David Jinkens’ debut as a new council member at Tuesday night’s (12/10/24) meeting was, shall we say, loud. As if we weren’t already enduring marathon sessions stretching past reasonable hours—thanks to Councilman Robbins’ overdramatic habit of publicly doing math while dramatically repeating “What’s the sigma?” and “What’s the x-factor?”—we now have Councilman Jinkens adding his flair for wannabe-lawyering to the mix.

This isn’t my first experience watching Jinkens try to grasp legal concepts. A particularly vivid example is his stint with the Multicultural Alliance (MCA), where he fired off a letter in 2022 using his signature “Good Government Advocate” letterhead advocating for undocumented students in California to receive in-state tuition. A noble cause, however, unbeknownst to him, the law has been on the books since 2011.

The kicker: This letter was sent to the Chancellor of California Community Colleges, and he cc’d the MCA, Tahoe Family Resource Center, and LTCC Board of Trustees. It was based entirely on a single conversation he had with one individual. He didn’t consult anyone in the MCA—a few of whom are subject matter experts—before unleashing his poorly researched letter. The move was audacious and a total flop. 

As was seen last night, this is the energy Mr. Jinkens brings to the table: boundless confidence, zero research, redundancy, and an uncanny ability to skip the critical step of understanding how systems actually work before throwing out solutions.

At Tuesday night’s meeting, Mr. Jinkens ranted about wanting an opinion from the State of California that the City of South Lake Tahoe “doesn’t have to follow state law.” We have a city attorney. Their job—literal job—is to interpret federal and state laws, plus all the accompanying regulations, and figure out how to apply them to our City. Mr. Jinkens’ thirst for self-righteous grandstanding contributed to a five-hour meeting that stretched past 10 p.m. on a weeknight. Let me remind you: City staff had to report back to work at 8 a.m..

For someone who is a “Good Government Advocate,” he seems to enjoy wasting City dollars to grind axes about TRPA and other things. He fails to realize that the campaign is over, and he now needs to start serving the community, not his political agenda. 

Not only did Mr. Jinkens delay the meeting with his legal misfires, but his condescending, rude tone toward staff was disheartening. And let’s not forget Mr. Robbins, who has made a career out of being similarly patronizing. Together, they’ve perfected the art of performative bombast: an exhausting blend of entitlement, arrogance, and a lack of substance. However, Mr. Robbins may pull ahead as a slightly better council member if what happened last night continues. 

Let’s be clear: South Lake Tahoe’s systems need to continually change to better serve all of its residents. But dragging out meetings until 10:30 p.m. so you can grandstand from the dais isn’t how you make governance more accessible. It’s how you waste time, alienate the community, and leave everyone shaking their heads.

– Erika Gonzalez,
A Citizen Who Barely Got Enough Sleep After That Meeting to Write This Op-Ed