SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – South Tahoe Now emailed all 13 South Lake Tahoe City Council candidates the same questions so voters could get to know them before deciding on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Responses will be published in the order received, along with photos they provided. South Tahoe Now also emailed the two candidates for City Clerk with their own set of questions. Not all candidates replied, so the public will be unable to read their responses.

Name: Scott Robbins

How long have you lived full-time in South Lake Tahoe? Ten years.

What is your occupation? City Councilman (Incumbent)

What is your education? Bachelors of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University. EMT Basic, LTCC; WFR, LTCC; AIARE-2, LTCC

What makes you qualified to be on City Council? I seek reelection to continue to advocate for locals first. Workers and residents in South Lake Tahoe continue to be an afterthought compared to the interests of the real estate and casino/resort lobbyists. From returning AirBnB to our residential neighborhoods, to spending millions per year on tourism advertising, we can choose to do better. 

A City Council that prioritizes locals could redirect tourism advertising spending to workforce housing, transit, and beach cleanup. We can push back against the use of glyphosate pesticides in our national forests. We can improve our bike trails and fix our roads. We can make the tourism industry work for locals – if we are willing to challenge the special interests.

For the last four years, I have fought consistently and unwaveringly to put local interests first in local government – there is more we can and must do. 

What is your level of understanding of the Brown Act and other council procedures? Do you feel agenda item deliberations could be streamlined? After 4 years of experience on City Council, I have a detailed understanding of the Brown Act and its impact on council procedures. I’m much less concerned with optimizing for the convenience of staff and council member, as I am with the need for improving accessibility for public engagement. Items of significant public interest are routinely placed in the middle or the end of agendas, leaving the public with no clear idea as to when they should show up to give testimony or commentary. People wishing to provide input must currently wait through the entire meeting for their item, which can last all day. As a result, public input is routinely skewed towards those with direct financial or lobbying interests.

This past year I pushed forward a change to authorize the mayor to designate certain agenda items as “time certain”, guaranteeing for the public that an agenda item will start no earlier than the indicated time. This means the public would not need to wait potentially many hours to give comments on a specific topic. Notably however, the mayor has refused to use this authority. If re-elected, in the next annual council procedures update, I will propose that any two council members can move to require a “Time Certain” start for any agenda item.

Have you ever served on a commission or committee for the City of South Lake Tahoe? If so, what was it? Or, have you served other communities in this capacity in the past? For the past four years I have served as a South Lake Tahoe City Councilman, focusing on advocating for affordable housing for local residents and workers, bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements, improving employee housing conditions, and increasing Union protections for city contract workers.

For the past two years I have concurrently represented the city on the Tahoe Transportation District board of directors, which oversees local bus services. I also currently represent the city on the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities JPA, which oversees maintenance of our region’s bike trails, as well as funding for youth playground and athletic fields, as well as our ice rink and Paradise Park in Meyers.

I have previously served as a member of I Tahoe Bicycle Advisory Commission, the El Dorado County Economic Development Advisory Committee, and as a member of the Tahoe Neighborhoods Group, advocating for and passing Measure T, banning AirBnB’s from our residential neighborhoods.

If you served in previous leadership roles, please name them. Is there anything you wish you’d done differently, and how would you use those lessons on council? The most important lesson I have learned working on City Council has been the value of transactional politics, to never let personal feelings interfere with objective outcomes.  there have been more opportunities than I expected to find common ground on actions, even when the motivations can be very different.

In my first year, I proposed and passed new, pro-union requirements for city contractors, and an employee housing Bill of Rights, both with the support of the conservative Mayor Wallace. I spearheaded and worked with conservative Council Member Jenkins to remove the sandbags at Lakeview Commons that have begun leaching micro plastics into Lake Tahoe, and to develop a new policy, prohibiting the use of all plastic materials for soil stabilization. I am currently working with Mayor Pro Tem Roberts on initial efforts to redirect the $3 million a year currently wasted on tourism advertising to support our environment and make the actual Tahoe experience better for tourists and locals alike.

One does not need to abandon principles to find common ground, and yesterday’s lone dissent can become tomorrow’s consensus position.

If elected, how do you plan on representing the community? If they don’t attend meetings in person, how will you know what they want? How would you get more citizens engaged? After nearly every city council meeting I have provided a direct report to the public on social media detailing the topics discussed and actions taken. I have made myself easily available both online and in person, regularly meeting (mostly over coffee, but occasionally over beers) with a wide variety of constituents ranging from local and J-1 workers to business owners and managers.

I have spent many hours talking to the public at city and community events – most recently at the TRPA meeting on glyphosate pesticide use in our national forests, where I was, notably, the only city council candidate present, and the only local government official to speak against glyphosate use in public commentary.

How important is an ethics policy and decorum policy for City Council, and why? What should these policies include? I am the senior council member on the recently created ethics reform subcommittee, currently working with staff to create a new policy for city councilmembers to address failures observed over the past several years. I am specifically working for this new policy to prohibit sitting council members from taking a salary from lobbying organizations or regional agencies with jurisdiction over the city. A councilmember (or spouse thereof) who takes a salary from a Chamber of Commerce or from the TRPA cannot be expected to fairly represent the interests of their constituents. We are planning to bring this new ethics policy forward for a vote prior to the next election.

Is there anything in your past that could come to the surface if elected? If so, what is it? I have broken an awful lot of bones and ligaments, doing Tahoe activities – skiing, paragliding, mountain biking, etc.. That said, in four years, I’ve never missed a single council meeting.

Do you think a councilmember represents the City at all times, and why or why not? A councilmember represents their constituency at all times. Their viewpoints may be reflected in adopted city policy, but our local government is not a monolith. 

This past year, I brought forward and supported the city’s declaration of equality for all people, regardless of documentation status. That was a 3-2 decision, and I would not expect those who voted “no” to change their deeply held position. Similarly, I was the lone “no” on last year’s vote overturning measure T and returning VHR’s to residential neighborhoods. I have never stopped speaking out against that decision and the negative impact it has had on our residents and workforce. 

All council members should be expected to represent their constituents, even when they hold a minority vote position. But when speaking publicly, council members should always be clear that their positions are their own, and not necessarily the position adopted by the city government as a whole.

When council divides up the list of assignments for councilmembers, what boards would you want to sit on and why? I am currently assigned to the Tahoe Transportation District board, where I have helped support funding for Lake Link expansion, and for moving to 30-minute frequency for local buses. I also currently sit on the South Lake Tahoe Recreation Facilities JPA, where I helped write and pass Measure G, to fund park, playground, ball field, and bike path maintenance for the next 30 years. In a second term, I would be interested in serving on the TRPA board, to advocate for inclusive zoning to support more affordable housing in the Tahoe Basin.

What are the top concerns the council should be focusing on? The biggest long-term issue the city faces is affordable workforce housing.

In my first year I passed a resolution prioritizing city-funded affordable housing for existing locals. This year I cut the administration costs of the Lease-to-Locals housing program by half, bringing its administration in-house, and saving enough money to double funding for actual grants. Unfortunately the Council took a big step backwards by re-introducing AirBnB’s into our residential neighborhoods – which we can and should eliminate by ordinance.

This year, I successfully terminated the overpriced contract for administrating the Lease-to-Locals housing program, bringing its administration in-house. That action saved so much money on overhead, it doubled the amount available for actual housing grants. This program now needs more work to advertise its increased availability to property owners. 

The next council will have the choice to expand the city’s inclusionary housing funding. This program assesses a fee on new construction to support affordable housing, but it only applies to large McMansions. Today, large AirBnB-condo developments, such as those around Heavenly Village are exempted. This can and should change.

In the short term, the city government must work to vigorously oppose the Forest Service’s plan to potentially use glyphosate synthetic pesticides in our forests, especially since the TRPA has chosen, through inaction, to abrogate this responsibility. Next month, the city council will consider options to ban or restrict the use of these pesticides within city limits, and with our water supply downstream of the affected areas, the city must also consider the option of litigation if the Forest Service persists in their planning.

These efforts will need a council willing to put locals first. 

What is the role of a city council on economic development? Do you think we should be attracting new types of businesses, and if so, what are they? Tourism is brittle. Service jobs tend to be low in pay, benefits, and stability – with tourism typically the first thing on hold during economic downturns. In Tahoe, these issues are magnified by unstable and unaffordable housing, where locals must compete with VHR’s, ski-leases, and second home buyers.

Our city can assist in the development of diversified non-tourism business such as: 

  • Expansion of Barton Hospital into an orthopedics center of excellence (like the Steadman Clinic in Vail), bringing in fellowships and patients from around the world. 
  • Expansion of wilderness guiding and education programs through LTCC and attracting schools such as NOLS.
  • Improving wired internet reliability, supporting businesses which operate locally, and serve clients remotely.  

Expanding non-tourism business also helps our service sector, enlarging a customer base that lives, buys, and shops here year-round. Tahoe will always be a tourist destination, but that need not be the only thing we are. 

What are your favorite things to do in Tahoe? I came to Tahoe to go uphill, then downhill very fast. I paraglide, ski-praglide, backcountry and resort ski, mountain bike, road bike, rock climb, ice climb, kayak, hike, camp, 4×4, and on more than a few occasions, recover from variously broken limbs.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Ten years ago, I prioritized my passion for the mountains and left the East Coast behind. After my first summer here, I started volunteering as a way to give back to this community.

I’ve worked with Tahoe Neighborhoods Group to pass Measure T, which eliminated vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. I volunteered with El Dorado County Search and Rescue, helping to rescue locals and tourists alike, I’ve volunteered with the El Dorado County Economic Development Advisory Committee, and the South Tahoe Bicycle Advisory Committee.

In my four years on City Council, I’ve relentlessly advocated for the local workers who make Tahoe their home. I believe very strongly in the value of community and in volunteering to give back to this place which has given so much. 

It is the locals that are the heart and soul of this place we call home.