Setting the record straight about the Lear + more updates
A bonus Brief covering the latest in Reno urban development for May 5, 2026
That’s right, it’s a special bonus edition of The Barber Brief. I had so much to cover in the May 3rd edition that I wasn’t able to fit in some important news and updates from the past week—plus a few new pieces, announcements, and meeting previews just showed up that deserve your immediate attention, so let’s get you caught up.
First off, an update about tonight’s Ward 3 NAB meeting agenda:
I wrote on Sunday that The Boulevard pro soccer/casino/entertainment project was scheduled to be formally presented for the first time at the Ward 3 NAB meeting this evening (Tuesday, May 5th). According to the meeting agenda, the two items related to The Boulevard have been now been POSTPONED.
Reno City Councilmember Miguel Martinez says he supports preserving the Lear. His actions say otherwise.
Speaking of Ward 3, This is Reno just published an opinion piece about the Lear from Ward 3 Reno City Councilmember Miguel Martinez that I couldn’t quite believe I was reading. It seems timed and intended to defend his April 8th vote to issue an RFP for the Lear Theater, but instead only sows more confusion and misinformation.
Read it for yourself. As you might expect, I have some thoughts.
OPINION: Reno’s identity, history, and the future of the Lear Theater (This is Reno 5/4/26)
After writing about the importance of Reno’s historic architecture in general, and claiming that the Lear was “transformed into a theater” (it was not), he writes this:
“Two weeks ago, there was confusion after the Reno City Council (RCC) vote. The body decided not to demolish the Lear, but to go out to the community to seek a Request For Proposals to identify a viable partner that will work collaboratively to reactivate it.”
What on earth is Councilmember Martinez talking about? Demolishing the Lear wasn’t even remotely a topic of discussion on April 8th, or ever. I haven’t heard anyone reporting that City Council voted to demolish the Lear, if that’s what he’s suggesting. And writing that Council “decided not to” demolish it implies that its demolition was proposed and that City Council decided against it. If he’s trying to clear up any confusion about what happened, this does just the opposite.
Secondly, his motion to issue an RFP made no mention of identifying a “viable partner that will work collaboratively to reactivate” the Lear. That sounds like he wanted to issue an RFP to enter into a public-private partnership. That would be better than what he said, but it’s not what he said. He also did not vote to “go out to the community to seek a Request for Proposals.” He, along with Councilmembers Brandi Anderson, Meghan Ebert, and Kathleen Taylor, directed staff to issue one.
Next, he writes this:
“I am a proud supporter of the preservation and activation of the Lear Theatre. Through the decision, RCC is supporting the process of moving the space towards its restored glory. While we all wish to see the Lear restored, the estimated $17 to $24 million cost simply exceeds our current fiscal capacity as a city and through the Redevelopment Agency.”
NOT THIS AGAIN! The fact that Martinez and Councilmembers Anderson, Ebert, and Taylor all continue to spout some version of this straw man argument in an attempt to tout their own fiscal responsibility is seriously making my head explode.
Let me be crystal clear:
NO ONE is asking the City of Reno to fund the restoration of the Lear. No one is asking the City to spend $24 million on it. Or $17 million. Or even $2 million. So stop using that false claim as an excuse to hand the property off to someone else.
I genuinely do not know how much clearer we can be about this: We know that the City of Reno can’t afford to completely restore the Lear. We are not asking it to.
The SOLE City expenditure recommended by the Historical Resources Commission for the Lear is an estimated $1 million to $1.7 million (depending on which recommendations City Council follows), to be allocated from the Redevelopment Agency’s revenues, which can only be used to address blight in the redevelopment areas, to fund the building’s basic stabilization and security, and possibly a feasibility study to evaluate options for its use and management. That’s it. Are we clear now?
Councilmember Martinez goes on to write this:
“We know that nonprofits and philanthropists are eager to step up. Our aim is to preserve the Lear’s spirit by ensuring it finds new stewards who can honor its legacy.”
What nonprofits is he talking about here? Because the local nonprofits that have been stepping up for the Lear for years including the Reno-Sparks NAACP, Our Story, Inc., the Black Community Collective, the Historic Reno Preservation Society, and Preserve Nevada are, across the board, asking the City to HOLD THE BUILDING IN TRUST so they can work with it—and with each other—on a viable plan for it.
They are not asking the City to issue an RFP for the Lear. They—along with Mayor Schieve and Councilmembers Naomi Duerr and Devon Reese—are asking City Council to approve funding the necessary repairs to buy the building more time. And yes, these nonprofits want to continue to step up to help generate community support and funding for the Lear, which is why they asked the City to establish a committee and a fund to receive money. That is not at all the same as saying that they are ready and waiting to submit a proposal to preserve the property themselves.
They stood directly in front of you on April 8th and told you all of this, Councilmember Martinez. Were you even listening?
An RFP privileges developers with money on hand, not local nonprofits and individuals who have pledged to contribute their time and expertise to collaborative efforts to put together a realistic preservation plan for a building that is of incredible significance to us.
The fact that collaborative planning takes time is precisely why we have all asked the City of Reno to remain the building’s sole steward for a short period longer while a focused committee works together to assemble a plan for it that will actually work. That may involve issuing a Request for Proposals at a later date, but doing that now would be skipping the critical steps required to ensure it will be successful.
The only way to responsibly issue an RFP for the Lear would be to directly involve the community in the writing of it, to hold meetings with community members, interested nonprofits and other stakeholders, under the auspices of the Historical Resources Commission (HRC), to help determine what it would even say—in other words, to form the exact type of committee that the HRC recommended be formed, and let them hold inclusive public discussions about it. Otherwise we won’t even know who’s writing this RFP or what it would be seeking proposals to do, because City Council gave staff no direction whatsoever about that.
Martinez continues:
“Our aim is to preserve the Lear’s spirit by ensuring it finds new stewards who can honor its legacy. In doing so, we ensure the past is not lost, but evolves into a future that respects both heritage and fiscal responsibility.”
Respectfully, Councilmember Martinez, that may be your aim, but shirking the City’s obligation to the Lear at this critical moment is neither respectful nor responsible.
Delaying critical repairs that are already long overdue, thereby threatening to precipitate the further deterioration or even the loss of the building, is not responsible.
Misleading the public about how much the City of Reno would be obligated to pay toward the Lear simply by retaining ownership of it is not responsible.
Ignoring the recommendations of the board whose role is to advise you on issues about which City Council has no experience or expertise is not responsible.
Issuing an RFP with the assurance that some mystery philanthropist or nonprofit with buckets of money will magically appear out of thin air is not responsible.
What WOULD actually be responsible is for the Reno City Council to vote on May 6th to allocate some redevelopment funds (which are continually being replenished and do not require a massive reserve) to perform some basic stabilization and security measures that this building so desperately requires, and delay issuing an RFP until we have TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY decided what type of proposals the community even wants to solicit for this building, a cultural and architectural treasure that belongs not to the members of the Reno City Council, but to we the people.
Want to chat with Councilmember Martinez about this? Attend the Ward 3 NAB meeting tonight or email him at martinezmi@reno.gov.
PREVIEW: May 6, 2026 Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board meetings
I previewed some of the items on these agendas in my May 3rd Brief, but now This is Reno has published their own preview of the May 6, 2026 Reno City Council & Redevelopment Agency Board meetings, so be sure to give it a read:
Reno City Council to consider fee hikes, sewer rate increase adoption, annexation and road fee update (This is Reno 5/4/26)
RENO’S LOCAL ELECTIONS
The Nevada Independent recently ran a story on how Reno’s top mayoral candidates propose to address the City of Reno’s budget woes. Since two of those candidates are currently sitting on the Reno City Council and they’ll be talking about the budget in their May 6th meeting, it seems like a good idea to read this article first:
ELECTION PREVIEW: Reno’s budget is in trouble. Here’s how top mayoral candidates say they’ll fix it. (Nevada Independent 4/30/26)
This opinion piece about some local and state races is worth your time, as well:
OPINION: We elected you to represent us, not climb a career ladder (Jason Guinasso, Nevada Independent 5/4/26)
DATA CENTERS
Here are more stories and opinion pieces on this important local and national issue:
Why a Northern Nevada data center wants to build its own temporary natural gas power plant (Nevada Independent 4/29/26) With NV Energy unable to service the center for at least two years, the developer wants to go “behind-the-meter,” raising concerns from environmentalists.
Have data center tax breaks helped Nevada’s economy? Here’s what we found. (Nevada Independent 3/29/26) They bring a lot of construction, but few permanent jobs. There’s disagreement — and limited information — over whether the output is worth the incentives.
OPINION: Data centers will not destroy Reno (David Colborne, Nevada Independent, 5/6/26) Data centers? Within city limits? If you live in Reno, they’re less likely than you might think.
BUILDING A SHARED VISION FOR DOWNTOWN RENO
Warren Lerude is an absolute treasure, and his new op/ed about downtown Reno states what I have been saying for years: creating a vision for downtown Reno needs to start by building on the culture and spaces that already draw people there:
OPINION: A new hometown for downtown Reno (Warren Lerude, RGJ 4/29/26)
And it needs to start with us, not with study after study after study. As he writes:
“It is time now time for creation of a daring and imaginative task force of citizens, including politicians, hotels and casinos, banking, real estate and general business executives, professionals and educators, service clubs organizations and churches as well as, importantly, representatives of the city’s youth, to define the vision and create a new here here.”
Who is championing the community-based vision that we deserve?
THE RENO POLICE DEPARTMENT
‘Bizarre’ training records tied to Reno police leadership under scrutiny (This is Reno 5/1/26)
EDITORIAL: Police training in Nevada is a big mess (This is Reno 5/3/26)
SPOTLIGHT: WASHOE COUNTY GOVERNMENT
Washoe County seeks input on heat mitigation plan as temperatures rise (This is Reno 5/2/26)
Washoe County 2026 homeless count shows increase in homelessness again (This is Reno 5/5/26)
Washoe County shifts focus to prevention as costs rise, deficit looms (This is Reno 4/23/26)
EDITORIAL: County officials condemn leak of report on homeless services mismanagement while being mum on problems found (Bob Conrad and Kristen Hackbarth, This is Reno 4/26/26)
Plus, here’s a thoughtful piece considering the consolidation of fire services and more.
INDY ENVIRONMENT: Is one fire service better than many? The feds think so, but what about Nevadans? (Nevada Independent 4/30/26)
RENO DEVELOPMENT NEWS
That’s it for today—have a good week, everyone.
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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Very good. I hope that the Lear Theater can be saved and I fully support your comments.
John White