Reno City Council Goes Hog Wild

Written By Picon Press Staff

Picon is shocked at the citizens of Reno who didn’t speak up or show up on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, about the appeal.

We understand in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 you elected a Reno City Council who simply don’t have the chops or mental prowess to fix the problems of decaying weekly motel rentals. It is not entirely their fault; we could easily blame their predecessors on the council who also had no solutions for years and years. The Reno council allowed these ‘greedy’ landlords to rent to these ‘poor’ people for decades and did nothing. The council allowed these buildings to decay and Reno’s working poor, seniors, individuals on the brink of poverty, and disabled residents to live in squalor. The council could have simply Googled what other cities across the United States have tried and had success to stem this type of old motel living and perhaps followed their lead. Reno did nothing until Jeff Jacobs galloped in on his white steed and started to buy up the weekly motels along 4th Street and the surrounding streets. Let’s tell the truth, during one of the first ‘relocation’ of residents from two decaying homes Jacobs had purchased on Ralston, one being the historic Borland-Clifford House in 2018, the City of Reno Council were relieved, someone might be tackling the problem they had no skills to address. With each building Jacobs absorbed you could hear the council exhale with the relief of them not needing to address the problems they had no solution to. Picon does not think Jacobs Entertainment, Jeff Jacobs and his staff are the ‘bad guys’, we think they are simply good businesspeople who identified an opportunity. The City of Reno is who handed the opportunity to them and seemly without community engagement.

Jacob’s Entertainment, Jeff Jacob’s had chosen wisely in who he surrounded himself with, and his wisest choice had been former Reno City Councilmember, and now lobbyist Jessica Sferrazza. Brilliant choice, since Sferrazza had spent 12 years on the Reno City Council. She knew the backstory on weekly motel rentals and the frustrations and ineptitude of the council, a wealth of information. Also, as quoted in a deposition for the 2018 lawsuit – Sferrazza was referred to as “Number 8” the eighth member of the Reno City Council* since she had direct access to the 15th floor, something all of us mere citizens do not. Often when watching a City Council meeting you hear Mayor Hillary Schieve disclose her close personal friendship with Sferrazza when deciding to recuse or not-recuse from a council vote if Sferrazza represents the client. We don’t think Schieve has recused from many Jacobs Entertainment votes, in fact at the October 25, 2023, City Council meeting Schieve said something about, “poor Jacobs being picked on.” Oh, those poor multi-millionaires.

Jacobs has poured money into 4th Street and now wants a return. We don’t blame Jacobs Entertainment, heck we’d like to have a cup of coffee with the guy and pick his brain, we blame the Reno City Council for their continued ineptitude. Picon supports Jacobs Entertainment/Reno Neon Line Archway sign, it will tie the street together and simply makes sense.

The City of Reno should not have voted to enter in the appeal of this judgement. We’re not going to regurgitate much that has been written about the Reno Neon Line, Scenic Nevada and the ruling of Judge Connie Steinheimer, Department 4 – that has been covered brilliantly by Alicia Barber’s The Barber Brief. We urge you to read it. The reason for our article is to remind Reno residents just how tall 25-feet is, what a billboard is, and don’t believe the rhetoric that the Reno City Council is spewing, especially Councilwoman Naomi Duerr.

Jacobs has three proposed signs: the Cemetery Sign (APN 006-153-01), the Archway Sign (APN 006-224-06, and the Gas Station Sign (APN 006-224-07) and the developers assert the signs are not controlled by the on-premise or off-premise sign restrictions and are not considered ‘billboards’ under the Reno Municipal Code. Really, not a billboard? Okay, we will agree that the Archway Sign (that we support) is not a billboard but the other two are billboards.

The Cemetery Sign would face Interstate 80, is three-quarters of a mile from the entrance to the Reno Neon Line District, the sign will advertise the commercial interests of the Neon Line District. A billboard is described as a ‘platform for advertising’ and that is exactly what the Cemetery Sign would do for Jacobs Entertainment. This sign, that the City of Reno has directed the Reno City Attorney to appeal the court’s decision to deny the sign is clearly a billboard, and we wonder why Councilmember Naomi Duerr would vote to enter into this appeal after all she has been a long-time supporter of Scenic Nevada. Could it be Duerr is now making council decisions based on her decision to run for State Senate District 25, after all a girl needs donations, and Duerr’s kick-off campaign last week didn’t look that well attended, just the usual suspects Developer Bob Listener, Bonanza Owner Ryan Sheltra, and shockingly, Mayor Hillary Schieve, oh, and we saw former Washoe County Commissioner/and newly appointed by the City of Reno, Airport Trustee Kitty Jung dash in and out, but it was so quick it could be a body-double.

Next, the Gas Station Sign, proposed to be 25-feet tall, and the sign would have the language, “LEFT ON W. 4th” and since this is telling us where to turn, the court finds it an on-premise sign but we think this is as close to a billboard as you can get without being a billboard. We tried to find something equally as heinous as this sign would be on the corner and came across a 25-foot Wild Hog.

Consider this, the City of Reno is using your taxpayer dollars to enter into an appeal with Reno Real Estate Development, LLC and/or Reno Property Manager, LLC, AKA Jacobs Entertainment so the two denied Reno Neon Line District signs (Cemetery and Gas Station) might be approved. The Reno Neon Line District is trademarked by Jacobs Entertainment so why would every Reno Councilmember except Ward 4 Meghan Ebert vote to have the Reno City Attorney join in the appeal. Oh sure, the mayor and city councilmembers tried to put lipstick on a pig and put a good show on of not being agreeable being dictated to by the court what they can and can’t do in the city of Reno. Nice try, but no cigar, the reasoning behind why the two signs were denied is clearly outlined in Steinheimer’s decision and quotes city and state codes. The Reno City Councilmembers are appealing their own codes? Anyone else find that strange.

You can clearly determine why the vote went the way it did, simply go onto the Nevada Secretary of State Contribution and Expense Reports or the City of Reno Campaign Contributions and you can see why the Reno City Council voted the way they did, oh, the lone ‘no’ vote Meghan Ebert has no contributions from Jacobs that we could find. Guess we know who is representing the citizens of Reno.

Picon Press Staff
Previous

If You Want It Bad Enough, You’ll Find a Way to Get It
Next

We Object