candidates

The first Tuesday of November is election day, and today was no different though it went almost unnoticed in South Lake Tahoe. The only item on the ballot for El Dorado County voters at the lake was for the election of four board members of the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District, two for two year terms, and two for four year terms. Only those living within the boundary lines of the district were eligible to both run for office, and to vote.

Sierra Nevada College is under new leadership with the appointment of Dr. Alan Walker, who started his tenure as president of Nevada’s only private college in September.

More than 1,500 people flocked to Gardnerville on Saturday for one of the biggest gatherings of 2016 presidential candidates in Nevada since campaign season started.

Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s Morning Nevada PAC hosted the first Basque Fry featuring five GOP contenders on the Corley Ranch southeast of town. Republican hopefuls including businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Dr. Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker each made pitches to the crowd as to why they should be the nominee. Former New York Gov. George Pataki was slated to appear, but did not.

Things are moving forward quickly for the Tahoe Paradise Resort Improvement District. The former maintenance person who lived at the park is gone, there are now special events planned, and a new employee is about to be hired.

There is a special meeting of the district's board of directors on Thursday night that will help form this summer's plans for the community park.

The meeting will be held at the park located at 1011 San Bernardino Avenue in Meyers at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 9.

The agenda includes:

a) Events Committee Update - 50th Anniversary Party and Music in the Park

The majority of Tahoe locals and tourists lack knowledge of bear precaution, causing the growing presence of bears in South Lake Tahoe’s residential areas. In recent years, Lake Tahoe’s black bears have become problematic when outside their natural meadow and forest habitat. Because of human habits, bears have become attracted to local neighborhoods. Passing routines down to their cubs, bears remain dependent on the human food source left outside many residents’ homes.

The Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce (Tahoe Chamber) Board of Directors named Roberta Mason and Sherm McKissock honorary lifetime members of Tahoe Chamber for their contributions to the South Shore community. Patrick Atherton was awarded an honorary annual membership. Mason, McKissock and Atherton were presented with honorary memberships at the Tahoe Chamber Board of Directors meeting on March 19, 2015.

Boulder, Colorado has one. Portland, Oregon has one. Even Roseville and Truckee, California have one. If plans go as they appeared to during a presentation at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, South Lake Tahoe will soon have one.

What is it?

"It" is a combination BMX track and mountain bike skills park which will be located at the city owned Bijou Park.

Bijou Bike Park Association (BBPA) and Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) President Ben Fish laid out the proposed plan to the Council and community.

When Sue Novasel won November's El Dorado County Supervisorial race it left a vacant seat on the Lake Tahoe Untiifed School Board (LTUSD). A Notice of Vacancy was filed, encouraging locals to apply to fill the trustee position for the remaining 22 months of Novasel's term. At Tuesday's LTUSD School Board meeting, the opening was filled.

Mark A. Novak, the current assistant chief for the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, has been named to head the Vail Fire Department.

Novak, 48, will begin full-time employment with the town on Feb. 2. He was selected from a field of 105 candidates during a national search process which included six finalists.

In anticipation of the resignation of the county's Clerk/Treasurer Ted Thran, Douglas County is looking for a committee to help find a replacement as well as county residents to fill the position.

Thran resigned in August but was re-elected in November. His second resignation is expected. The term will begin on January 5, 2015.

The results of the first wave of counting the approximate 13,000 absentee and provisional ballots from Tuesday's election were released this evening and just one vote separates two candidates from serving on the City Council or not.

Wendy David.......17.98%.......1271 votes
Tom Davis.........15.48%.......1094 votes
Angela Swanson....13.99%........989 votes
Austin Sass.......13.98%........988 votes
Brooke Laine......13.35%........939 votes
Matt Palacio......12.83%........907 votes
Bruce Grego.......12.22%........864 votes

Douglas County has now counted 100% of the ballots for Tuesday's election.

State Senate 17 Senatorial District
REP - SETTELMEYER, JAMES A. 15,301 100.00%

State Assembly Dist. 39
IAP - GIORDANO, AL 3,716 22.33%
REP - WHEELER, JIM 12,924 77.67%

County Assessor
DOUGLAS W. ''DOUG'' 15,195 100.00%

County Clerk/Treasurer
REP - THRAN, TED 14,966 100.00%

County Commissioner District 2
REP - THALER, STEVEN 14,585 100.00%

County Commissioner District 4
REP - MCDERMID, NANCY 14,156 100.00%

District Attorney

You've seen the ads, you've heard the commercials and you've read the materials that all lead to your voting on Tuesday, November 4. Tuesday is Election Day!

On the South Shore we have a few different races to decide along with state issues and candidates, and it's not as simple as filling in the bubbles on your ballot.

The four candidates for two open seats on the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors speak in near-spiritual tones of being drawn to oak-studded hills, cascading rivers and a sapphire blue lake rimmed by mountain peaks.

When it comes to campaign arguments on how to protect it all, things get more intense.

South Tahoe High Graduate Francisco Figueroa-Yanez, known as "Frankie" to his friends, has his new career as a school teacher in San Francisco highlighted in a recent SFGate article titled "Bay Area schools scramble for qualified teachers amid shortage." Frankie graduated from STHS in 2007, went to Santa Clara University where he majored in Biology and Spanish and is now at the University of San Francisco working on his masters degree. He visits South Lake Tahoe when time allows to see his parents and friends.

Voters in El Dorado County District 5 will be voting for a new supervisor on November 4 and the winner will either be Sue Novasel or Kenny Curtzwiler. The Sacramento Bee's Voter Guide got the candidates wrong as they wrote that Sue's opponent was Kevin Brown.

Before all the votes were counted during June's primary, Brown looked like he was headed to the runoff in November, but ended up in 4th place with 17.61% of the vote. The top two vote getters in June earned a spot on the ballot in November.

Novasel - 1,557 votes 28.47%
Curtzwiler - 977 votes 17.87%
Swanson - 967 votes 17.67%

Be an informed voter this November! An educational forum featuring all the candidates on the ballot running unopposed will be held at Lake Tahoe Community College on Thursday, October 9.

The South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, KTHO Radio and Lake Tahoe Community College are jointly sponsoring the Candidate's Forum in the Aspen Room, which is in the college's library building, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Running for elected office is one of the most humbling experiences a person can have. You’re allowing yourself to be scrutinized by your community, people can take shots at your positions, and you have to move forward with calm and ease the entire time. I knew I wanted to make a difference in our community after completing the TahoeChamber’s Leadership Lake Tahoe program, little did I know that I’d be taking action and running for City Council so soon.

Here ya go. This is my opinion of the Tahoe Chamber endorsements. Send back any thoughts or corrections. Believe it or not I tried to take the high road on this one and hope the town is smart enough to see through the endorsement process by the Tahoe Chamber. Thanks.Kenny

First let me say that I respect my opponent in this race and consider him a friend. I also respect the other candidates for the other offices who were endorsed by the Nevada based Chamber. I and other candidates declined to participate. Here are my reasons.

To the Community,

I offer a friendly challenge to my fellow city council candidates to make South Lake Tahoe a “Sign Free” zone this campaign season. Whether or not they take me up on the offer, I am forgoing them and focusing my energy instead in walking neighborhoods and listening to what is on voters’ minds.

The seven candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were at Wednesday nights Candidate Forum at Lake Tahoe Golf Course. The Tahoe Chamber and Tahoe Daily Tribune hosted the evening which had Rabbi Evon Yakar moderating the questions and answers.

About 100 people showed up to listen to panel who were given questions prepared by the chamber's new political committee as well as those asked by the audience. The questions were asked of different candidates so not everyone was asked the same one.

Seven candidates are vying for the three open seats on the South Lake Tahoe City Council in November. Incumbents Angela Swanson, Brooke Laine and Tom Davis are going up against Wendy David, Matt Palacio, Bruce Grego and Austin Sass.

With so many candidates to choose from it will be important come election day to vote for the three you feel can lead the City for the next four years.

Douglas County is one step closer to having a new county manager now that the large field of candidates has been reduced to four. Former County Manager Steve Mokrohisky left in April to take a job in Oregon, and since then Douglas County has been searching for his replacement. They hired the recruitment firm of Peckham and McKenney to aid in their search.