Darrin Talley
Candidate for Reno City Council, Place 5
Election Day: May 2nd
Early Voting: April 20 - April 28
I spent 30 years with the Grand Prairie Fire Department. I raised two sons on my own as a single father. I served as president and treasurer of our firefighters association. My wife and I moved to Reno two and a half years ago because we fell in love with this community, the open spaces, the clean air, and the kind of place where you can work the land and know your neighbors. Our son and grandkids are right down the road in Azle. This is our forever home.
I'm not a politician. I'm a retired firefighter with a servant's heart who believes the people of Reno deserve honest, accountable leadership that matches their own commitment to this community.
Reno's Water Fund and General Fund are at their all-time low. And several big payments, such as payroll, ESD-1, and loans, could now cripple our city. My opponent stated the budget is in better shape than we thought it was.
My opponent voted to hire Paul Lilly as city administrator despite warnings from multiple parties. When the 90-day probation review came, he voted to take no action, giving Lilly a green light to spend your money without oversight. Everything that followed was preventable.
The city administrator locked the city into leases on two Harley-Davidsons and a Mustang with your tax dollars, then told the council his plan to fund the budget was writing $650,000 worth of traffic tickets. My opponent voted to go along with it.
The city administrator spent over $40,000 remodeling city hall without council approval, without competitive bids, and without it ever appearing in the budget. My opponent sat in that remodeled city hall and said nothing.
Every dollar that comes into Reno belongs to the people of this community. I will treat it that way.
I will push to build reserves back toward the two-month standard that responsible cities maintain. I will review every contract and lease for value. I will push for budgets built with real margins, not balanced down to the penny with no cushion.
Revenue should come from sustainable sources like a stronger tax base through commercial development, not from traffic tickets this council approved as a budget strategy.
Reno's financial audits have been behind for years, well before the current council took office. But instead of making progress on catching up, the city administrator fired the very staff who were working to get them done. That set us back even further, and this council allowed it to happen. Today, the city is not only still catching up on past audits but is now behind on the most recent one as well.
Without current audits, the city cannot pursue grants, secure favorable loan terms, or access the infrastructure funding that cities our size depend on. Every month those audits remain incomplete costs Reno money and opportunity.
I will make audit completion a top priority and push for a clear, public timeline with regular progress updates. Once complete, I will push for annual audits to be delivered on schedule every year so the city never falls behind again.
Reno's water system has been managed reactively for too long. When something breaks, it gets patched. That is not a plan. That is a gamble with your money.
I will work to establish one-year, five-year, and ten-year infrastructure plans so the city gets ahead of problems instead of chasing them. That includes identifying aging lines and capacity issues, upgrading pipes and valves to support an elevated storage tank, and working with Springtown and Azle to secure additional surface water supply as Reno grows.
There are roads in Reno that people won't even drive on. Residents have been asking for help and getting silence. That is not acceptable.
I will push for a prioritized repair plan that starts with the worst roads first, with a clear timeline and regular updates so residents can see what's being done and what's next.
I will push for a formal vetting process for any future city manager hire, including an advisory panel of experienced municipal leaders who can evaluate candidates based on what Reno actually needs, not just what looks good on a resume.
My opponent voted to hire the last one despite warnings. The probationary period passed without action. Six months of reckless spending later, he resigned and left every taxpayer in Reno holding the bill.
Reno has a real opportunity to shape its future, but only if we get ahead of the growth instead of reacting to whatever lands on the agenda.
I will advocate for an updated master zoning plan and building codes before more rezoning decisions are made, not after. Developers should be held to our standards, not the other way around. I will push for citizen committees to have direct input on future development and to actively recruit commercial development that strengthens our tax base and reduces the burden on residential taxpayers.
"I'm not a politician and I'm not going to pretend to be one."
"There are roads in Reno that people won't even drive on. That tells you everything."
"In the fire service, when something goes wrong, you don't give a speech about what should have happened. You take responsibility and you fix it."
"I was a single father raising my two sons from a young age on my own. They were taught to live by the Golden Rule, treat others as you would want to be treated yourself. Fair and honest is what I have to offer."
"We're a small city. Every dollar matters. Every decision matters. You can't afford to get those wrong and then ask people to trust you again without showing what you learned from it."
