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 two 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.
Donations from Reno City Council member discretionary funds are easily tracked through public meeting records, but spending on travel and training—which comes from the same budget—is less transparent. There’s also no limit on how much of their discretionary budget each council member can spend on travel and training for themselves, as long as they stay within their total budget.
This Is Reno obtained public records of council member spending for donations, purchases, travel and training for several years. Records show that the policies in place to prevent misuse of the funds appear loosely enforced, with council members not following policies and Reno City Manager Doug Thornley approving their spending.
At-large Council member Devon Reese’s spending and donations over the past several years show he spends 30-40% of his annual discretionary budget on travel and training—more than any other council member. Other council members, such as Jenny Brekhus, spend more of their dollars on local efforts. Brekhus went to two trainings in recent years and said she tries to use her discretionary funds on her ward. Council member Naomi Duerr has taken no trips based on records provided, but she has distributed much of her budget to city programs such as Reno ReLeaf.
“The Council members book the trips and submit the receipts to staff.” – Reno City Council member Devon Reese
Reese attended the National League of Cities 2022 conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and went to the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He also took a multi-day trip to Washington, D.C., for the January 2023 swearing-in of Nevada’s U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and he attended a three-week executive leadership training at Harvard Kennedy School of Business in Massachusetts in the summer of 2023.
Travel records from these trips appear to show what appears to be a pattern of violating the city’s travel and purchasing policies. Reese charged the city for first-class airfare, extra room nights and meals at hotels on additional travel days and even for meals that were provided during conferences. On some trips, he’s used extra travel days to go sightseeing.
Reese said he paid for any personal activities while traveling for city business.
“Any expenses that are personal to me and not required of my travel I pay for out of my pocket,” Reese wrote in an email to This Is Reno. “For example, if I went early to a place for a personal reason, I pay for my own food and lodging for those nights. If I upgraded a flight, I paid for the difference in the flight costs. I also pay for my own entertainment.”
He did pay for his own upgraded flight at least once, according to public records obtained by This Is Reno. Reese booked a first-class ticket on Delta Airlines for his travel to Washington D.C., for the 2021 International LGBTQ Leaders Conference. When submitting his travel expenses through council support staff he provided a screenshot of the pricing for the main cabin fare and requested reimbursement only for that amount. Records show he paid $1,214 for the first-class ticket but was only reimbursed for the $919 cost of the main cabin fare.
On other instances when Reese purchased upgraded airfare, records show the city reimbursed Reese for the full cost of those tickets. He could not provide any evidence showing he reimbursed the city for other travel costs. City accounting records also do not show his account was reimbursed.
Reese implied it was the responsibility of city staff to properly complete his expense reports.
“We’ve had higher than normal turnover in the admin staff for those positions so I’m not sure what their records/files are like,” Reese wrote. “The Council members book the trips and submit the receipts to staff.”
Council members sign off on the documents before they are submitted to Thornley for approval.
In 2022, Reese flew first class to Kansas City, Missouri, for the National League of Cities City Summit, arriving on Nov. 12, five days before the conference began. He picked up a rental car that same day—for which no justification was provided and which was not approved ahead of time, per the city’s travel policy.
For the mayor and council members, the city’s travel policy states, “air travel shall be the least expensive option which is refundable.” Written justification is required for a rental car, which “must be included with the Training/Travel Request Form and authorized in advance by the department head or City Manager.” The policy states, “Reimbursement for a rental car generally will not be allowed when the employee is staying at the event site.”
Reese said he prefers to use a rideshare or cab “in cities where that makes more sense,” such as Washington, D.C. For the Kansas City trip, he wrote, “I calculated that renting a car was cheaper than taking a cab and I’m familiar with Kansas City so I chose to rent a car,” for driving to and from the airport and “around town, etc.”
Reese stayed at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, a little more than 20 miles from the airport. The hotel doesn’t offer a shuttle from the airport, but a front desk agent This Is Reno spoke to said rideshare from the airport to the hotel costs about $40 each way.
The hotel is also just a block away from the Kansas City Convention Center where the conference was held, a two-minute walk, according to Google Maps. Despite this, Reese’s car rental receipt shows he drove 323 miles.
He did not respond to a question asking what he was doing that required driving more than 300 miles.
At the time, Reese’s youngest daughter was attending the University of Kansas School of Law, a 42-mile drive from where Reese stayed at the Kansas City Marriott.
Reese’s expense report for the trip only included the rental car cost for six of the nine days he had it, totaling $429.88. The city also covered the cost of five days of valet parking at the hotel at $34 a day.
Thornley approved Reese’s expense report for the trip on Dec. 7, 2022.
“when I was at the White House I spoke specifically with the U.S. Secretary of Labor [Marty Walsh] about strikes happening at RTC and asked for his help in ending them.”– City Council member Devon Reese commenting on his 2022 trip to Washington, D.C.
The 2021 bus strikes had ended the year prior to this trip.
Weeks later, Reese attended the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. The conference, scheduled Nov. 30-Dec. 3, 2022, was hosted by the LGBTQ Victory Institute, which, according to its website, “works to increase the number of LGBTQ people in public office through campaign trainings and leadership programs and provides additional programming and services once in office to help ensure their success.” Sessions at the conference included building personal brands, tools to get into higher office, and LGBTQ advocacy.
Reese flew first class to Washington, D.C., and arrived two days before conference activities began. He purchased the flight in July 2022 for $1,885. Mayor Hilary Schieve, who also registered for the conference, booked her flights a little over a week in advance but paid just $840 to get there.
“Sometimes our travel options from Reno are limited, so I’ve gone early to either save money or arrive/depart late so as not to clash with a City Council meeting,” Reese wrote.
Records also show Reese’s travel dates did not conflict with council meetings, except for the Harvard training. He attended one council meeting virtually during the training and did not attend a second council meeting that overlapped with his training.
Reese documented his activities in the days before the conference began on Instagram. He visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery on Nov. 28, 2022. He visited the National Mall, Washington Monument and National Sculpture Garden on Nov. 29, 2022.
On Dec. 1, 2022, when the conference offered seven hours of workshops and panels exclusively for elected officials, Reese documented that he and Mayor Schieve instead spent that time meeting with Nevada’s congressional officials—Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). Both have offices in Reno, not far from City Hall.
As reported on local TV news stations with photos provided by Reese, he and Schieve, on that same city-funded trip, also attended the Dec. 1 White House State Dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron. None of Nevada’s congressional delegation was on the guest list, but, in an email to This Is Reno, Schieve said the dinner was a valuable opportunity “to strengthen diplomatic ties, and discuss key issues impacting our community.”
“I felt the Vice Mayor’s presence not only underscored our city’s commitment to inclusivity and collaboration but also facilitated additional representation and engagement with federal officials and dignitaries present at the dinner,” Schieve wrote. “We had very meaningful conversations with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Danny Todd, 14th District Vice President of the IAFF and a critical city partner.”
The pair got a photo with Buttiegieg, along with comedian Stephen Colbert and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Who else was at the White House State Dinner?
In addition to numerous cabinet members, White House staff and family, and Congressional members, a number of high-powered French and U.S. individuals attended the Dec. 1, 2022, White House State Dinner for French President Emmanuel Macron. They included French dignitaries, wealthy entrepreneurs and CEOs, artists, celebrities, philanthropists, five state governors and three city mayors, including Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and the mayors of Detroit and Houston. Eight current and former union leaders also attended the dinner.
Reno City Council member Devon Reese, who is also an attorney representing labor unions, said he used the dinner as an opportunity to discuss ending labor strikes in Reno. There were no strikes in Reno in 2022. The three strikes against Keolis in Reno had concluded by the end of 2021.
“Those are part of the official duties of an elected official,” Reese said of his attendance at the dinner. “Those relationships matter. For example, when I was at the White House I spoke specifically with the U.S. Secretary of Labor [Marty Walsh] about strikes happening at RTC and asked for his help in ending them.”
Nevada’s Teamsters Local 533 did strike three times against Keolis, the Regional Transportation Commission’s (RTC) contractor—however those strikes all took place in 2021 and ended one year prior to the White House state dinner.
Reese also charged the per-diem rate for meals for each day of his travel, including days he spent sightseeing and when meals were provided on at least one day of the conference. Reese’s hotel and meals for the extra days of the trip, from Nov. 27-29, 2022, totaled $885, which he also included on his travel expense form.
Thornley approved these expenses about a week later.
The conference, which cost $225 to attend, continued through Dec. 3, 2022. However, Reese checked out of the conference hotel on Dec. 2. His flight didn’t return to Reno until Dec. 5, 2022. There are no room or meal charges for his final three days of traveling, however. The total cost of the trip was $3,890.
A little more than a month later, Reese traveled back to Washington, D.C., this time to attend the swearing-in celebration for Cortez Masto. The three-hour event, described as a virtual watch party and reception held at the senator’s office, was on Jan. 3, 2023, but Reese’s travel was from Jan. 2-6, 2023. The purpose of the trip, as described by Reese, was to “meet with state elected officials.” Cortez Masto was billed to be at the watch party for an hour.
Based on Uber receipts submitted in his travel expense report, Reese attended nearly all three hours of the party at the Hart Senate Office Building on Jan. 3, 2023, then left and headed to a ramen bar in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown. On Jan. 4, Reese visited the National Mall, again taking an Uber to the Lincoln Memorial. He traveled a few hours later to the U.S. Capitol Visitor’s Center. The following day, Jan. 5, Reese headed to see his son, Thomas, debate at the Georgetown College Tournament at Georgetown University, where he spent an entire day before flying back to Reno on Jan. 6.
The whole trip cost the city $2,826. Records show the city paid the bill. Thornley approved the expenses.
During the summer of 2023, Reese headed to Boston for the three-week “Senior Executives in State and Local Government” executive education course at the Harvard Kennedy School. The trip cost the city $21,651, including the $17,400 course fee, which included lodging and most meals.
Despite the lengthy and costly nature of the trip, none of the records provided show that the training went through the city’s Unusual Travel/Training request process. City officials would not say what type of trip would qualify for such a review, which includes lengthy justification and a committee review.
Reese wrote that the Harvard program “is about helping elected, and other, leaders to be even better public servants. … I learned a great deal there about how to govern and what different communities were doing with homelessness, policing, housing, public safety, etc. Harvard has had tens of thousands of elected officials attend this or a similar training for nearly 40 years. Every elected official should attend this training.”
As on other trips, Reese’s travel dates included arriving before the actual Harvard training. The training dates were July 10-28, 2023, and program materials advised participants to arrive by noon on July 10 and plan to leave after 4 p.m. on July 28.
Reese, however, arrived in Boston two days beforehand, on July 8, 2023, around 5 p.m., and he didn’t leave until July 30. A roundtrip ticket booked in Delta’s Comfort+ section, the airline’s premium seating between the main cabin and first class, cost $1,700. The extra days he was in Boston cost the city $1,349 in hotel charges, $158 in meals and at least $60 in Uber charges, according to city records.
Thornley approved Reese’s travel request, including the extra hotel nights and the program registration cost, on July 5, 2023, more than a month after Reese’s flight was booked and two-and-a-half months after the city was billed by Harvard for tuition.
City of Reno Chief Equity and Community Relations Officer Cynthia Esparza also attended the three-week Harvard training, and according to Reese, two other city staff were attending a four-week policing conference at Boston University. Their travel documents were not included within the scope of This Is Reno’s records request. However, Reese’s expense report shows he treated Esparza and the two others to dinner on two nights of the trip spending $656.74 between the two restaurants. In addition to being reimbursed for the two meals, Reese also submitted and was reimbursed for an additional $72 for the two nights’ per-diem dinner charges on top of the two restaurant meals.
Reese in an email on Aug. 1, 2023, noted that Thornley had approved the “larger ticket items for dinner with our employees.” Thornley approved Reese’s expense report, which was dated Aug. 15, 2023, later that month. 
Again, Reese documented his extra time in Boston on Instagram, posting several photos of historical sites and a video taken while attending a baseball game at Fenway Park. His Boston trip cost nearly half of his $45,000 fiscal year 2024 discretionary budget, but records show he had the city’s accounting department move almost $6,000 from his 2023 budget into his 2024 budget to help cover the costs of his training at Harvard.
End-of-fiscal year transfers are common among council members, according to Assistant City Manager Ashley Turney, who said often they’ll use the funds to support special projects that don’t always receive funding. Other council members have transferred discretionary funds to city departments to purchase park benches, support tree-planting projects or to buy a boat for water rescue operations.
Read part three tomorrow.
