As local governments scramble to patch their leaking financial ships—with Washoe County, Sparks, and Reno all millions in the red—they've settled on the usual solution: deeper dives into taxpayer pockets. Increased fees, passed on charges, some say, sales tax hikes are circling the drain, and "fire consolidation assessments" have become the preferred alternative to actual fiscal responsibility - (translation: moving money around so Reno - Sparks - Washoe County can spend fire budgets to run the city/county, because if State Senator Skip Daly, Mayor Ed Lawson, Commissioner Alexis Hill, and Mayor Hillary Schieve have their way, residents will pay an assessment to fund fire services - slick, right).

Picon's readers just keep sending us tidbits about Assemblymember Erica Roth.

They pointed out to us after we published an article about Roth's non-conforming duplex that the duplex description of her rental was removed from Zillow. The description was published in our story.

Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson is apparently channeling his social media rantings into actual legislation. AB51, the "We'd Rather You Didn't Look Too Closely" bill, aims to make public records about as accessible as Fort Knox – but with more paperwork.

The irony is rich: The League of Cities, whose mission statement reads like a love letter to transparency and innovation, is backing a bill that treats public records requests like classified CIA operations. What's next – secret handshakes and decoder rings?

So Washoe County keeps telling us Commission Chair Alexis Hill and County Manager Eric Brown have homelessness under control. Hill just told the Nevada Legislature’s Senate Committee on Government Affairs yesterday, February 3, 2025, that Washoe County has reduced homelessness by 40%.

Really? Let's do a reality check:

✦ The Nevada Cares Campus is bursting at the seams

✦ Tent cities are popping up faster than new coffee shops

✦ It took community activist Lily Baran to step up and open warming centers because... where was the county?