Picon is always surprised when members of the media don't take a moment to verify campaign claims.

Ward 2 Reno City Council candidate Vanessa Vaupel reportedly told KOLO she knocked on 1,000 doors. But did she really?

Based on what we've heard from readers, it appears a more accurate description may be that she dropped literature at 1,000 doors.

We were not going to write about the City of Reno Ward 2 race because, frankly, it feels like nobody cares about some of these local races anymore. We see it in this race and over in the Ward 4 race in Sparks. We still cannot believe Sparks residents appear willing to embrace Adam Mayberry without asking harder questions about using “Save Our Schools” funds to buy books — you know, the funds that raised Washoe County sales taxes to some of the highest in the nation and were supposedly earmarked solely for building and rehabilitating schools. Add in some of Mayberry’s comments about the Seeno’s Wingfield Springs housing project and you would think voters might pause. Instead, they seem to shrug and move along.

Which is why we have grown tired of city council races altogether.

So let’s get this straight.

Naomi Duerr is throwing her support behind Vanessa Vaupel—a candidate who’s been in Reno for, what, two years?

There’s a familiar smell wafting through Reno politics again, and it’s not sagebrush or summer wildfire smoke — it’s the scent of undeclared conflicts and developer dollars.

Former Reno Planning Commissioner J.D. Drakulich, a rumored, un-declared candidate for City Council Ward 2, has found himself on the receiving end of a little love letter from the Nevada Commission on Ethics. Case number 25-070 isn’t just a paperwork formality — it’s a jurisdictional determination about a potential conflict of interest that should make every Reno voter pause and ask: “Whose interests is Drakulich really planning for?”