As the appointed incumbent seeking election to the South Lake Tahoe City Council, I’ve made a decision that may seem small to some, but feels very fundamental for me. I’m not putting up traditional campaign signs. In fact, I do not plan to use printed campaign materials at all.

That decision is deeply connected to who I am and why I am running.

My first degree is from the University of Massachusetts in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, and my first career was as an Environmental Analytical Chemist. My environmental roots run deep and continue to influence the decisions I make. That is why I have chosen not to use campaign materials that are designed for single use and likely become waste.

For me, this decision is about more than politics. It’s about the kind of community we want to be, and it gets to the core of my candidacy.

We live in a mountain town surrounded by an extraordinary natural environment. The lake, forests, mountains, and meadows are why many of us choose to make South Lake Tahoe our home, and our community has made that clear. In the City of South Lake Tahoe’s 2026 National Community Survey, 92% of residents rated the overall quality of our natural environment as excellent or good, and 90% said the natural environment is very important or essential to the livability of South Lake Tahoe.

That is a powerful statement about what our community values and something we all have a responsibility to protect.

Most political signs serve a very short purpose: they go up for an election and, a few weeks later, they come down. However, the plastic used to make many of those signs does not simply disappear.  

Plastic can break down into smaller and smaller particles, including microplastics. UC Davis researchers are studying the presence, sources and movement of microplastics in the Lake Tahoe Basin, including their accumulation in the lake, watershed and surrounding environment.

As a City Council, we have also expressed a shared interest in understanding and addressing microplastic pollution in our community. That makes this issue particularly relevant to me. If we are asking our community to think differently about unnecessary single-use plastics, I believe our own actions should reflect those values.

Some might reasonably ask: Why not use campaign signs and then collect them for recycling?

Recycling is important, but it isn’t a perfect solution. Plastic recycling remains challenging because different types of plastic require different processes, contamination can make materials difficult to recover, and not all plastics placed in recycling systems ultimately become new products. Newer poly-coated paperboard political campaign signs offer a better solution, but require specific recycling procedures to remove the coating from the paperboard through a special process that requires significant water, energy, and chemical processing to separate the plastic film from the paper fibers.

For me, the simplest waste stream is the one we never create.  

I know campaign signs are a traditional part of elections, and I respect that every candidate gets to make their own choices. This isn’t about judging anyone else’s campaign. It is simply about making a choice that feels consistent with my own values.

I want my campaign to reflect the same principles I hope to bring to City Council: thoughtful decision-making, environmental stewardship and consideration for the long-term health of our community.

There are many ways to connect with voters without adding unnecessary single-use materials to our environment. I would rather spend my time listening to residents, having conversations, attending community events and earning your support one person at a time.

We ask a lot of our residents and businesses to be good stewards of Tahoe. I believe that stewardship should also apply to how we conduct our elections. For me, that means choosing not to create unnecessary waste in the first place. As Keep Tahoe Blue reminds us, stopping litter at the source is one way we can help protect the place we call home. https://www.keeptahoeblue.org/combat-pollution/stopping-litter-at-the-source/

-Heather Horgan, RN

Appointed South Lake Tahoe City Councilmember