Why was the Media excluded from "transparency" effort following years of quality concerns

Nothing says "we take senior nutrition seriously" quite like scheduling a crucial kitchen tour with two days notice during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, then excluding the media from what's supposed to be a transparency initiative.

That's exactly what Washoe County pulled off this week with their Senior Advisory Board kitchen tour of the TRIO facility where senior meals are prepared. The county sent out their notification on July 2nd—two days before a major holiday.

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.

The Washoe County District Attorney's Office and their Public Information Officer are certainly vocal when celebrating their wins—like the recent four life sentences handed to a child abuser. Press releases, media alerts, perhaps even a congratulatory social media post or two.

Yet a deafening silence surrounds questions about a more recent tragedy: the April 2025 death of five-year old Izabella Loving whose father now faces charges with the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office is investigating. What's conspicuously missing from the DA's outreach efforts is any transparency regarding Washoe County Human Services Agency's potential involvement with this family. The information we are being sent is shocking but nothing can be verified due to the investigation, but Human Services Agency must be accountable if any of the information we have been sent turns out to be factual.

In a world where genuine compassion is increasingly replaced by technological band-aids, Washoe County has unveiled its latest "solution" to human suffering: a box with a screen.

Anthem, Inc. has magnanimously bestowed $400,000 for a gleaming CareStation—a sterile, standalone unit promising "hybrid medical care"—at the 9th Street Senior Center. How very innovative, yet misguided.

While Washoe County Human Services staff swears the senior meals are "pretty good" (presumably between bites of their county food truck scheduled lunches), Commissioner Mike Clark has spent 18 months fighting an uphill battle for basic dignity in senior nutrition. But why let quality food get in the way of bureaucratic convenience?

In a masterclass of transparency, the county refuses to show even their own commissioner the competing bids for contract #3255-24. Apparently, elected officials don't have the security clearance to see what county employees are reviewing. Makes perfect sense – if you're writing a satire about government dysfunction.

Another Registrar of Voters mysteriously disappears, well on a medical leave, but once gone, they seem to never show back up. What is happening at Washoe County with the ROV could be an Agatha Christie whodunnit.