City of Reno leadership—including Mayor Hillary Schieve, City Manager Doug Thornley and several members of the city council—in 2022 updated and reapproved city policies for travel, training, and council member discretionary spending. The policies established guidelines for managing some of the city’s unrestricted general fund dollars—money collected from citizens via taxes. The changes gave the mayor and council members each an annual budget with the flexibility to use those funds to best meet the needs of the community.
Public records covering two-and-a-half fiscal years of council member spending obtained by This Is Reno show that some council members have used their budgets for extravagant and, at times, unusual travel with unclear benefits for Reno’s residents. Records indicate council members gave freely to local nonprofits while also seeking campaign donations and public support for reelection. City rules are supposed to prevent these kinds of donations.
The records also show that Thornley, who is supposed to ensure spending complies with city policies, has signed off on most of these expenses—expenses incurred by the same people responsible for his annual review and compensation.
This Is Reno spent hours poring over numerous travel receipts, city council donations, candidate disclosures and other documents as part of a 10-part series on the spending by leadership at Reno City Hall. City officials refused to make Thornley and other staff available for interviews to explain the documents, except for a terse, 15-minute interview with Assistant City Manager Ashley Turney. Several council members and the mayor answered some of our questions by email.
The following is part one of this series. This series is being published over the coming days. Subscribe here to get access to all This Is Reno articles.
Spending rules loosely enforced for some city leaders
Some Reno City Council members use their discretionary funds on themselves. That’s according to public records obtained by This Is Reno and a lengthy review of how those dollars were spent.
Policies in place at the city are intended to put guardrails on how council member funds are used. City rules appear to be only loosely enforced, however, with thousands of dollars spent providing what appear to be personal and political benefits for some council members. Over the past several years, expenses have included gala tickets, first-class airfare, extra hotel nights, extra meal reimbursements, and even a three-week executive training for Council member Devon Reese at Harvard University that cost the city more than $21,000.
“all travelers are responsible for obtaining pre-approval at least ten days in advance of the requested travel”
Reese and Mayor Hillary Schieve are the biggest spenders when it comes to travel. Council members Kathleen Taylor and Miguel Martinez have also submitted expenses that appear to have violated city travel policies; neither responded to This Is Reno to explain their paperwork.
The spending is from council discretionary funds and is approved by Reno City Manager Doug Thornley, who updated the city travel policy in November 2022. Thornley, since then, signed off on multiple travel expense reports that appear to violate that same policy. He signed off on at least eight council member travel requests, for example, well after the trips were completed, a violation of clearly stated city regulations.
The city’s travel policy requires travel requests to be submitted at least 10 days in advance of travel. After returning from trips, expense reports are required to be submitted no later than 10 days following the completion of travel. The policy also states that “any personal travel … shall not be a city expense.”
Failing to complete travel request forms in advance of travel, not getting approval for pricey hotel rooms or rental cars and charging extra travel days—including lodging, transportation and daily per-diem expenses—to the city, despite using those days for sightseeing or other personal reasons, are all documented in city records.
Thornley did not respond to numerous questions about his approvals.
Discretionary spending: A primer
Reno City Council members are provided a discretionary spending budget each year to cover a variety of things, including donations to nonprofits, supplies for neighborhood cleanups, inter-city donations to programs such as Reno ReLeaf or events such as the annual free pool day at Traner Pool.
Council members’ travel and training used to have its own budget, but during fiscal year 2023, travel and training budgets were merged with the discretionary spending budget, increasing each council member’s annual budget from $30,000 to $40,000. For this fiscal year, which continues through June 30, 2024, each member’s budget is $45,000.
“The discretionary benefits are for travel and training for them to go and learn how other cities are doing things to bring back ideas.”
These budgets are governed by two policies: the city’s travel reimbursement policy and a council resolution defining how discretionary funds can be spent. Both require that expenses provide a benefit to the Reno community and receive approval.
The city’s travel reimbursement policy states: “Travel outside the city should result in benefits for the community.” It also notes that “all travelers are responsible for obtaining pre-approval at least ten days in advance of the requested travel” and “complying with the training and travel rules and procedures.”
The discretionary spending resolution goes further to state that donations to nonprofits or another government entity are permitted “to be used for any purpose which will provide a substantial benefit to the inhabitants of the City of Reno.” The resolution requires any funds donated outside the organization to be approved through a resolution by the city council. Any funds reallocated to other city departments, such as to the parks department for benches, don’t require council approval.
The resolution doesn’t identify how non-donation expenses charged to a council member’s discretionary fund are to be allocated or approved. Those charges tend to be a fraction of the overall budget and cover the purchase of items, such as snacks and refreshments for a community pool day, reference books for council member use, or hazardous waste recycling services for a community event.
Records show a percentage of each council member’s discretionary budget—anywhere from 30-100%—is distributed through donations to local nonprofits and for neighborhood activities. The donations are approved during Reno City Council meetings and are generally around $1,000 each, but sometimes can reach up to $10,000 or more.
This Is Reno, for example, received funding from Council member Jenny Brekhus from her discretionary funds, which are being used to fund our “A City in Crisis” documentary about the city’s handling of its homeless and housing crisis.
The community benefit of these donations is often clear, as each donation requires a resolution describing the benefit the recipient organization provides to the community and how the donation will be used.
Assistant City Manager Ashley Turney said there’s no definition of what does or does not provide “benefit to the community” when it comes to council donations and travel. She said that, while she couldn’t speak to how each council member chose to spend their budget, she could describe the city’s overall philosophy.
“These funds are approved by council during the budget process,” Turney said. “Our position is that this is adopted through a public process, and council weighs in. The discretionary benefits are for travel and training for them to go and learn how other cities are doing things to bring back ideas. We found some opportunities to be able to leverage those.”
Council members have attended various conferences over the past several years, including those hosted by the National League of Cities, the International Downtown Association, the American Planning Association, and the National Recreation and Parks Association.
Some council members attend conferences tailored to their interests. Council member Reese has attended the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference at least three times. Council member Martinez attended a conference hosted by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Education Fund, an organization devoted to advancing Latino participation in the public process.
Read part two tomorrow.
