Picon is unapologetically amused.

Wes Duncan announces a run for Washoe County District Attorney and—poof!—a select few locals faint into their fainting couches like we're all trapped in some steamy 1860s Southern drama. Someone fetch the smelling salts—there’s a Republican challenger in the DA’s race, and the self-appointed gatekeepers of Washoe County are scandalized, and it seems are fearful of a primary.

Who died and made them the candidate police of the region?

Eliminating citizen input while brewing up council coffee klatches at the City of Reno.

The City of Reno has discovered a brilliant new approach to public engagement: eliminate it entirely under the guise of fiscal responsibility. The city's moratorium on Neighborhood Advisory Board (NAB) meetings represents a masterclass in democratic doublespeak—claiming to save money while simultaneously launching a replacement program that serves the same purpose but with far less citizen input and accountability.

The official line is cost savings, but the real savings appear to be in avoiding the inconvenience of actually listening to residents who might have opinions about how their neighborhoods are managed.

As Washoe County Manager Eric Brown prepares to step down on June 30, 2025, a growing chorus of questions is beginning to echo across county hallways—and among local taxpayers. Is this a planned retirement… or a quiet retreat ahead of legal, ethical, and administrative scrutiny?

Brown, who took the reins in November 2019, leaves not just a high-paying position—with an annual salary reportedly over $330,000—but also a storm of controversy in his wake.

Sparks City Attorney Wes Duncan has announced his candidacy for Washoe County District Attorney, setting the stage for a potential showdown with incumbent Chris Hicks. While Duncan's tenure in Sparks has been marked by a commitment to transparency and community engagement, Hicks' record on public access to records has been less than stellar.

Well, he’s definitely not overdressed for the occasion.

A sharp-eyed reader sent us a gem from a recent baseball game: Sparks Councilmember Donald Abbott, shirtless and soaking up the sun with a friend. While the crowd was focused on home runs, Abbott was apparently working on his tan.

Three Candidates, Two Spots, Zero Citizen Representation

The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority board nominations currently under consideration perfectly illustrate everything wrong with how Northern Nevada's political establishment operates. Three candidates are vying for two open City of Reno positions, and each one raises serious questions about whether anyone is actually representing the interests of Reno, Sparks, and Washoe County residents—or if this is just another exercise in political back-scratching and insider dealing.

Let's examine this trio of candidates and ask the uncomfortable questions that our elected officials apparently hope we're too distracted to notice.

Want to know how Washoe County’s Public Defender’s Office is spending your money and fighting for justice? The annual report breaks it all down—caseloads, challenges, wins, and what it means for your community. Accountability starts with paying attention. Read on.

It started like something out of a Reno noir: an older gentleman, known for his political chatter, wine enthusiast, who enjoys conversation and an occasional glass of wine at local haunts, had an altercation at Whispering Vine on 4th Street. He felt wronged. Not physically harmed, but reputationally bruised. And like any modern citizen with a gripe and a little faith in journalism, he reached out to someone with a microphone: a local podcaster with a reputation for being plugged into the Reno political scene.

But what happened next didn’t feel like storytelling. It seems a bit like strategizing.

Picon was sent this agenda and we thought we’d share because … they’re counting on you not paying attention. Start proving them wrong.

As we receive these agendas we’re going to try to post them.

Ah, 1565 Plumas Street. A quaint little address with a not-so-quaint backstory.

Let’s rewind to June 8, 2023, when the City of Reno Planning Commission heard Case No. LDC23-00058—better known in some circles as “How Many Units Can We Squeeze Into One Parcel Before Anyone Notices?”

In a move that’s raising eyebrows and red flags, Washoe County Commission Chair Alexis Hill is now at the center of an amended complaint/lawsuit that suggests a troubling breach of ethics — one that may have compromised the independence of Washoe County’s elections office during a pivotal election cycle.

If there’s one position more unstable than a Nevada slot machine on dollar night, it’s the Registrar of Voters in Washoe County. And once again, the revolving door is spinning—with lawsuits, cover-ups, whispers, and one very quiet County Manager in the eye of the storm, who just was missing for a month.

Since County Manager Eric Brown took the reins in November 2019, he’s burned through four registrars. Four. At this point, you’d have better luck keeping a cactus alive in a snowstorm than holding down that job under Brown’s management. And what’s the excuse? According to the county, it’s “threats” against election officials.

n a decision raising eyebrows across Nevada’s political landscape, the Nevada Commission on Ethics has cleared City Councilmember Kathleen Taylor of any wrongdoing—despite substantiated concerns over her use of her campaign email address and involving her campaign infrastructure for official city business.

The ethics complaint, notably initiated by the commission’s own Executive Director Ross Armstrong, pointed to instances where Taylor allegedly blurred the lines between her campaign activities and official duties.

On June 5, 2025 at 6:00PM at the Reno City Council Chambers the Reno Planning Commission is once again being asked to perform municipal magic: transforming a landlocked property with a single access point on an already congested street into a development that somehow "harmonizes with the surrounding community."

If this sounds familiar, it's because it's become the city's standard playbook. Developer identifies unsuitable lot, city staff waves the magic wand of "housing need," and suddenly traffic nightmares become acceptable trade-offs for density.

In 2021, the residents of Lakeridge were blindsided. The Reno City Council approved a development that locals said would permanently alter the character of their quiet, golf-centered neighborhood. To add insult to injury, a former city councilmember even implied that only the “entitled” lived in Lakeridge—and that it was time for that to change.

It was a message that didn’t just sting—it stuck.

In 2024 Sparks City Attorney Wes Duncan ran unopposed, but we don’t remember him speaking at a local Republican Women’s group - but now it seems he is.

Political operatives are saying they have been told Duncan is going to rung against Distrcit Attorney Chris Hicks. Is this speech in front of the largest Republican Women’s group in Washoe County sort of a campaign kick-off. We can only guess.

If you've ever sat through four or five light cycles trying to turn at Plumas and Mt. Rose during rush hour, you already know the intersection is a mess. Congested, slow, and poorly timed—it’s one of those Reno traffic nightmares locals dread.

So what’s the City of Reno’s big idea? Cram 39 housing units onto a small lot right near the jam. Because nothing says “smart planning” like piling on density without a clue how to support it.

There are rumors swirling about mayoral candidates in the City of Sparks. Picon has received a number of messages from our readers pondering if Chris Garvey will do a 2022 repeat run for mayor and asking more about silently announced mayoral candidate Wendi Rawson who owns Engine 8 Urban Winery in Sparks. Some folks are saying former Ward 5 Councilmember Kristopher Dahir will run. But come on Sparks voters, you’re basically stuck with two choices Mayor Ed Lawson, who is quietly raising money for his reelection bid and termed-out Ward 4 Councilmember Charlene Bybee, who seems to not be concerned about all that lovely money Lawson is raising, and is staying coy about her run - but telling constituents, who are contacting us, she is running. Which caused us to think Ed Lawson vs. Charlene Bybee is a study in political redundancy.

So let’s get this straight: the City of Reno is shelling out $200,000 for a mural on California Avenue—by an out-of-town artist, with no design submitted, and somehow no one on City Council knew about it? Until it came before the council last week. But let’s remember public art brings tourism to Reno, or so we’re told.

DA Chris Hicks announced he's running for a third term—and the silence from judges, lawyers, and supporters was so loud, you could hear a plea deal drop.