One, Two; Buckle My Shoe, Three, Four; There's the Door…
Public records, the Achilles heel for elected officials, is how we hold elected officials accountable and report the stories we do. Picon Press garners information from many sources and we use the public records laws to bring our readers angles simply not covered by the main stream. It is time-consuming and frustrating, yet the results are nothing like the others, regurgitating the governments press releases. This story is a prime example of why we do what we do, was the Reno Police Departments new Chief the first choice of the city?
Since we were unable to attend the meeting where she was confirmed, we watched the City of Reno City Council meeting on January 11, 2023, on YouTube.com. We were struck by the comments regarding the ratification of the hiring of Kathryn Nance for the Reno Chief of Police, and the room was packed with citizens to speak at public comment, however the City also packed it with police. It didn’t add up to us, and when Reno City Attorney, Karl Hall said, “We don’t have room in the chambers for people who want to make public comment,” we wondered why keep so many police officers in the room, when they are having a difficult time protecting and serving the citizens due to staffing and demand? Was it for the ‘show’; you know the one the city puts on when they want to distract you from the cover up?
Doug Thornley, Reno City Manager said, he thinks Ms. Nance is the “right person to lead RPD.” Councilman Devon Reese wanted to “thank the City of Reno staff on the Human Resources side, and mentioned that the city hired an outside agency to find the best RPD candidates, and he believes the process itself is a reflection of this city’s the commitment to its people, it’s safety, and the idea that we would go out for a national search that people questioned why that was needed, and this candidacy proves we did it right.” Councilman Reese mentioned he was excited to support City Manager Doug Thornley’s choice of Chief Nance. Councilwoman Naomi Duerr said, “thank you for being here and putting up with our process and you have come out on top of the process.” Mayor Hillary Schieve made the motion to ‘confirm’ Chief Nance.
The ‘look’ and ‘ceremony’ is exactly what the city wanted, but Chief Nance wasn’t the City of Reno and City Manager Doug Thornley’s first choice. It saddens us to report this, especially given that a female from a large west-coast agency, with high crime, could bring the change we need here.
Chief Nance commented about what a “great process, and everybody here is so amazing and so professional,” we think she means City of Reno government, but were they?
Picon wondered what took so long with this hiring process and why all the pomp and circumstance at the meeting. When we question something, we request public records, and while this might be where Ms. Nance wanted to be, the City of Reno had other plans. Records show the City of Reno made an initial job offer to Sparks Chief of Police Chris Crawforth, the white male in Sparks who had also applied for the job. That’s right, the City of Reno used taxpayers’ money to pay an outside firm, to do a national search, and ‘found’ the Police Chief next-door, in the rail city. Remember Reno City Manager Doug Thornley is rumored to be pals with Chief Crawforth since they had worked together during Doug’s days in Sparks.
Sparks City Manager, of YouTube fame, Neil Krutz, alerted the Sparks Mayor and City Council on January 4, 2023, at 1:58PM, of the ‘sad news’ that Chief Crawforth had been selected as the Reno Police Chief and the contract would be presented at the January 11th council meeting. But then, as of January 5, 2023, at 9:38AM, it would seem contract negotiations between Chief Crawforth and the City of Reno had hit an ‘impasse’ and the Chief would be staying with the City of Sparks.
Chief Crawforth sent an email to the men and women of the Sparks Police Department letting them know he was offered the Reno Police Chief job, but he declined to accept it. He neglected to point out to the men and women who work for him that in fact it was an ‘impasse’ of contract negotiations that had broken down, or else he would have skedaddled to Reno. We have nosed around a bit to learn what the ‘impasse’ was and officially we do not know. Only unconfirmed rumors about RPD employees who the city wanted promoted as the new chief started, and that Crawforth refused. Picon will continue to ask for records to find out if this is correct, but something seems to have blocked the Chief from leaving Sparks.
Why do we write this? Transparency. We have learned several of the Reno City Councilmembers (not all, but three or more) didn’t know Chief Nance was Doug Thornley’s second choice for chief. They didn’t know an offer had been made to Chief Crawforth who then turned it down. Remember at the meeting, Councilman Reese wanted the best ‘candidate’ to get the job to protect all of us, well it looks like they didn’t get their 1st choice– instead their 2nd got the job.
Should it matter? We think so. This is our government and when we have City Managers and Councilmembers who brag about the ‘choice of chief’ while failing to acknowledge their real first choice, well, what else are they not telling us? And what are the ‘chosen few’ not telling the people we elected to conduct our business, remember some of the Reno city council didn’t even know an offer had been made to Chief Crawforth, they were told of only the offer to Chief Nance.
Chief Nance seems like a wonderful choice, and we wish her only the best in her job and relocation to Reno. We hope that she will quickly realize that she is surrounded by elected and appointed folks who do not believe in transparency or honesty. Chief Nance mentioned at the city council meeting that she enjoys watching council meetings and referred to herself as a ‘sympathetic crier’. Our only suggestion is, ‘get your tissue ready Chief’, the Reno City Council makes us cry in frustration, due to their continued lack of transparency.