Reno council members spend big on travel and conferences, likely violating city policies

A 10-part series

Reno City Hall at 1 East First Street. Bob Conrad / THIS IS RENO.

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.

How this series began

This Is Reno was approached by a number of different individuals expressing concern about council members seemingly traveling extravagantly on the city’s dime starting in the summer of 2023, which prompted this series. Questions included: How do these trips benefit Reno citizens?

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 also indicate council members gave freely to local nonprofits while seeking campaign donations and public support for reelection from board members or executives at those organizations. 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.

City refuses to respond

This Is Reno spent hours poring over numerous travel receipts, city council donations, candidate disclosures and other documents as part of this 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. Some council members and the mayor answered some of our questions by email.

This Is Reno asked city management dozens of questions to verify information received through public records requests. Answers to these questions would have provided additional context and information for the 10-part investigative series. Those answers would have also given city officials the opportunity to clarify any information and ensure their perspectives were included in our series. Read the dozens of questions the city refused to answer here.

This 10-part series began being published daily starting Feb. 14, 2024. Subscribe here to get access to all This Is Reno articles.