This Is Reno obtained two-and-a-half years of City of Reno public records on discretionary spending to see how the Mayor and City Council members spent those funds. Hours were dedicated to poring over numerous travel receipts, city council donations, candidate disclosures and other documents. Findings reveal that some council members have used their budgets for extravagant and, at times, unusual travel, as well as donations that may violate city policies. Expenses also have unclear benefits for the Reno community.
This is part three in a 10-part series, which is being published over the coming days. Read the complete series here. Subscribe here to get access to all This Is Reno articles.
Reno City Council members each year are provided with thousands of dollars for discretionary spending meant to be used to provide a benefit to the Reno community. Public records show that, at times, taxpayer funds are spent in ways that likely violate city policies.
Council member Devon Reese had what appears to be the greatest number of travel spending irregularities over the past several years of travel, but he’s not alone.
Council member Miguel Martinez attended the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund conference in New York City on July 11-13, 2023. His expense report didn’t include a room charge for his first night but included two extra days after the conference ended. Those additional days cost the city more than $800, including an extra night at the New York Marriott Marquis, extra per-diem meal costs for each day and a $183 dinner on his hotel bill.
No justification for the additional days was provided in his travel report This Is Reno obtained as part of a public records request for all travel documentation. City officials, including Martinez, did not respond to dozens of questions about these expenses.
City Manager Doug Thornley approved Martinez’s pre-travel request form and post-travel expense report on Aug. 16, 2023, a month after Martinez returned from New York. City travel policy indicates that “all travelers are responsible for obtaining pre-approval at least ten days in advance of the requested travel,” and expense claims must be submitted within 10 days of returning from travel. The latter disclaimer is also included on the expense report beneath where travelers must sign the form.
When Martinez traveled to Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 8, 2023, for the National Recreation and Parks Conference, not only did the city pay an extra $100 for him to participate in an optional golf tournament offered at the conference, he had to arrive a day before the conference sessions began to golf. Martinez was booked at the Omni Hotel in a “premier executive room” at $915.57 per night. The City of Reno no longer operates any golf courses, and it’s not clear what the business purpose was for Martinez’s participation. Martinez did not respond to a number of questions to explain his expenses.
Several city staff members and Council member Kathleen Taylor attended the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Conference Sept. 30-Oct. 4, 2023, in Austin, Texas. Travel records show staff members paid $200 to become ICMA members and then paid $565 each to attend the conference. According to city records, Taylor did not pay the membership fee and instead forked over $1,730 to attend the same conference—an expense about double what it would have cost to become a member and save on the conference’s registration.
The city’s travel policy in several places emphasizes minimizing costs. In an introductory paragraph, it states, “travel should be by the least expensive method available” based on factors such as travel time, salary and transportation costs. Later on, the policy restates that “all travelers are responsible for making every effort to ensure travel expenses are incurred by the least expensive method reasonably available.”
“Employees parking a personal vehicle at the airport must use the least expensive available parking lot.”-City of Reno travel policy
Taylor did not attend the entire ICMA conference either. She left mid-day on Oct. 3 to fly to Chicago and attend the International Downtown Association Conference, which cost another $950 in registration fees. Taylor submitted travel requests for these two conferences after both events had ended, even though the city’s policies mandate those requests be filled out and approved before traveling.
Altogether, Taylor’s week of travel cost the city $6,643. Among the charges was $258 for seven days of parking at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport—the fee for $36/day short-term garage parking rather than the $12/day long-term surface lot.
City policy advises, “Employees parking a personal vehicle at the airport must use the least expensive available parking lot.” Uber or taxi travel would have saved most of Taylor’s parking expense.
Thornley received travel requests and expense reports for Taylor’s attendance at both conferences after she returned on Oct. 23, 2023. He approved them Nov. 8, 2023.
Taylor did not respond to a number of questions about her travel expenses.
Schieve’s records limited
Mayor Hillary Schieve has traveled often in recent years for participation in meetings for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She said she relies on her assistant to make travel plans, and in July 2022 that assistant left the position. City staff picked up those duties, and many of Schieve’s travel plans were handled by Assistant City Manager Ashley Turney.
Turney books the travel and pays for it with a city credit card, and receipts for Schieve’s flights and hotels are often included in Turney’s expense reports, and at other times submitted with no paperwork.
Schieve took eight separate trips in 2022 and 2023 and submitted travel request or expense report paperwork for just three, requesting reimbursement for per-diem meals and incidentals only. For the other five trips, there’s no record she requested travel or submitted an expense report to be reimbursed for meals and incidentals.
Schieve, like Reese, said staff turnover was an issue.
“I went eight months without mayoral administrative assistance,” she wrote in an email to This Is Reno. “After years of support, I had to turn to other departments and team members just as my travel for USCM [U.S. Conference of Mayors] hit its peak.”
Schieve said her trip to Washington D.C., in November 2022 “occurred during a state of flux when I had no administrator coordinating my arrangements.” That trip, for which no travel request or expense report was submitted, included registration for 2022 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference, several visits with Nevada’s congress members and a White House State Dinner.
Turney’s city credit card was used to pay nearly $400 for executive car service to shuttle Schieve between Reagan International Airport and the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C., on that trip. Both locations are easily accessible via cheaper rideshares or a $6 Metrorail ride.
Schieve said the Presidential Limousine was arranged by city staff to provide reliable car service from the airport. “This decision prioritized reliability in inclement weather, logistical efficiency, safety, and punctuality,” she wrote.
Weather records for her travel dates show moderate fall temperatures and some light rain, but no snowfall.
The only other cost for the trip was $840 for airfare and $225 for conference registration, both paid for with a city credit card.
Read part four tomorrow.
