Meet the Candidate: Tamara Wallace wants City to concentrate on basics - police, fire and roads

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Each of the nine candidates for City Council answered the same ten questions that were given to them by South Tahoe Now. For nine consecutive days the candidate's responses will be shared in the order received.

Today, the first-time candidate Tamara Wallace gives her responses as she seeks a seat on the South Lake Tahoe City Council:

1. With recent changes in Senior Management at the City, is there anything you would have done differently, knowing what you know now? Please explain. I would have done it all differently. California gives the ability to have at will contracts. Our City Council could have simply ended the City Manager contract without having to pay a consultant or having to pay a fee for her silence and without one part of the council apparently fooling the other part to accomplish their desire to fire the Manager. All this was especially grievous since they had just a few months before given her a glowing recommendation and a huge raise/bonus. And as for openness, it is all still speculation and rumors as to what really happened, except for all the tax payer dollars spent. We do know that.

2. Do you feel there is some mistrust in local government? Why do you feel this way? Does this need to be changed and how do you suggest that change is made? I have been to every City Council meeting for the past two years. Almost every meeting the council chambers are packed with unhappy citizens who are expressing their mistrust. So, the answer is yes. It takes three votes to decide an issue. Our citizens need to elect three of us who will listen to them and make sound budget decisions. The Council’s main job is to hire a good City Manager, set the budget priorities, give strong clear direction after listening to the public and then let the Manager do their job.

3. Many people say there is money hidden in the City budget that can be spent on roads. What is your budget experience and where will you find money for roads? I don’t believe there are hidden pots of money in the budget – I wish. The problem with the budget is that a few years ago the Council stopped having a budget subcommittee. The staff prepares the budget and at one or two meetings the Council asks a few questions and then votes to approve the budget. The staff makes sure that their departments and projects are funded. In addition, instead of keeping to the basics the City was created for, safety services of police and fire and roads, various groups ask for funds and staff time for community projects. The budget should start with the proper funding for the basic services and roads and then divide the rest up for other departments and projects. The Council needs to have the internal fortitude to make the tough decisions. In summary; There aren’t hidden pots of money. The $87 million dollars just isn’t being spent on the right things. Did we really need to spend over $700,000 on a remodel to the entrance foyer to the City offices with a fire place that doesn’t even put out heat? My budget experience comes from being the business manager for a local resort and the manager of six other lodging properties as well as the Chamber of Commerce budget in both Tulare and South Lake Tahoe. We have gone the past twenty years with little or no money spent fixing our roads. We’ve gone twenty years with pot holes growing each year.

4. Do you think you must trust your fellow councilmembers? If yes, what will you do to keep trust levels in tact? If no, please explain why. It isn’t always possible to trust those who don’t work in good faith. I believe in being able to disagree without being disagreeable. The only person I can control is myself. By being trustworthy and congenial one can often set the tone for the others we work with.

5. Tell us why you should be elected. I’ve spent my time listening to the public. I’ve attended more Council meetings than some Council members. I’ve stood at each post office several hours at a time talking to and listening to the voters. I understand our community and understand what they expect from a Council member. The people want a council that serves them; not one that rules over them.

6. What qualifications do you have to win a seat on City Council? My entire adult life has been a preparation for becoming a Council member. I was the Executive Vice President in charge of Economic Development in Tulare. I was twice nominated for Business Woman of the Year. I was part of a group of five women who raised funds and grants to build and operate a battered women’s center. I’m a business major and am a graduate of the Institute for Organization Management UCLA. I helped start Leadership Lake Tahoe and I am currently the Executive Director of the South Tahoe Chamber. As a twenty-year resident I know the issues. I’ve spent the past two years attending each Council meeting learning each issue. I understand how each agency connects to others and what families go through in terms of having their children be able to afford to live here when they leave the nest. I have been involved in service clubs, youth sports, music, church youth groups, school programs, affordable housing and much more.

7. If elected, what would you like to see in the City over the next four years? I’d like to see our Council return to the basics that the citizens incorporated the City for. That is for Police, Fire and roads. Also, due to poor decisions and changing markets, the issue of housing has now become a necessary element. I’d like to see the Council stop micro-managing and hire a good City Manager, give them strong clear overall direction give them the resources they need and then get out of their way. In the past, many of our rotating ceremonial mayors has thought that they ran the city for that year making the job terribly difficult for the City Manager and City Clerk. That must stop.

8. Does the City need an economic and/or housing development department? Why? Possibly, however that would be after we get back to the basics and see if there is enough funding. Too many times we have seen the council spend money on consultants who have told them what they already know but possibly provided backbone for hard decisions that we elected them to make. They hire the consultant to study the study that studied the study to tell them what they already know. Every dollar spent on studies and consultants mean fewer police on the streets, fewer fire personnel on duty and more potholes in our roads.

9. What should be done with VHRs? If they stay, do you support a cap and occupancy cap? Do you think VHRs fit residential zoning? Should some rules of VHRs go to full-time residents too, including bear box and no parking on dirt requirements. Unfortunately, a compromise was almost achieved but a member of the Council subcommittee backed out of the agreement they themselves had proposed. That caused the eruption of emotion by those who had waited for years for relief in their neighborhoods and by those who feared the loss of jobs and property rights. Can both sides goals be met? Of course, they can with leadership and compromise. The vacuum of leadership has been filled with the many initiatives we have seen on virtually every tough issue (loop road, paid parking, VHRs, cannabis, etc). This is due to a Council that can’t seem to know if they want to wind their watch or go to lunch. As if things aren’t bad already, the Council has in many instances refused to support what the citizens voted for. The McMansions have been the tipping point for neighborhoods. Zoning rules should have prevented that from happening in neighborhoods. I still believe that no matter what happens with Measure T that a better compromise can be found with solid leadership and good listening skills by a City Council that can find the balance between quality of life and the economy. In summary; I support fair zoning that has rules that are fairly enforced coupled with the acknowledgement that we are a tourism economy with families that want to have a home away from home. Both can be achieved without ruining the other.

10. Do you favor a strong mayor city? Why? I do not favor a strong city Mayor. If you look at the large cities that have them they are political positions that are highly paid along with highly paid Council members. Often people elected to a strong mayor position, while popular, do not have the training to run a city. City Management is a highly trained and skilled profession. In most cases strong mayors still hire a City manager to work for them.

For a look at the previous candidate replies:

Wendy David - http://southtahoenow.com/story/09/29/2018/meet-candidate-wendy-david-seeks-second-term-south-lake-ta...

Patrick Jarrett - http://southtahoenow.com/story/09/30/2018/meet-candidate-patrick-jarrett-would-see-south-lake-tahoe-...

Austin Sass - http://southtahoenow.com/story/10/01/2018/meet-candidate-austin-sass-says-experience-key-serving-com...

Devin Middlebrook - http://southtahoenow.com/story/10/02/2018/meet-candidate-devin-middlebrook-says-transparency-and-tru...

Bruce Grego - http://southtahoenow.com/story/10/03/2018/meet-candidate-bruce-grego-bring-fairness-and-honesty-council

On Friday, look for replies from Tom Davis.