There are people you come to trust because you’ve worked beside them. You’ve seen what they do when an ambitious idea meets the hard work of making it happen.
John Friedrich is one of those people for me.
I’ve known John and his work on behalf of the Sierra Nevada for decades. Our paths crossed often, but I had the opportunity to work very closely with him at Momentum, where, as a leading global expert in zero-emission transportation, he led our work to advance electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout California.
That work takes vision. It also takes patience, technical understanding, collaboration, and the ability to keep moving a project forward through funding decisions, permitting, and all the complications that stand between a good idea and something people can actually use.
John brings both. He is simultaneously a visionary and a practical, can-do person who executes. I know because I’ve seen him do it.
His story begins far from Tahoe, with roots in Iowa City and a degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His early work included organizing for Tom Harkin and serving as national political director for Clean Water Action. Community organizing and public service have been part of his life for decades.
In Washington, D.C., John founded Community Harvest, linking local family farmers with low-income neighborhoods and helping operate an urban organic farm. Later came years of work on behalf of Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and the Sierra Nevada. He moved to South Lake Tahoe in 2005.
I love that part of his story. Fresh food, healthy land, strong neighborhoods, clean energy—there is a continuity to his work. Different projects, different places, but the same impulse to make life better through something concrete.
His commitment to the Sierra has taken many forms: serving as program director for Keep Tahoe Blue; managing rooftop solar, electric vehicle, and energy efficiency programs at Liberty Utilities; and serving on South Lake Tahoe’s City Council from 2020 to 2024. He also served as mayor pro tem and represented the city on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s governing board.
During his council service, John and his colleagues helped fund the Recreation and Aquatics Center, Sugar Pine Village affordable housing, and Lake Link transit. They increased investment in road repairs and advanced clean energy commitments. John also helped launch the city’s Multicultural Celebration—an investment in bringing neighbors together and recognizing the people who make Tahoe a community.
That commitment also shows up in his work to keep Tahoe a place where local people can live. On the council, he helped lead Lease to Locals, encouraging homeowners to make houses available to year-round residents rather than vacation rentals or largely empty second homes. Alongside affordable housing and transit investments, it reflects a conviction I share: our mountain towns need room for the people who make them a community.
Protecting a place means caring about the people who live there: whether they can afford a home, get to work, enjoy their parks, and feel that they belong. A community’s future is built through those everyday decisions.
John is running for South Lake Tahoe City Council again this November. His campaign invites residents to help shape the priorities he would bring to the council. That willingness to listen belongs alongside his ability to get things done.
For me, this is personal. I’ve spent much of my life working on the future of the Sierra Nevada, and I’ve learned how much depends on people who stay committed over decades—people who can imagine something better and then take responsibility for helping build it.
John is one of those people.
I’m proud to know him and support him, and grateful for the years of work we’ve shared. South Lake Tahoe would be well served by having him back at the table.
Shawn Garvey