On Tuesday, January 13, 2026, I approached the City Council meeting with hope for change. That hope was dashed in less than the first 15 minutes that transpired. In under 15 minutes, the council chambers saw shouting back and forth between a councilmember and a citizen in attendance. That pattern would repeat shortly later in the meeting. No such exchanges are permitted under the Brown Act rules, and yet, it continued, despite Mayor Bass’s efforts to regain control.

Later, while the Council was considering applicants for volunteer citizen commission positions, we were treated to a complete denigration of an applicant (Erick Asbury) by one of our councilmembers, Scott Robbins. This is the second time I have witnessed this same denigration of this same community member by Councilmember Robbins, who provides unfounded accusations with no basis. Councilmember Robbins has expressed his appreciation to community members who put themselves out there to volunteer their service, and yet he is abusing his power on the dais to intimidate and coerce these outcomes. How many folks are out there who would like to volunteer their time, but don’t want to become a target for false accusations by a councilmember who simply dislikes them and is permitted to denigrate them unabated from the dais with no ability to defend themselves? This is an obvious and utter abuse of the power of the office, and a complete embarrassment to our City. 

It raised this question for me: Why are councilmembers permitted to defend themselves personally on the dais, shouting out into the crowd, whereas ordinary citizens are not allowed to say a peep while a councilmember is denigrating them from the dais?

Another point in Tuesday’s meeting: An additional shouting match occurred regarding the topic of the meeting schedule for 2026. Mayor Bass attempted to squelch the evening meetings from the schedule, but this occurred AFTER the public comment period. I empathize with the citizen in attendance who called him out on this, as it is a common occurrence. We in the public get ‘our moment’ to speak, and then the Council turns it all upside down afterwards with things we were not expecting. Are we expected to speak on everything, and the kitchen sink too, in three whole minutes, while consulting our crystal balls? This is far from transparent and definitely not inclusive of your constituents.

City Councilmembers, I implore you to do much, much better. It’s a long row to hoe to regain the trust and respect that have been lost.

-Robyn Johnson

Full-time Resident and Registered Voter, City of South Lake Tahoe