I’ve written two or three versions of this op-ed that never went to print. Each time, I stopped because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say, and I didn’t want to hand this community something performative. From the start, I promised myself I wouldn’t lose myself in the campaigning process and that I would stay my authentic self. What finally gave me something worth saying was realizing how little chance you’ve had to tell us apart.
Thirteen of us are running for three seats. This fall there hasn’t been a stage where you could hear us take the same question and answer it side by side to get a feel for who we are as people, or how we would work as a team on council. South Tahoe Now estimated that about 35 people attended the two recent meet-the-candidate events combined. So most of what you’ve seen is campaign messaging, including mine. Read our questionnaires, and you’ll find we agree on a lot: housing first, a more diverse economy, a council that conducts itself better. Those are the right priorities. They just don’t tell you much about who we are, or who we’ll be thinking about when we cast a vote.
So let me tell you where I come from.
Folks who know me know I don’t love being front and center. My hobbies are quiet ones. I read and knit in my backyard, shelve fiction at the library, play video games, and work my way through the seasonal drinks at our local coffee shops. Before I decided to run, I had to answer some honest questions. Why me? Does it have to be me? Are there people better suited? Maybe there are. But right now, I have the skills to do this work well and the love for this community to want to do it.
My grandparents on both sides came to Tahoe with extended family to work in hospitality and tourism. My parents started out in the casinos, later ran a bilingual video store on the land where the Marriott now stands, and even owned a couple of family restaurants. Like so many families here, mine came for the jobs tourism created.
Talk about the workers who keep this town running usually focuses on the people visitors see: the barista, the bartender, the server. I grew up with the people visitors don’t see. The housekeepers turning over rooms. The dishwashers, the laundry crews, the landscapers, the folks working graveyard so the casino floor is ready by morning. They rarely make it to a 5:30 p.m. council meeting, and our process, with its long agendas and formal language, rarely feels built for them, even though they built this town. They’re who I’m running for.
I’m also one of the local kids who left for school and wasn’t sure there was a way back. South Lake Tahoe is missing a whole tier of jobs, the mid-level, professional positions that let people grow, and the housing to match. When I came home in 2019, I wanted to understand how this place actually runs before I asked to help run it.
So I went to work in the rooms where this town makes decisions, and I made a point of listening to everyone in them. I chair the Police Advisory Commission. I sit on the Planning Commission, applying city code, state law, and TRPA rules that rarely line up neatly, and through the TRPA Tahoe Living Working Group, I’ve seen how those rules get written and discussed. I earned the endorsement of the South Tahoe Association of REALTORS® while being honest that we need limits on vacation rentals. I’m proud of all of it, and most proud of the parts that were uncomfortable. Our Police Advisory Commission meetings rarely draw a single member of the public. That told me how far City Hall can feel from people’s lives, and that it’s on us to go to them.
That work has made me practical. I’ve seen why big promises stall when they meet the rules, so I won’t promise you what we can’t deliver in a four-year term. I will read every packet, ask hard questions, treat colleagues and residents with respect, and push to finish the plans this city has already committed to, including our Housing Element, so the people who work here have a real chance to live here.
It also means I won’t use the dais as a soapbox. I’m not running to keep campaigning from the council table, or to use this seat as a steppingstone to another office. I want reasonable discussions about what will make residents’ lives better, and I suspect you do, too. You deserve meetings you can keep up with, where councilmembers come prepared, understand the rules they’re applying, and focus on what’s working and what isn’t. When I step up to speak, I want it to be because I have something to add.
I’m also easy to find. Search my name, and you’ll see where I stand. I’ve never been shy about my views, and as an anti-trafficking attorney, I’ve seen how well-intended laws can hurt the very victims they’re meant to protect. I’ll stand by my principles. I also want solutions, and they start with remembering we’re all in this together. There’s no “them” and “us” in South Lake Tahoe. As Howie Nave put it, everyone here is two degrees from everyone else. Every decision the council makes lands on your neighbor, your kid’s teacher, and the person handing you your morning coffee in a way it rarely does in a big city.
Campaign season can make a small town feel divided. It doesn’t have to. South Lake belongs to all of us: families who have been here for generations and families who just arrived, homeowners and renters, business owners and the people they employ. We can disagree about policy and still look out for each other. That’s how I approach my own work. I advocate hard for the people I serve, and I respect the work of everyone who makes South Lake Tahoe run, including law enforcement, firefighters, city staff, and all of you who do the work every day.
Every candidate in this race has made their own choices about how to run. Some have shown up to meeting after meeting and explained their positions. Some have chosen to run without accepting a single contribution. Each of us has found our own way to show this community we’re serious, and I respect those choices. For me, that’s looked like family, friends, and neighbors, with my grandma as the biggest contributor, chipping in to help me reach you. For a first-generation kid from a working family, that means a lot. Running for office costs money, even a modest campaign, and I couldn’t have done it on my own. When the people who watched you grow up decide to invest in you, that’s a community saying it’s ready to see someone like you at the table. A local campaign is people who know you, vouching for you.
There’s a version of this campaign that’s mostly about being seen. I’ve tried to spend my time on the work itself, such as chairing a commission, hearing appeals, holding office hours, and doing the homework it takes to run. The most frequent compliment I’ve received this campaign season is that I’m consistently the most prepared. That is a high compliment to receive, but transparently, for me, preparedness is the bare minimum for a responsible candidate or councilmember. I want to serve all of you, including those who disagree with me. Honestly, especially them, because that’s where listening matters most.
Finally, thank you. To the families who have known mine for generations, to everyone who has watched my work and believed in me, to every person who contributed, and to everyone who has told me they’ve already voted: this campaign has reminded me how much I love South Lake Tahoe. I’m also grateful to the Lake Tahoe Democrats and the South Tahoe Association of REALTORS® for their endorsements, and for trusting me to listen to all of you.
If you’d like to ask me something in person, come to my meet-and-greet at Los Mexicanos on Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., or my office hours at Gather Botanical Cafe on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Bring your hardest questions, and let’s meet as fellow South Lake Tahoe residents.
-Erika Gonzalez
South Lake Tahoe City Council Candidate