The CARES Campus: When Public Relations Becomes Public Policy

How Pat Hickey and the Abbi Agency’s messaging shapes Reno’s homelessness narrative

Michael Leonard

Oct 20, 2025

A story about a robin — and a press strategy

In his October 14 column, “Homeless people have a place to go in Northern Nevada,” longtime political figure and columnist Pat Hickey paints a gentle picture of Reno’s Cares Campus — a place of compassion where “broken-wing robins” find safety and care.

It’s a heart-warming read: a childhood story, a moral lesson, and praise for civic cooperation. Hickey thanks Washoe County, the Volunteers of America, Catholic Charities, and Karma Box for offering “a cul-de-sac of care” that, according to developer Par Tolles, has reduced homelessness along the Truckee River by more than 40 percent.

But beneath that tone of empathy lies something more strategic: a public-relations narrative written from inside the PR industry itself.

Abbi Holman Whitaker, Pat Hickey, and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve share a moment to celebrate at the signing after the publication of his book that includes them.

The undisclosed affiliation

Pat Hickey isn’t just a columnist. He works as an agent for The Abbi Agency, the Reno-based marketing and communications firm founded by Abbi Whitaker Holman.

The agency holds public contracts with Washoe County, EDAWN, Travel Nevada, and other civic entities that help shape public perception of redevelopment and homelessness policy.

So when Hickey praises the Cares Campus as “one of the largest and cleanest homeless shelters in America,” he’s not simply sharing an observation — he’s advancing a narrative his employer helps manage.

There’s no disclosure of that connection in the RGJ op-ed.

The CARES Campus is the number one place that the police are called to in Reno.

According to this article, from This is Reno, from June 20, 2024, Service requests for homeless issues increasing,

“In April of this year, city staff responded to 250 calls for service related to unsheltered individuals and 220 reports of occupied vehicles. Three years prior — and one month before the opening of the 549-bed Nevada Cares Campus — the city responded to just 114 calls for service.”

A “cul-de-sac of care” or a cul-de-sac of containment?

The phrase “cul-de-sac of care,” borrowed from Par Tolles, sounds comforting, but it’s also revealing.

It recasts containment as compassion: sweep the encampments, clear the bridges, move everyone into a supervised facility, and call it progress.

Reality is more complicated.

Washoe County’s own data show roughly 1,700 homeless individuals in 2025, numbers that have held steady or even increased since before the pandemic.

Reports from the Cares Campus include safety incidents, drug use, and chronic overcrowding.

🧨 Hidden in Plain Sight: The Crime We're Not Allowed to Talk About

The CAREs Campus is not housing; it’s bunk beds in common areas. People staying on campus get out during the day and wander about town. We don’t know the extent of the crime that they are involved in because it isn’t tracked by their housing situation.

Reality Check: The “40 % Reduction” Claim

The statistic Hickey cites that Cares Campus reduced homelessness along the Truckee River by over 40 percent appears nowhere in HUD counts, Washoe County dashboards, or the 2024 Point-in-Time survey.

It likely refers to a reduction in visible encampments, not in total homelessness. That’s a cosmetic metric, not a systemic one.

🧹 The Never-Ending Challenge for Reno's Downtown Ambassadors

The homeless leave the CARES Campus and wander out around downtown, leaving a trail of garbage that the Ambassadors struggle with every day.

Moral framing over material reality

Hickey closes with quotes from Mother Teresa and Charles Murray, urging readers to fight “the poverty of being unwanted” by fixing our own families first.

That’s touching — and convenient.

By shifting focus from housing shortages, wage stagnation, and treatment gaps to moral failings and family decline, the column absolves policymakers of structural responsibility.

It’s an appeal to conscience that costs nothing, which is precisely why it’s so effective.

The Fireside Market: Policing Crime by Regulating Shelves and Blaming Businesses

The City of Reno tried to shut down the Fireside Market due to police calls, but the number of calls is far lower than the CAREs Campus, and most of the calls were not for disturbances inside the market, but were on the street or related to the bus station.

The feel-good feedback loop

Hickey’s piece fits neatly within the county’s larger communications strategy:

• Promote success stories from Cares Campus to counter negative coverage.

• Highlight collaboration between government, business, and faith groups.

• Reframe enforcement as compassion to get the feel-good vote.

It’s the same playbook the Abbi Agency has executed for tourism, redevelopment, and now homelessness messaging — branding progress rather than proving it.

A pattern worth watching

There’s no crime in promoting civic optimism. But when paid communicators use media platforms to shape policy narratives without disclosure, it becomes a conflict of public trust.

Washoe County residents deserve transparency about who’s framing the conversation — and why.

Otherwise, Reno’s homelessness policy risks becoming what marketing folks call “earned media”: polished stories designed to make everyone feel good while sidestepping the more complex questions.

Closing thought

Pat Hickey’s robin story ends with the bird flying away. But Reno’s story isn’t that simple. Until the people at the Cares Campus have their situation in order and have real homes to fly to, not just a cleaner cage, the story remains unfinished.

How a Las Vegas Investment Group Shattered a Reno Community Hub

When rent becomes the only measure of value, what disappears isn’t just a business, it’s a community’s sense of home and the places that they value.

Michael Leonard

Oct 14, 2025

The Sale That Changed Everything

For decades, the Moana West Shopping Center, a cluster of modest storefronts along 3350 - 3480 Lakeside Drive anchored by Swill Coffee + Wine, Zozo’s Ristorante, and Lakeside Bar & Grill, as well as Ben’s Liquor and Wine, was one of Reno’s familiar neighborhood corners. The parking lot was always full, the patios were busy, and the businesses were rooted in the community.

That stability ended on March 28, 2025, when the property sold for $10.75 million to a Las Vegas company acquiring the property as Local Moana LLC.

Public records from the Washoe County Assessor’s Office show that the buyer’s mailing address — 3900 S. Hualapai Way, Suite 200, Las Vegas — belongs to Local Asset Management, a commercial real estate investment firm founded by Brendan Keating and Agus Alamsjah, who worked through Logic Commercial Real Estate. Northern Nevada Business Weekly reported the deal on May 13, 2025.

Their business model is simple: acquire older, undervalued neighborhood centers, fix them up, and raise rents to reflect “market value.” It’s a classic strategy, designed to deliver returns of 6–7% annually to investors.

The purchase price tells the story. When the center was last sold in 2006, Reno investor Jacqueline E. Nightingale transferred ownership to Moana West Shopping Center, LLC for roughly $6.3 million. Nineteen years later, Local Moana LLC paid nearly $4.5 million more — a 70% increase — and expects higher rents.

To meet its financial targets, the new owner needs to collect roughly $900,000 a year in rent, equivalent to $1.70 per square foot per month. Longtime tenants like Swill Coffee and Zozo’s Ristorante, still paying older lease rates near $1.00–$1.25 per square foot, suddenly faced the prospect of rent hikes approaching 50–70%.

For Local Moana LLC and its parent firm Local Asset Management, the logic is financial. If they can re-tenant or reprice every space in the center at new market rates, the property’s income could jump from about $600,000 to nearly $1 million per year. That increase would immediately raise the property’s value from $10.75 million to around $14–15 million, allowing the investor to refinance or resell at a profit.

A Beloved Café Forced Out

Swill Coffee + Wine, founded in 2014, had become a cultural landmark. It hosted open-mic nights, poetry readings, and business meetups like 1 Million Cups. On any given morning, its tables are filled with writers, students, retirees, and city staffers. Swill wasn’t just a café — it was one of Reno’s last true “third places.”

That made the news of its closure all the more painful. On October 13, Swill announced on Facebook that it would soon close its doors, citing unsustainable rent increases under the new ownership. The post triggered an avalanche of comments — hundreds within hours.

“This is absolutely devastating. My home away from home. What can we do?” wrote Councilmember Naomi Duerr.

“It was never just about the coffee,” said longtime customer Pam Morrison. “It was the two of you and your special staff. We were all family.”

Others were more direct: “All the greedy landlords force small businesses to close. We are the backbone of this community,” posted Debbie Cox.

Even other café owners weighed in. “This is getting to be unacceptable for small businesses,” wrote Scot Munns from Darkshot Coffee. GloryCloud Coffee’s owner added, “We are very bummed out about all the rent problems smashing small businesses. This stinks!!!”

The outpouring revealed something more profound — not just sadness, but rage and disbelief that a visibly successful local café could be priced out by rent increases tied to a Wall Street-style investment formula.

The Domino Effect

With Swill leaving, the community loses a major draw that benefited neighboring businesses. Foot traffic will fall. Zozo’s Ristorante, a longtime Italian restaurant, relies on the same shared parking and customer flow. If it faces similar rent hikes when its lease renews, it could be the next to go. The Lakeside Bar & Grill, a breakfast staple, is equally vulnerable.

Once these locally owned anchors depart, investors often recruit regional or national chains willing to pay higher rents — a Starbucks instead of Swill, a Panera instead of Lakeside Grill. The center becomes more “stable” on paper but less connected to the neighborhood that sustained it.

Here is what LOGIC Commercial Real Estate wrote on their LinkedIn:

Our team identified Moana West Shopping Center, a staple in the Old Southwest submarket, as a target investment opportunity over 5 years ago. After multiple off-market offers over the years, the owner contacted us with interest in our latest offer. The catch? We had a month to get the deal done.

Thanks to the sophistication and flexibility of the buyer, Local Asset Management, and the drive and expertise of our team, we were able to get to a successful closing for both parties. Congratulations to Local on another great northern Nevada acquisition!

A City’s Identity at Stake

What’s happening on Lakeside isn’t unique — it’s part of a broader pattern in Reno’s redevelopment. As the city’s property values surge, outside investors are acquiring older shopping centers, raising rents, and pushing out local operators in favor of standardized tenants. The result is a quieter form of gentrification — not luxury towers, but incremental displacement of community anchors.

“Reno will be diminished without you guys,” wrote one resident. “Seeing local businesses like Swill close is heartbreaking,” said another. Those comments reflect a growing unease: that the soul of Reno is being sold one lease at a time.

What Comes Next

The closure of Swill Coffee + Wine is a cautionary tale. It’s not simply about one café’s struggle; it’s a glimpse of what happens when local economics collide with investment strategies. For the community, it means fewer gathering places and fewer chances for local entrepreneurs to thrive. For tenants, it’s a warning that long-standing leases no longer guarantee stability. And for city leaders, it’s a reminder that unchecked commercial speculation can erode the very character that makes Reno desirable to begin with.

Unless the city develops policies to protect small businesses — or at least incentivize landlords to preserve locally owned spaces — this story will repeat itself across Midtown, Plumb Lane, and Virginia Street.

Because when rent becomes the only measure of value, what disappears isn’t just a business. It’s a community’s sense of home. What do you think? Do we need to do something about out-of-town investors destroying our neighborhoods?