Why I Left Reno Punk Rock Flea Market

On 13 December, 2024, Reno Punk Rock Flea Market’s board held a vote on whether to remove Lee Johnson from the board.

For the past year, Lee’s abusive behavior towards other board members and staff made working for the organization impossible. Lee spammed the Discord chat server, the Flea’s board channel, to plan day-to-day operations with abusive messages. He threw tantrums during meetings in order to get his way no matter what the disagreement was. Lee would only shout and abuse people instead of discussing things professionally and respectfully. He would yell over people to get his way in person and on video conferences. He would be verbally abusive even when people agreed with him.

The target of his ire was usually the board president, Kim, and members of the Stage Committee, including myself. Insults on the Discord server include him calling Kim a “gaslighting piece of shit,” trying to shame Kim for being raised in a religious group she describes as “an abusive cult,” and baselessly calling the whole stage crew “Nazis.” Lee never provided any evidence of what he accused others of because there is none.

Lee trying to shame Kim for being raised in a religious group she describes as “an abusive cult.”

Lee admits harrassing Kim in a private message.

Lee calling Kim and Cisco “pieces of shit” and claiming it’s not about gender, race, sexual orientation.

Unfortunately, six of eleven members voted to keep Lee on the board. The four members of the Stage Committee, including myself, resigned, and two others on the board have since resigned.

Transparency and integrity are crucial values, especially for a non-profit organization. The community deserves to understand why a trusted organization has disintegrated and should be informed about the toxic environment that the remaining board members are fostering.

Love and Solidiarity,
Cisco