Reno Reporter

The city of Reno offered financial compensation to its employees to urge them to attend a recent event where Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) was speaking, according to U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt.

Cortez Masto spoke at the Reno Ballroom on April 14. Prior to the event, the city sent an email to its employees, offering overtime compensation in exchange for their attendance.

"You know it's bad when the City of Reno has to bully and bribe their own employees to show up to see Senator @CortezMasto speak," Laxalt tweeted.

As seen in a letter posted on Twitter by Laxalt, the city of Reno asked employees to show up to see Cortez Masto speak. University of Nevada-Reno President Brian Sandoval also spoke at the event.

In the letter, the Reno Department of Public Works wrote, "Your time at this event will be compensated such that if you are eligible for overtime, you will receive overtime pay or compensatory time as outlined in your collective bargaining agreement." The city asked all employees to attend, with employees classified as emergency response status or those needed to keep business open as exempt.

The topic of the talk was diversity, equity and inclusion, and was part of the series "One City, Many Voices."

An early April poll that surveyed 500 likely midterm election voters shows voters are losing faith in Cortez Masto and Gov. Steve Sisolak under the weight of rising gas prices and inflation.

On April 7, Cortez Masto joined other Democrats in opposing the Biden administration's decision to end Title 42. "This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border," Cortez Masto told the Current in early April.