By Kristen Hackbarth and Bob Conrad

Former City of Reno Code Enforcement Director Alex Woodley’s work phone was used to message city employees about abandoned vehicles, delinquent property owners and a hefty schedule of meetings. The bulk of the messages and photos were work related, but the phone was also used to exchange racy photos with one or more unknown women. 

Texts included arranging meet ups at local casinos with what appears to be at least one woman, at times during work hours, according to public records obtained by This Is Reno.

“It was private communication between consenting adults, which unfortunately violated the policy of using my city cellphone,” Woodley told This Is Reno. “The only thing I did wrong was misuse the city cell phone for personal activities. In my 20 years [with the city] that is the only violation that I have.” 

Woodley, who is popular in the community, resigned on Oct. 9 after serving 20 years with the city. City officials would not comment on his departure, citing confidential employee matters.

He also recently resigned from being on the board of the Pioneer Center.

He told This Is Reno his position at the city had become very political and it was a good time to retire. Anonymous sources, however, said Woodley quit after city leadership discovered he had used his city-issued cell phone to send the illicit texts and conduct duties in his role as Washoe County School trustee.  

“I apologize. Something I thought was private did come out in public and that was not my intent. I made a mistake.”

Woodley used his phone on a handful of dates to exchange texts with what appears to be at least one woman. The texts appear to show they had a sexual relationship. On several days he and a woman arranged to meet for hookups. At other times a woman texted suggestive photos and videos of herself. The photographs were redacted by city staff, but at least one image appears to be of male genitalia. 

Woodley said none of the texts were with anyone from the city and there was no harassment or quid pro quo related to government activities. 

Woodley’s use of the city phone for school district business was more limited. He received several texts from what appears to be a campaign consultant and also promoted the availability of campaign signs earlier this spring. Other mentions of the district were in passing, primarily to advise people of his schedule for WCSD meetings. 

Woodley said he plans to continue his work as a WCSD trustee. 

“I apologize,” he said. “Something I thought was private did come out in public and that was not my intent. I made a mistake.” 

He added that this is a good lesson for others. He said that despite deleting the texts from the phone, he was unaware of tracking mechanisms that recorded the data.

“I recommend for anyone to make sure that if you are using a government tool in any way to ensure that you do not in any way use it for personal use,” he said.

The Nevada Globe first reported about Woodley’s cell phone use. This Is Reno did not report on what were, then, allegations of sexting until the information could be verified. The City of Reno quickly provided hundreds of pages of text messages after a public records order was placed on Oct. 10. About half of the records were provided on Oct. 21.

Political pressure

Most of Woodley’s cell phone use was work-related. Many of the texts were group exchanges with code enforcement staff, often sharing details of open cases or code violation complaints. 

There is some indication Woodley had to fend off political pressure, as he told This Is Reno, from within the city and outside the city. In recent months the city has ramped up code enforcement efforts in the downtown area, largely under pressure from city council members and other city leaders pushing for redevelopment.

In one instance, former City Manager Doug Thornley demanded Woodley take care of an RV blocking a local developer’s driveway, even if Woodley had to do it personally.

In another instance Woodley and another person discussed whether to pursue a potential code violation against a friend of a developer. 

“Have we made sure they made or agree with the determination of a PUD violation? I don’t want them to throw us under the bus at the last minute,” Woodley texted.

Texts show homeless issues top of mind

One text revealed an incident where a city code officer ran over a homeless man’s foot in an alleyway. The man was sleeping in the alley.

“Police report taken; reviewed with Eric Sparks, [City Attorney] Karl Hall and all paperwork done,” the text reads. “[The employee] volunteered for a piss test. Union also contacted. Everything should be good.”

The man was taken away by REMSA and allegedly was not cooperative. “The traffic cop stated he believes this is the individual that was run over in the alley last week,” another text reads.

There were hundreds of texts, including images of abandoned vehicles, run down properties and other situations code enforcement staff investigating.