A Pivotal Moment for Many of Reno's Citizen Boards & Commissions

If you care, now is the time to read carefully and tell the City what you think.

I hope you’re all doing okay this final week of July. The only scheduled public City meetings this week are the Reno City Council and Redevelopment Agency Board meetings on Wednesday, July 30, as you can see on the Current and Upcoming Meetings webpage. Check the City of Reno calendar for other events and activities.

I’ll preview those two meetings below. But first, I want to discuss what happened last week at City Council and what you need to do NOW to ensure the optimal focus, form, and function of some of our most precious citizen Boards and Commissions.

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Updates from the July 23 Reno City Council meeting

You can read the City’s full July 23, 2025 Reno City Council Meeting Highlights here. I’ll just discuss a few of the items, with links to some media coverage.

On Staff Reductions due to the City’s Budget Deficit

Thanks to a request from Ward 2 Councilmember Naomi Duerr, the City Manager now will deliver quarterly updates to City Council on the status of the budget and any contemplated staff layoffs prior to initiating any more (not just initiating layoffs without informing Council first, as just happened while they were on their summer break). Of the eight staff positions already cut, a startling six were from Development Services, one from Public Works, and one from Auditing.

Here’s the City’s summary of the item:

Council adopted a resolution authorizing the City Manager to implement a reduction in force (RIF) for Fiscal Year 2025/26, as necessary with quarterly reporting updates to Council. This request is based on continued and anticipated slow revenue growth for Fiscal Years 2024/25, 2025/26, and 2026/27. This comes based on the need to proactively plan for and begin to address an estimated $25 million delta between projected revenues and projected expenses in the City’s General Fund for the next Fiscal Year 2026/27 budget cycle.

You can watch that whole budget/layoffs discussion on YouTube here (it’s Item C.1 and they take a very long break in the middle). There was a great deal of discussion of the budget deficit and how we got here, with detailed discussed of the rising PERS rates (that’s contributions to the Public Employees Retirement System), the delicate process of handling layoffs when Collective Bargaining Units are involved, and the role of property tax caps and declining C (consolidated) taxes.

Here’s some media coverage of that item:

• Eight layoffs initiated, and Reno City Manager says she can’t promise they’ll be the last (This is Reno 7/24/25)

• Reno council opens the door to potential layoffs amid budget deficit (RGJ 7/25/25)

And just this morning, the City posted a new edition of the City Manager’s podcast, “On the Agenda,” about the staff reductions. You can listen to that here.

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Outcomes of other items from the July 23 Reno City Council meeting

Thanks to This is Reno for this detailed coverage!

• Council nixes fire station requirement in favor of cash donation for Verdi development (This is Reno 7/25/25)

• City staff begin removing barriers for new childcare centers, providers (This is Reno 7/26/25)

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A Critical Moment for Many of Reno’s Boards and Commissions

As I previewed last week, City Council was presented on July 23 with a proposed Resolution from the City Manager to overhaul a large number of Boards and Commissions—eliminating some, merging others, redefining the scope of the Neighborhood Advisory Boards (NABs), and subjecting most of them to a standard set of regulations and procedures (Item C.4 and other related items).

The focus here is on the “non-mandated advisory boards”—those that were not created under Nevada Revised Statutes (state law), the Reno City Charter, Reno Municipal Code, or interlocal agreements. These are just the Boards and Commissions that the City of Reno has the discretion to singlehandedly change.

I found many aspects of the City Manager’s proposed Resolution very troubling, so I’m pleased that Council did not vote to adopt it; what they did instead was provide the City Manager with a great deal of input and the direction to revise the Resolution in keeping with their suggestions, then return with a revised version at a future Council meeting, perhaps as early as mid-August.

Here’s the official City recap from their Highlights summary:

Council made a motion to continue items C.4 and E.2 - E.9 to the August 13th City Council Meeting, with additional direction related to the content of a future Resolution. Council also provided direction to conduct additional public outreach over the course of the next year to help inform any future changes to the City’s advisory boards and commissions (B&C) system.

We all now have the opportunity to read that Resolution thoroughly, and—THIS IS CRITICAL, FOLKS—to write directly to the Mayor, City Councilmembers, City Manager Jackie Bryant, and Community Engagement and Services Director Cynthia Esparza to tell them precisely what we want to see changed from that initial draft (I’ll provide all their contact information below).

You can find the full 20-page Resolution here or click on the PDF below.

B&c Resolution

230KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

For more explanation, you can view the staff slide presentation here.

Many of you sent in public comments or showed up in person (thank you!) to express your concern about various components of this Resolution, including its proposed elimination of the Senior Advisory Board, Access Advisory Board, and Urban Forestry Commission (making that last one a subcommittee of Parks & Recreation), and the narrowing of focus of the Neighborhood Advisory Boards to reviewing Development Project applications and nothing more. The proposed Resolution would also eliminate the Human Rights Commission as a separate board.

Instead of retaining separate boards for Human Rights, Senior Citizens, and Access, the City Manager proposed requiring other boards, commissions, and committees “where applicable” to include the following:

• A senior representative (generally age 60 or older)

• An accessibility-focused representative

• A human rights-focused representative

You can see more elaborate descriptions of what would qualify individuals for these roles on page 3 of the Resolution.

That’s just one of the procedural provisions outlined in the proposed Resolution that faced opposition from those who wanted at least some of those to remain as independent bodies, in order to retain the City’s focus on those key issues. Residents also voiced concerns about others, such as requiring any subcommittee of a Board or Commission to be approved by City Council. And some Councilmembers had issues with other provisions, too, such as requiring every Neighborhood Advisory Board to meet at City Hall (not at all a convenient site for many residents).

You can watch the full item from July 23rd on YouTube here (they covered multiple items at the same time, including C.3 and C.4, and E.2 through E.9). In their discussion, City Council already directed the City Manager to revise the proposed Resolution in the following ways:

• Retain the Senior Citizen Advisory Committee as a separate body.

• Retain the Access Advisory Committee as a separate body.

• Retain the Urban Forestry Commission as a separate body.

• Allow the Neighborhood Advisory Boards (NABs) to continue to discuss other items in addition to reviewing Development Projects.

Even if you agree with some of that direction, it’s important to write to the people below to voice your support for it.

Based on the discussion, it seems that there was direction to proceed with the elimination of the Human Rights Commission, merge the Public Art Committee with the Arts and Culture Commission, eliminate the Special Events Sponsorship Committee, and retain the Youth City Council.

There’s more detail in this morning’s article from This is Reno:

• City’s citizen boards and commissions review morphs into proposed overhaul (This is Reno 7/28/25)

Please read the Staff Report from Item C. 4 on July 23 for an overview of the public bodies to be affected by this Resolution, but also read the Resolution itself for all of those procedural changes to be instituted. Those of you in particular who have served on City boards, commissions, and committees are really the only people who can provide informed opinions of whether those proposed changes seem practical, desirable, or even possible.

I think it’s critical to submit your thoughts ASAP so they can be taken into consideration as the City Manager formulates a new draft of this Resolution. It would also be nice for your comments to be on the record in a public forum where others can see them. This subject isn’t on the July 30 City Council agenda, but the general public comment period (A.3) at the beginning of that meeting could be a good opportunity to speak. But I think the most important act right now is to send an email to the main public comment email address at Publiccomment@reno.gov and also to copy all of the people below, to make sure they all see it.

And, of course, when a new draft of the Resolution appears on a future City Council agenda, you’ll want to participate in that discussion, too. I’ll give you a heads-up on that.

Ward 1 Kathleen Taylor and Ward 6 Brandi Anderson both stated that they were ready to adopt all of the City Manager’s suggestions that very day, even though the public hadn’t even seen them prior to the agenda being posted, and many members of the public (as well as their fellow Councilmembers) expressed specific and valid concerns. Of course we all appreciate the analysis and work conducted by City staff to draft up a Resolution, but it’s important to remind our Councilmembers that it’s their job to represent the people who elected them, not just their own personal opinions.

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To contact the Reno City Manager and Reno City Council directly:

• Mayor Hillary Schieve: schieveh@reno.gov

• Ward 1 Councilmember Kathleen Taylor: taylork@reno.gov

• Ward 2 Councilmember Naomi Duerr: duerrn@reno.gov

• Ward 3 Councilmember Miguel Martinez: martinezmi@reno.gov

• Ward 4 Councilmember Meghan Ebert: ebertm@reno.gov

• Ward 5 Councilmember Devon Reese: reesed@reno.gov

• Ward 6 Councilmember Brandi Anderson: andersonb@reno.gov

Key City Staff members to contact about Boards and Commissions:

• Reno City Manager Jackie Bryant: bryantj@reno.gov

• Community Engagement and Services Director Cynthia Esparza: esparzac@reno.gov

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UPDATE: Regional Planning Commission decision on Stonegate Postponed

I wrote last time of the projects that were headed to the July 24 meeting of the Regional Planning Commission for review. After some discussion, the conformance review of StoneGate Heinz Ranch was continued to August 4th. That agenda and packet have already been posted on the TMRPA meetings webpage. Reno Councilmembers on the commission requested that virtual public comment be enabled for the August 4th meeting. You can view the staff presentation on StoneGate from the July 24th meeting here.

The Rancharrah item on the Regional Planning Commission agenda was approved.

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PREVIEW: July 30 Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board meetings

You can find the full agenda for the July 30 Reno City Council meeting here and register to view/participate online here.

To comment on any item, you can speak in person (the meeting starts at 10am); submit an online form at Reno.Gov/PublicComment; email comments to Publiccomment@reno.gov; or comment live via Zoom.

I have been told that it’s easier for Councilmembers to read comments that are sent to them via email rather than submitted through the online comment form, just FYI.

Definitely read through the entire agenda for items of interest to you. There are in particular a bunch of purchases on the Consent Agenda (the B items that can be approved with a single vote unless singled out). I’ll just highlight a few others:

• Item C.1 - Presentation and discussion regarding the Sewer Utility including challenges and opportunities related to the collection system, treatment plants, and disposal of treated water in the North Valleys, Truckee Meadows, and South Truckee Meadows areas. Staff Report here.

• Item D.1 - Ordinance to add the Bethel AME Church at 220 Bell Street to the City of Reno’s historic register. City Staff Report here and Historical Resources Commission Staff Report and Application here. The church is already listed in the National Register of Historic Places, so this is exciting and long overdue. Please send in your support for this well-deserved designation.

The agenda for the July 30 meeting of the Redevelopment Agency Board (also City Council) can be read here. The sole action item (B.1) would approve spending $500,000 on special event barriers. You can read that Staff Report here.

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The Latest on Data Centers and Our Region

Data centers continue to be a hot topic around here, so I want to draw your attention to a few upcoming meetings where they’ll be discussed. First off, the TMRPA has scheduled a Community Conversation on Future Energy Use and Data Centers on Wednesday, August 20th from 6-7:30pm. More info on that below.

Next, a joint meeting of the Reno Planning Commission and Reno City Council specifically to discuss data centers has been scheduled for Wednesday, October 1. Reno Planning Commissioner Manny Becerra has more information on that here.

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NEWS DIGEST: The Latest in Local Urban Development

I’ll end with links to some of the latest coverage of development and related issues.

• OPINION: Developers are buying votes—and erasing the essence of the Harrah legacy (Glenn Gray, Audrey Keller and David Wong, This is Reno 7/24/25)

• Ask Joe: Reno Mayor vocal about giving local businesses priority on city jobs (News4 7/25/25)

Stay safe, everyone.

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Be sure to check out my Citizen Guide for helpful resources and links to help anyone become more informed and engaged in issues related to urban development (& more) in Reno.

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