Council Member Controversy + Sheriff's Report = Bullying Media?
Can media be bullied?
Recent weeks have seen two separate incidents involving public figures and law enforcement reports in Washoe County and Reno, highlighting questions about media coverage and public discourse.
Last weekend, reports emerged about a Reno City Council member involved in an incident with a 73-year-old resident at a local wine bar, resulting in a police report. The coverage of this incident sparked significant online debate, particularly on social media where numerous local figures weighed in.
With the all out assault on a local writer/media outlet, it was clearly a directed attack. Many interesting individuals posted, the Facebook strings were like reading Tolstoy. The comments had a Washoe County propaganda pro making sure all knew they were commenting during a lunch break, a local restaurateur stating the 73-year old needs someone to “pull him out of the bar and whoop his ass.” It has another developer stating the people on the string need to come up with a list of “so called” news outlets that don’t have factual reporting. This is a developer who was involved with the Rancharrah Equestrian Center demolition announcement in 2023. These “chosen” individuals are going to inform residents who to listen to when it comes to news. This would be funny if it wasn’t scary.
Picon was surprised by many of the comments and captured all of the strings since some of the people who were commenting had clearly been asked for this favor. These people who commented are far better than what they wrote, they give to charities, donate to the community, etc., and were obviously not supplied with all the facts.
Nevada Secretary of State Contribution and Expense reports.
Another incident has come to light involving a sheriff's report dated March 19, 2025, concerning a local builder and political contributor in Cold Springs. This individual reportedly heads a home building company known for significant political donations throughout Reno, Sparks, and Carson City, as documented by Nevada Secretary of State Contribution and Expense reports. The company also employs as their lobbyist someone described as a close associate of Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve. Schieve has made disclosures on the dais over the years regarding this individual. Contributions from the developer were made to the councilmember involved in the incident last week with the senior citizen.
This company and their family members are also great stewards of the community in Cold Springs, Nevada. They are significant donors to local charities, all but support and keep the Cold Spring Senior Center open, we could go on about their good deeds.
City of Reno Registered Lobbyist List 2025.
The decision to report on this second incident comes amid concerns of potential attempts to suppress information. We had made the decision not to cover this sheriff’s report, when we received it, but when we were faced with a community Facebook group stating, they are worried about their group "being shut down" for someone sharing such information, despite police and sheriff reports being public documents. After reading that, we knew we had to report. No one should be bullied and that is what happened to Our Town Reno last week. We had to ask ourselves were we not posting because we thought about blowback, and possible attacks. But, hey, Picon gets attacked all the time.
The question that needs to be asked are “certain” individuals trying to bully media into not reporting, and are they using social media to do so, setting up a string of friends to comment sort of a public relations blitz. An organized campaign, not organic.
The Facebook post that caused us to post this incident.
These incidents raise important questions about transparency, the relationship between political figures and their donors, and the role of media in reporting on public figures. They also highlight the increasingly contentious nature of local political discourse and its impact on media coverage. It has become the “political theatre” one Reno councilmember often comments on but are they creating the drama.
Washoe County Sheriff Department Booking Number and Booking Date from March 19, 2025.
We received this document from a reader who monitors justice court hearings for us and found there will be a hearing about the arrest/incident on April 3, 2025. It will be heard in front of Justice Court Judge Jennifer Richards, who the councilmember who had the altercation at the wine bar with the 73-year old, hosted a fundraiser for and appears as an in-kind contributor: Committee to Elect Devon Reese, food and drink for fundraiser, August 1, 2024, $2,000.00.
From the Justice Court records it would appear the individual spent the night at the jail which seems like a waste of taxpayer funds. We now are pondering if this individual is being targeted because of who he is.