The City of Reno’s investigations into alleged sexual harassment and misconduct by former City Manager Andrew Clinger show — despite being heavily redacted — a culture of dysfunction that involved city staff, leadership, council members and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

While two investigations, totaling $225,000, showed no strong evidence of sexual harassment by Clinger, the environment at City Hall was cited as being plagued with petty agendas, backstabbing, political jockeying and in-fighting among multiple people.

Independent Findings

Findings by former judge David Wall include:

Clinger having staff download messaging apps that deleted messages after being received so that texts would be hidden from public discovery

Three women likely acting in concert to attempt to oust Clinger after he received a positive evaluation by the City Council

Three councilmembers (McKenzie, Duerr and Brekhus) discussing concerns with Clinger’s performance prior to a public meeting, but ultimately approving a contract extension and raise because they knew they didn’t have the votes to oust him

City Councilwoman Naomi Duerr allegedly saying she “believes the complainants 100%” and saying that she believes Clinger does not think he did anything wrong

Duerr claiming that Councilman Oscar Delgado would not believe complaints against Clinger “based on cultural reasons” ( UPDATE : Delgado and Duerr have issued statements about this comment, below)

: Delgado and Duerr have issued statements about this comment, below) One staff member allegedly sending to Clinger a “provocative, ‘semi-clothed'” photo in an attempt to get his attention

Clinger engaging in “flirtatious” and “suggestive” banter via text that was allegedly initiated by a staff member

Conflicting opinions of Clinger’s performance as manager

Clinger allegedly seeking to get “revenge” on those who made complaints against him

City Attorney Karl Hall giving Clinger the name of one complainant, the nature of her complaint — against the wishes of the Human Resources Director Kelly Leerman — and allegedly saying that the investigation against Clinger “was ‘likely a witch hunt by disgruntled employees.'”

Coordinated Complaints

The investigations also show that staff who complained against Clinger attempted to work with the news media, including possibly leaking documents to the Reno Gazette-Journal in an attempt to drum up public support against Clinger.

“It is impossible not to conclude that the complaints were coordinated in time and similar enough in substance to reflect that the complainants communicated with one another (and/or others) before they filed with Human Resources,” wrote Wall. “However … some of the primary complaints were not false claims.”

Wall said that one of the women was made uncomfortable with the work environment and that (REDACTED) feared retaliation.

Further, in an interview with Duerr, Wall wrote:

“Duerr said Clinger could be ‘caustic.’ Duerr told Clinger (at a meeting in July) that she was aware of the claims and hoped the investigation would go well so that everyone could move forward. Duerr said at that point Clinger ‘goes ballistic,’ proclaiming his innocence in an angry outburst that lasted nearly an hour. Duerr described him as ‘furious.’ No complainants’ names were mentioned, but Clinger threatened vengeance against them, saying things like, ‘they’re evil,’ and ‘they’ll pay.'”

“Whether either of these complainants was justified in their feelings is open to some interpretation, but the existence of their concerns is not,” Wall continued. “The primary claims of (REDACTED) and (REDACTED) are … legitimate claims to make. However, the complaints add less reliable and sometimes more sensational secondary accusations (not supported by available evidence).”

The three women were not interviewed as part of the investigation. Wall said his final report contained their comments from the initial investigation completed by another attorney, an investigation in which the complainants were interviewed.

Clinger Alleges Conspiracy

Clinger has repeatedly denied allegations against him, and according to Wall, “he has alleged a conspiracy to remove him as City Manager. Clinger believes that the three complainants (REDACTED) conspired to make complaints against him. Further, he alleges that (REDACTED) and Councilwoman Naomi Duerr were also part of concerted effort to remove him.

“It appears that (REDACTED) was canvassing the Council with negative information about Clinger, although she didn’t tell Council members (other than Duerr) about any acts of potential harassment,” Wall added. “Clinger’s claim that the complaints are evidence of a conspiracy to file entirely false claims is not consistent with the totality of the evidence, although some secondary claims have little or no basis in fact.”

At one point in the investigation, a staff member alleged documents related to the case were stolen from an office. The case was referred to the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO).

WCSO spokesperson Bob Harmon said today that there was no evidence of a crime.

“We just turned the case over to the City Attorney yesterday,” he said. “Basically the investigation concluded that there was not enough evidence to support that a crime had occurred.”

No Comment as City Moves Forward

The city is bracing for litigation by the three women, and Mayor Hillary Schieve said she would not comment.

“We are relieved that the investigations are complete,” Schieve said in a statement to the news media. “In addition, we believe the reports will provide all parties and the general public with a better understanding of the events surrounding Mr. Clinger’s departure from the City.

“This concludes my statement. Given the fact that this matter has been turned over to the City Attorney’s Office in anticipation of future litigation, please understand and respect the fact that I cannot offer further comment or answer any questions about the reports.”

UPDATE: Statement Submitted by Councilman Oscar Delgado

“As many of you are now aware, Judge Wall’s investigative report was released yesterday afternoon. Since the release of Judge Wall’s report, I have been contacted by several constituents regarding comments Councilwoman Naomi Duerr purportedly made about me during the course of Judge Wall’s investigation. I feel it is appropriate for me to address Councilwoman Duerr’s remarks. Per the report, Councilwoman Duerr told Judge Wall that I did not believe the veracity of certain claims for “cultural reasons.”