Why was Marialuz Garcia being investigated?
Picon Press had written a Trackergate story, and Picon generally does not report on matters well covered, instead we seek what others overlook and what politicians do not want investigated. When we learned about a local family, who disclosed they hired a private investigator to look into their daughter’s opponent in a local race, we were intrigued. When we learned the Private Investigator they hired was the PI we have used, we knew we needed to cover the story. Before readers get upset with our spelling of her first name, we are using the name she has on her drivers license. We do not know why she uses Mariluz, when her drivers license says Marialuz.
Following a bias and inaccurate article, which attempted to portray Private Investigator, and retired Chief Deputy Tom Green, as somehow associated with a tracker on the mayor’s car, the Ahmad family agreed to release Tom Green from his promise of confidentiality regarding an investigation into Marialuz Garcia aka Mariluz. While the KUNR, Nevada Independent and APM reports were content to gather their marching orders from the likes of Hillary Schieve and Oscar Delgado, it seems as though they failed to conduct a fair and thorough reporting. Picon is here to tell you what really happened, based on public records and information from the Ahmad family and the private investigator.
In February of 2022, the Ahmad family learned of Tom Green and his experience in law enforcement. They had heard that Green helped another candidate gather some documents the other candidate had been trying to get for weeks. Believing that Marialuz Garcia was a chosen candidate and that she may not reside in her ward, they retained Tom Green to figure it out. At the same time, Picon Press was also hearing rumors about Oscar Delgado leaving his wife and that Marialuz and he were close. Picon was also interested in whether Marialuz lived in her district and whether she was even eligible to run based on her party registration. Afterall, Bob Lucey and the county tried to remove Mike Clark from the ballot over a DMV initiated snafu, as reported by the very source that helped spin this whole story.
A Crowded Field for District 3 Commissioner
The vacancy created by termed out, and career politician Kitty Jung, drew much interest with the Democrats in 2022. The district leans heavy Democrat, so there was little hope for any republican challenger. Instead, the focus all went to the Democrat candidates, Hawah Ahmad, Marialuz Garcia and Kyle Isacksen.
According to Hawah Ahmad, she had been promised support by Kitty Jung, the departing commissioner. Hawah had plans to run for this seat for some time, this was not a last-minute plan. Jung’s support and endorsement would be critical in this district and Hawah knew this. Hawah said, “After promising to support my campaign way back in 2014, and being referred to as “her girl”, Kitty ended our friendship because I would not leave the district 3 race for Mariluz.” Unsure as to exactly why, Hawah only can speculate that Jung flopped and decided to support Marialuz due to pressure from local Democrat power players. The support Marialuz was getting from Oscar Delgado and Devon Reese seemed well orchestrated and designed to box Hawah out of the race. Undeterred, she launched her campaign, which fell short in the primary drawing 24% of the vote, but not before her family paid to investigate Marialuz.
Unlike Hawah, it appears that Marialuz had some loose ends to tie up in order to be eligible to run. Does that sound like a person who had planned to run for office?
Following the Paper Trail
In February 2022, Green was already conducting surveillance as February 16, 2022, would have been the last day for Garcia to establish residency to run for that office. We would later learn that despite claims by KUNR that Marialuz was all established in her district, it was not until February 25, 2022, that she had a Nevada Driver’s License reflecting her address on 3rd Street. So, when KUNR says, “she’s lived in downtown Reno — and inside her district — since before her bid for office, according to public records.” We would ask them, what records and soon before the statutory deadlines?
On March 07, 2022, Marialuz completed the State of Nevada Declaration of Candidacy certifying she was qualified for the position and that she lived on 3rd Street in Reno, NV. Yet her voter registration was not updated until March 14, 2022, so what did she swear to in her Candidacy form?
Marialuz Declaration and ID by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd
On the evening of March 07, 2022, Tom Green met with Marialuz’s ex-husband, Michael Matheus, on Allen Street in Reno. Green was hoping to learn where Marialuz may be living so it could be determined if she lived in her district. Public records indicated the two had been divorced the year prior. Green said, “I knocked on the Allen Street door in the evening. A child answered the door, followed by another child, and I asked if a parent was home. A man came to the door, and I explained I was trying to verify if Marialuz lived there. The man started to answer, and the first child interrupted, saying her mom lives on Taylor. The second child corrected the other and said the mom lived on 3rd Street. The man refused to confirm where Marialuz lived, however he said she did not live with him.”
Following that lead, Green went to Taylor Street with similar questions. On Taylor Street, Green said he spoke with a neighbor who worked at a local bar who said the home was now an Airbnb. Eventually, Green contacted a woman at the home, Allison List. Green recalled, “I saw someone inside, I think the front door may have been open. I spoke with a nice young lady who said Marialuz no longer lived there. I recollect she mentioned being a new tenant.” List would later be with Marialuz at her swearing in in January 2023.
On March 10, 2022, Green verified the Airbnb listing for Marialuz’s property and checked the assessor’s site to learn the property was still being taxed as owner occupied, not as a rental as required.
According to records obtained from the Assessor’s Office, Marialuz did not notify the County of her change in use until May 22, 2022. This change in use relates to taxes collected on properties in Washoe County. Once a property is no longer owner-occupied, and used as a rental, the tax rate is higher. Apparently, the county requires this form be filed prior to June 30th, so she was in compliance, however this helps to establish when Taylor Street became a rental. And other than to be eligible to run for District 3, why would one rent out a home they own to move down the road into an apartment in downtown?
Rental notification by Picon Press Media LLC on Scribd
Prior to redistricting, her home on Taylor Street would have been in her county commission district, but now given her plan to run, she was required to establish a new residence in the district. Garcia’s allegiance to her party was questioned in a prior Picon article back in June 2022, showing she had been a non-partisan.
Green acknowledged running for office can be troubling, “It is not lost on me that Marialuz may have felt her integrity was being questioned, however when you toss your hat into the public arena you best be prepared to be questioned.” Green continued, “I find it odd that somehow she would claim PTSD from the campaign when there were legitimate questions surrounding her residency during the statutorily mandated dates of residency and party affiliation.”
When we consider the documentary evidence that appears to show Marialuz being a non-partisan in 2016 and the next document from Washoe County shows her as a Democrat in January 2022, a month after the Nevada Law allows a party switch, it raises questions. As to her claims of ugly attacks during the campaign, we could only find one reference in a story by the Nevada Globe that reported on claims that her and Oscar Delgado were romantically involved, while Oscar appeared to be married. We know he was at her functions, and he sat with her at her swearing in, whether they were in a relationship during the campaign only they can answer to that, and does it matter now?
Oscar Delgado
As alluded to earlier in the story, rumors were swirling around town about Oscar Delgado and an alleged relationship with Garcia. At the time, Oscar was a Reno city councilman and big-wig at Community Health Alliance. As part of Green’s inquiry into Mariluz whereabouts, he learned that Oscar was rumored to be staying at his second home on Broadway Street. Green made several trips to the home, knocking when a vehicle belonging to Oscar sat in the driveway. No one would answer.
Green then spoke with neighbors and one neighbor was able to shed some light on the situation. That neighbor confirmed, by photograph, that Oscar Delgado did reside in the home Green had been knocking on. This neighbor also made a bizarre claim about a secret visitor to Oscar’s residence. The neighbor described an attractive Hispanic female with long dark hair. Green showed the neighbor a photo of Garcia and he identified her as the one who parked down the street and would walk to Oscar’s home under the cover of darkness. Green was never able to independently verify this information, however the neighbor seemed genuine and sure. (This neighborhood canvas sounds eerily similar to the way KUNR conducted itself, in the name of “journalism”, which apparently absolved them of any scrutiny)
Frustrated, Green decided to leave a card for Oscar. The card was left on the driver’s side window of Oscar’s vehicle, yet Green’s phone never rang. Despite the tone of the KUNR piece, Green apparently was overtly looking into candidates and he had been retained by one of Marialuz’s opponents in the race, apparently for good reason. Oscar would later resign his city post in September 2022 with little explanation as to why.
Media Bias and Poor Story-Telling
Frustrated with the reporting by KUNR, specifically his interactions with Bert Johnson (reporter), Green submitted several public records requests relating to claims in their story. According to Green, “I was super frustrated with their reporting. I was the only person to go on the record with them. I met with this reporter, gave him a 30-minute interview. I even gave him a thumb drive with public records on it, yet when his tale came out, it lacked much of what I told him. In fact, the article tried to tie to me to the other PI, someone I have not spoken to in 17 years!” Green said he found it very difficult to understand why elected officials would not even go on the record with the media, “…these people are public officials, and they are content to let someone else tell their own story? Furthermore, these people now want to play victim roles when they won’t even answer to their own alleged actions. Unreal.”
Green was incredulous about possible media bias as this unfolded, “I had many interactions with the media as a law enforcement official. I joked often that I never saw a camera I did not want to jump in front of. I was a trail-blazer with transparency and the media, sometimes putting me at odds with my co-workers. I always believed in telling our story, lest someone else tell it and to feed the media everything we could. After this interaction with KUNR, I am very disappointed in the media and I see firsthand biases and narrative driven reporting. It’s sad”, said Green.
What Green was getting at was not only how he was portrayed by KUNR, but how they even knew Marialuz was the target of any investigation. Did Marialuz contact the media? We doubt that, given her refusal to go on the record with KUNR and their article sure doesn’t claim that. An alternative could be this:
Remember when Green said he left a card on Oscar’s car? Guess who works for Oscar at Community Health Alliance? Brian Duggan’s wife, the editor of KUNR. The former RGJ staffer and now top-dog at KUNR, decides what stories run on his outlet. Is it just a wild coincidence that his wife works for Oscar, or that his wife rubs elbows with Hillary Schieve? We find it very suspect that KUNR just happened to wander onto Taylor Street with Tom Green’s photo asking if he happened to be knocking on doors. Doesn’t that seem odd?
What else is odd, in the KUNR article they use a photograph from Marialuz’ Facebook page at the public swearing in at the Commission Chambers. Are we to believe that KUNR scoured her Facebook and just happened to recognize Mr. Green seated in the audience? According to Green, “I sat next to my friend, Commissioner Jeanne Herman, and we ended up right behind Oscar and Marialuz. I congratulated Marialuz on her win, however Oscar would not even look at me.” He continued, “The KUNR article and photo made it sound as though I was a stalking her as she was sworn in, Oscar knew who I was, what a disingenuous inuendo.”
To add to the mountain of poor reporting, KUNR failed to mention some key details in the Trackergate scandal. Specifically, the reason Green was even brought to light. During Hillary’s chat with Sparks Police Detectives, despite being told who purchased the tracker, who installed it and who used it, she drug Green’s name into the mix. The Detectives were quick to dismiss her baseless and slanderous suggestion, however the damage was done. When she subsequently obtained the police report via a public records request, Tom Green’s name was in the police report as being involved based on her suggestion. Media also obtained the report and Green was inundated with calls and texts. “My former co-workers and others asked me if I did it, had I placed a tracker on the mayor’s car? Despite my denials the groundswell of rumors continued, fueled by the mayor’s false claim,” Green says.
What KUNR failed to disclose was that once Green learned of his name being slandered by the Mayor, he submitted public records requests which led to the bombshell first reported on by Picon Press, that Vaughn Hartung had also been tracked. Green, who used to oversee the records section of the largest Sheriff’s Office in the state, knows public records. When he read the reports and saw the references to evidence booked, Green submitted public records for not only the video of her interview, but for the tracker data. No other media outlet had thought to ask, apparently.
A Private Investigator finds the treasure
When Green obtained the Tracker data, he then corresponded with Sparks Police via email, as the data he was given lacked enough data points to put the tracker at Hillary’s home. He was told they could only put it close to her to home and the data Green was given was what the Sparks Police had. During his review, Green found an email from the tracking company to the Sparks Police, and he used that email to ask the tracking company why their data was lacking coordinates normally found in GPS data. Instead of explaining, the company responded directly to Green with an updated spreadsheet, complete with accurate coordinates. As soon as Green saw the coordinates, he knew Hartung had also been tracked.
Picon Press, who was simultaneously doing a story about Trackergate, hired Mr. Green to provide the records needed for their story and to ask Hartung for comment. Green, who has known Hartung since 1992, called him and explained that he had been tracked and asked him for comment. Hartung refused comment and the next thing we saw was his jump into Hillary’s lawsuit. The KUNR reporter was told all of this according to Green, and Green’s assertions are supported by emails. Yet not one mention in their reporting as to the genesis of Hartung’s information. Why is that? Would that have swayed opinion away from the apparent narrative of KUNR and The Nevada Independent? We will let our readers decide.
Where are we now?
Trackergate continues to churn through the legal system. Despite the Sparks Police misusing the law to obtain the identity of the PI who used the tracker on the mayor, the discovery commissioner recommended Judge Hardy issue an order to force the PI to disclose his client. In response, the PI’s lawyers have filed motions to stop the disclosure.
The state legislature has now taken up the mayor’s cause, with a Republican introduced bill that would prohibit a PI from using a tracker, ever. We are told the portion of the bill allowing car repossession companies to explicitly track without a warrant was removed from the bill. We find it weird since the car repossession company's licensed PI’s use their clients GPS trackers to find their cars, with the explicit language being removed it is unclear if they would be considered PIs or not. Luckily, the police still must have a warrant to use a tracker, even though the entire fleet of Washoe County cars are reported to have GPS devices, all of the RPD police cars, and even some buildings at UNR- when will the hyperbole surrounding trackers end?
Despite the deepening surveillance state, it appears lawmakers want to assure themselves they won’t be tracked by the likes of PI’s who have been working for political campaigns for a long time.