Greetings, everyone, after a bit longer than anticipated! First off, I want to express my sincere gratitude for all your queries, concerns, and continued support during the little hiatus since I published my latest edition of The Barber Brief in November. The intervening months have been filled with a slew of professional obligations, public talks, and, of course, the holidays—along with some much-needed rest and reflection.
Last month marked three years since I first published the Brief, back in the depth of the pandemic, when public participation in local government was at perhaps its lowest point. And I was so gratified by your collective response. I could tell immediately that the information and analysis that I felt compelled to provide had met an important need in this community, and that knowledge kept me going.
Still, it hasn’t been easy—for a number of reasons—and by the end of 2023, I wasn’t sure that I could keep it up, at least not in quite the same way I’d been approaching it.
However, in examining the problem, I found the kernel of the solution: sustainability requires change. So I’m excited to re-launch The Barber Brief today with a few modifications that I think will make this initiative work better for me, and for you.
So let’s dive in.
Expect Briefer Briefs
My adoption of the word “Brief” for a title was inspired by my intent to brief readers—including residents, elected officials, city staff, and others—on issues related to local development. But as some kindly (for the most part!) pointed out, most of my posts were something less than brief, often reaching the maximum length allowed by Substack (and you should see all the carnage on the virtual cutting room floor).
Lengthy posts might provide an advantage in terms of depth, but not necessarily in readability, threatening to prompt the response every writer dreads: TL;DR! ( “Too Long; Didn’t Read!”). And my academic-instilled tendency toward what I’ll generously term “comprehensiveness” sometimes meant that if I didn’t have time to research an upcoming issue in depth, I would hesitate to write about it at all. And that’s definitely not the key to generating more awareness and engagement in community affairs.
Still, I’m not a pundit and I don’t do “hot takes.” I’m determined to provide the context, analysis, and references that careful examination of issues require—but with a bit more brevity. If I’ve discussed an issue before (many keep bouncing back), I’ll link to prior posts for context rather than repeating it all yet again. And keep in mind that you can always search the Archive on my Substack site for prior discussions.
Some of my Briefs may continue to push the limits of this platform (and require you to pour another cup of coffee!) but in the future you can mostly expect shorter Briefs that efficiently cover upcoming agendas; links to news stories, commentaries, and prior discussions; more concise analysis; and new types of content that I’ll describe below.
More Briefs, More Often
On a related note, streamlining these little missives will allow me to commit to a more consistent publishing schedule—ideally, once a week.
The precise timing of those posts might vary a bit, due to the constraints imposed by the City’s schedule of releasing information. As most of you know, Reno City Council meets on Wednesdays, typically every other week. The agendas for those meetings are generally posted on the previous Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. And there is usually little to no advance notice of what each agenda will contain (I think that’s something the City could work on, but for now, that’s what we’re dealing with).
Depending on the agenda items, it can take days for me to conduct the research required to understand some of the issues being raised, and even longer to compose coherent explanations of them complete with links to documents, articles, and other relevant resources. If I’ve been able to work uninterrupted for three or four days straight, I may successfully have published on the Sunday before a Council meeting, but I frequently haven’t been able to publish until Monday or even Tuesday. And that gives readers very little time to digest what I’ve written and to participate in the meeting itself (it also has kept me from enjoying a lot of weekends with my family).
So here’s the plan: When it comes to upcoming City Council agendas, I’ll post a preview as early as I can, indicating what’s on the agenda and what issues some of the items might raise, if I haven’t yet researched them fully. I’ll provide more info and analysis if I can in advance of the meeting, but this way you’ll know what’s on tap much earlier. And publishing toward the end of any given week will allow me to link more rapidly to any media coverage of the prior week’s meetings and events.
We can also chat and share more resources in the comment section under each post on my Substack website, a location that can perhaps be more accessible to more people than the various (and endlessly proliferating!) social media platforms out there.
And that leads me to something else I’m excited to roll out…
The Barber Brief’s Citizen Guide
My Briefs have often included information on how residents can stay informed of ongoing City actions and activities, including upcoming meetings. In order to make that information easier to find (and to avoid constantly repeating it), I have put together what I’m calling a “Citizen Guide” on my Substack website, found here.
The Citizen Guide is a permanent webpage where I’ve provided links to resources you can access and follow to learn about upcoming meetings, opportunities for citizen input, development projects, and more. Also provided is a link to the City webpage where you can sign up to receive e-newsletters on a variety of topics.
Lastly, I’ve listed at the bottom some of the media outlets that most regularly report on local development issues. Please support your local media; they are the key to a functioning democracy, and they need your help to survive and thrive.
I’ll provide a link to the Citizen Guide at the bottom of every post and will update it from time to time. Be sure to let me know if you’d like to see anything else there and feel free to link to it yourself, to help promote more awareness and engagement.
Power, Politics, PR & Place
Although most editions of the Brief have focused on the actions of Reno City Council, I’m interested in expanding our collective discussion of how the built environment is shaped, here and elsewhere. And that means devoting space to a broader range of the topics that occupy my professional work, writing, and daily thoughts.
All of the work I do revolves around the subject of PLACE. That includes discussions of land use policy and placemaking, yes, but also the relationship between a place’s image and the physical landscape; the role of history and public memory in defining communities and strengthening our connection to them; and the manner by which power dynamics shape physical space and who is able to inhabit and use it.
All of these are issues I explore in my book Reno’s Big Gamble: Image and Reputation in the Biggest Little City (now available in paperback!); in the historical consulting I perform through my firm Stories in Place; in my public appearances and interviews; in the wide range of writing projects I undertake, and more.
When applied to Reno, all of these interrelated aspects of place contribute to shaping the city we see today and determining what it will become. So I’ll be discussing those ideas in the Brief, too, sharing more about my other activities and writing projects. I’ll let you know what I’m reading and watching, and maybe we can even think about starting up a book club and other participatory activities in the future.
Your Support Means Everything
That leads me to my final announcement. You’ll notice that I’ve added an optional paid subscription level for The Barber Brief, to help make this venture more economically sustainable for me as I embark upon a number of longer-form writing projects. For now, all the content that I publish here will remain available for free, with the paid option simply providing readers with a direct way to offer your financial support. For those feeling especially generous, a “Founding Member” yearly subscription plan allows you to contribute whatever amount you like.
In the future, if feasible, I hope to introduce a number of subscriber-only benefits, but only for brand-new (yet to be determined) types of content. You will never need to pay for the regular public posts that I’m already providing and will continue to provide.
And I want to take this opportunity to profusely and humbly thank all of those who have already contributed so generously via Venmo and mailed-in checks; those options will remain available as well.
Your pledge of support via a paid subscription will give me an additional boost as we enter what promises to be a dynamic election season. It’s no secret that land development is one of the most politically charged issues in our community and state. A lot of money is flying around, as well as a lot of carefully constructed (and well-financed) PR-generated narratives. It can be a lot to navigate and digest, and wading into these waters is not for the faint of heart.
But nothing puts power firmly in the hands of the people like an election. And nothing leads to more effective citizen involvement in our political process than the sharing of information. So as I re-dedicate myself to publishing the Brief on a regular basis, let’s work together to share information with each other, to promote civil and open discourse, and always to promote the ideals of transparency, accountability, truth, and equity, not only for our local leaders but amongst ourselves. After all, our city belongs to all of us, and we are writing its story together, every day.
As always, you can view this and prior newsletters on my Substack site, subscribe to receive each new edition in your email inbox, and follow the Brief (and contribute to the ongoing conversation) on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. If you feel inspired to contribute to my efforts, sign up for a paid subscription through my Substack site or contribute to my Venmo account at @Dr-Alicia-Barber or via check to Alicia Barber at P.O. Box 11955, Reno, NV 89510. Thanks so much for reading, and have a great week.
Glad you’re back!
Glad to see you in the inbox. Always great information.