesney (Picon’s Publisher and candidate for Washoe County Commission District 5) at Carole Fineberg’s goodbye luncheon.

After reading Mike’s Reno Report, and it is worth the read, we couldn’t help ourselves and simply had to query.

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.

Mike’s Reno Report nailed it: Kate Marshall posting a New York Times article about Iowa City’s fare-free bus program isn’t policy — it’s aesthetic politics, the political equivalent of putting a plant in the background of your Zoom call to appear grounded and responsible.

A repost is cheap. Leadership isn’t.

It’s that time again when Reno politics starts to feel less like City Hall and more like a soap opera filmed in a haunted mansion. This week’s episode stars Mayor Hillary Schieve, her new venture Spooge (yes, that’s really the name), and a political friendship circle that’s starting to look like a Ouija board of broken alliances.

If you’re not following Shaun Mullin on social media—especially Nextdoor—you’re missing out on some of the sharpest satire Reno has seen since… well, since Reno thought the Lear Theater was a good idea. Mullin has made an art form out of skewering the Reno City Council, a collection of politicians so thin-skinned they’d probably break out in hives if someone drew them a stick figure cartoon.

Is it appropriate for media to laugh themselves silly at a Reno City Councilmember’s social media post? We don’t know. But we did.

After nine long months of blissful indifference, Ward 5’s very own Devon Reese has suddenly fallen head over heels for his Neighborhood Advisory Board. The same board he barely mentioned since being reelected in November 2024 is now the talk of his Facebook feed. He’s appointing members, hunting for alternates, and celebrating that they “hit the ground running” with discussions of two Ward 5 projects.

So why the sudden civic passion? Could it be… he’s running for mayor? Oh, absolutely.

Reno City Councilmember Kathleen Taylor—fresh off her 2024 council win backed by local Republicans—has now launched an "exploratory campaign" to consider a run for mayor. Translation? She’s running, she just wants to see who’s gullible enough to hop on the bandwagon again.

Let’s rewind: Taylor courted Republicans and posed with the party base. But now, with her eyes set on the mayor’s office, we’re wondering if the Nevada GOP is about to be the ex who keeps coming back for more.

When Campaign Cash Comes with Handcuffs: Should Kromer's Political Donations Be Returned?

The arrest of Stephen Kromer of formerly of Kromer Investments (he resigned from his family’s firm back in February 2025 when these charges started to bubble up) on 31 criminal counts took place May 16, 2025. With $9.1 million in taxpayer money allegedly vanished from a failed rural internet project, the spotlight now turns to those who benefited from Kromer's political generosity before his fall from grace.

Oh, you Renoites crying "no politics, it's only 2025!" Bless your hearts. While you're trying to recover from your holiday food coma, Councilmember Devon Reese is already playing political musical chairs for the 2026 mayor's race. Because nothing says "I'm totally confident about my future" quite like scrambling for support a year early. Picon calls it “political chumming ,” throwing bait in the water to see what support you can catch.

Speaking of confidence... let's talk about that stunning Ward 5 victory. And by stunning, we mean Reese scraped by with 1,412 votes against checks notes ...who exactly is Brian Cassidy? Despite having a war chest that would make a Vegas casino blush and every developer, builder, and power broker in his pocket, Reese barely outperformed a guy whose biggest claim to fame was some local TV commercials for his small business. Talk about a profile in courage.