Dear Editor. At numerous city council meetings, I have been repeatedly trying to get the city to fix my neighborhood streets, Brockway Ave, Sussex Ave, and Rubicon Trail fixed for several years. Eventually, the public works director asked me to email him the specific streets, and he would get them on the “list.” When the road department did their “…best in six years…” DOG and PONY presentation to the council, the Highland Woods neighborhood roads were not on the list. Road staff even CHASTISED my road REQUEST by decrying that “…it costs the city $40,000. to have the paving contractor move their equipment (to my neighborhood).”
I spoke again about these roads and gave the council copies of the public works director’s emails stating that “…he would have staff put the Highland Woods roads on the list.”
The public works director then agreed to come out personally, the next week to look at these roads with me. He did look and then committed to sealing them in the middle of May 2025.
I was, however, SHOCKED and DISAPPOINTED to discover that the city already knew my roads were in terrible condition and rated 24 out of 100. The second-worst roads scheduled to be fixed in 2024. In fact, the city had a 5-year road plan already, and these roads were supposed to have been completely REPLACED with 3” of new asphalt in 2024, not merely patched. SEE BELOW from 4 YEARS AGO South Tahoe Now dated April 20, 2021.
Why does the city spend considerable time assessing the roads, identifying needed replacement, making a 5-year plan, only to fail to adhere to the plan? Not only that, the city later uses up staff time again to make another 5-year plan, having abandoned the hazardous roads identified in the previous plan.
As I stated in my letter to the editor on April 1, 2025 with the VHR urgency ordinance “…is the staff incompetent or just poorly managed?”
What kind of city merry-go-round is Joe Irvin running? What happened to the Measure C money? What happened to the MONEY utility companies give the city to COMPLETE REPAIRS after utilities cut into my neighborhood city streets?
Finally, if the Lime and Bird E-scooters aren’t DESIGNED for roads with POTHOLES and the city has over 300 million dollars in deferred road repairs, why does the city even permit E-scooters?
“NOTHING TO SEE HERE.”
The city can require all the liability wavers it wants but the fact is the city is as MORALLY BANKRUPT in permitting the E-scooters on dangerous roads for what they were not designed as the Bird E-scooter company for getting legislation exempting riders from wearing helmets necessary for their safety. MORALLY BANKRUPT Bird claiming that they will send anyone a helmet that wants one does NOTHING for visitors use of a scooter NOW.
All the liability waivers in the world cannot save the city from its blatant willful negligence in pursuit of minuscule revenue and a green fantasyland. Any mediocre lawyer will win a massive judgment against Bird and the city.
Scott Loberg, South Lake Tahoe Taxpayer