Symphony of Suppressed Applause and Selective Outrage at the City of Reno

Copy of slides presented during public comment at the Reno City Council Meeting on January 22, 2025.

First, a tip of the hat to Councilmember Naomi Duerr, who shone like a beacon of competence amidst the typical governmental fog yestrday. Consider this Picon’s rare moment of unqualified praise.

The city's initial disappearing act with the meeting video late last night - likely to be explained away as "technical difficulties" - was swiftly followed by the video being restabled after public outcry. The public comments on the Plumas Redevelopment (aka the Lakeridge Tennis Club empty lot) triggered the need for a developer to actually have to work with residents because someone on the dais wants to run for mayor, and know this group votes. Picon looks forward to the outcome.

One brave public commenter delivered a presentation at time stamp 9:47:43 that apparently had the council members looking like deer caught in headlights. Councilmember Miguel Martinez, glued to his computer screen not looking up. Anderson, Reese, and Taylor wearing expressions that suggested they'd rather be anywhere else with a Renoite actually calling them out with a slide presentation. Not words, pictures.

Slide from Reno City Council Meeting January 22, 2025 delivered during public comment. These slides are all part of the Reno City Council Public Record.

When the presentation concluded, spontaneous applause erupted - only to be swiftly quashed by Vice-Chair Kathleen Taylor's "please hold your applause." Because heaven forbid citizens express genuine emotion in a public meeting.

Mayor Hillary Schieve's subsequent commentary was a masterwork of calculated evasion. Refusing to even name the presenter (despite their apparent acquaintance), she launched into a performance about "tough jobs" and housing needs. The pinnacle? Her sudden moral indignation about "disgusting" campaign contributions.

Agenda Item I.3 Webb Data Center 13:11:00 – Schieve said, “I want to say thank you for all of your activism. We have really, really tough jobs, because I’m sure you’ve heard some of these appeals tonight. We’re hearing constantly, we need more housing, we need more housing, we need more housing, there are a lot of people that are priced out of the market, my colleagues made some very, very good points of concern, and then we see a project where people want to bring housing, and then we become this terrible bad council politics even one woman showed contributions from campaigns it was disgusting.”

And here's where irony does a perfect pirouette: Schieve declares it "disgusting" that contributions were highlighted - inadvertently confirming exactly what the commenter intended. Councilmembers Anderson, Taylor, Martinez, and Reese, recipients of Lyons Living contributions, found themselves in the spotlight they least desired.

The mayor's protestations sound less like principled defense and more like a desperate attempt to redirect narrative. "Disgusting" indeed, Mayor Schieve - but perhaps not in the way you intended.

Reno's political theater continues, with applause strictly regulated and accountability optional.