WCSD Trustee fined $1,000 for ethics violation

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - A Washoe County School District Trustee and State Fire Marshal employee was fined $1,000 for an ethics violation.

They held an adjudicatory hearing on Wednesday for Joseph Rodriguez, who is accused of improperly using photos of himself in his public employee uniform to bolster his 2022 campaign for School Board Trustee.

The Commission found Rodriguez guilty of these violations and will now require him to attend ethics training in addition to the fine.

The Commission also heard a case regarding former Nye County Commissioner Leonardo Blundo and actions he took to secure grant funding for his business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They granted a motion for summary judgement finding he violated state ethics law’s disclosure and abstention requirements by not sufficiently disclosing his interests in the county’s COVID grant funding program.

Motions for summary judgment on other ethics violations were not granted and those allegations will proceed to an adjudicatory hearing scheduled for April 19, 2023.