Letter: Shady Glenbrook VHR politics exposed

Dear fellow Douglas County residents. Back in November, I wrote an op-ed about how some things are not adding up regarding the proposal to ban vacation home rentals (VHRs) north of Cave Rock. Now, the truth has finally come out.

My name is Kevin Kjer and I am a lifelong resident of Douglas County. I am a small business owner who has a property management office inside the gates of Glenbrook. The rental office in Glenbrook was established in the late 1970s. We have been quietly providing short-term rentals and paying room tax to Douglas County for over 40 years without one complaint filed. We have strict occupancy limits and rules and we only rent to Glenbrook families and friends through “word of mouth” advertising.

About five years ago, there were rumors that a couple of wealthy, powerful second homeowners from Southern Nevada and California decided that they no longer wanted to encounter “renters” while visiting their second homes, even if the renters were friends of other owners. They decided that somehow and someway they were going to get rid of short-term rentals inside the Glenbrook gate by changing Douglas County rental zoning.

They got their wish on December 21, 2023, when the Douglas County commissioners voted 3-2 to ban VHRs north of Cave Rock.

Back in November, I detailed how Commissioner Danny Tarkanian from Las Vegas has been laser-focused since he was elected in 2020 to ban rentals in Glenbrook even though he is supposed to represent the Gardnerville Ranchos. He has been bringing it up every couple of months at commission meetings for years but has said repeatedly he really didn’t know anyone in Glenbrook and has not received any donations from homeowners in Glenbrook. He even called the accusations “Hogwash!!” in a newsletter.

Now the rest of the story…

Only through an NRS 239 public records request do we now know the facts about Danny Tarkanian and Glenbrook. He has been planning with a powerful Glenbrook landowner from Las Vegas for years to get Glenbrook rentals banned. In January 2023, he called it his “plan of attack.”

Options in this attack included pressuring the Vacation Rental Advisory Board, trying to influence a new county commissioner by using her religious affiliation, threatening fellow commissioners with a recall and/or getting protesters to intimidate them at meetings, filing a lawsuit against the county, getting a referendum on the ballot, and threatening to get a “big name” candidate to run against Commissioner Mark Gardner so he would change his mind and support a rental ban.

Is this the type of person you want to represent the residents of Douglas County? Influence peddling, coercion, intimidation, to make one special interest happy? Yikes.

The sad fact is that it worked. Commissioner Tarkanian organized a petition drive that could ban short-term rentals in all of Tahoe Township and cause serious harm to Tahoe’s local economy.

Also, mysteriously, Commissioner Gardner had a change of heart and decided to allow a proposal to ban VHRs north of Cave Rock to be put on the agenda after years of resistance. Without input from the Vacation Rental Advisory Committee and even after the planning commission voted 7-0 against the ban citing the rental ban would be arbitrary and capricious, Commissioner Gardner voted with Commissioner Tarkanian for the ban. Hmmm, interesting. I wonder what “big name” candidate they used to threaten to run against Commissioner Gardner? The rumor mill is working overtime.

I hope you are as outraged as I am with all of the back door dealing. I am not a public official and my reputation and business has been under attack since Commissioner Tarkanian took office. He has called me a liar more than once for pointing all of this out. Now it has been proven that I have been right and he has been concealing the truth all along. This type of behavior should not be tolerated by the voters of Douglas County. Look at the amount of county time and resources that have been wasted on this one particular issue. We should expect more from our County Commissioners. I believe it is time for Commissioner Tarkanian to resign and take his brand of public service back to Las Vegas.

Respectfully yours,
Kevin Kjer
Glenbrook Rental Program, LLC

The email exchange received from a public records request:

The following is the information you requested this morning.
The VHR Advisory Board member who holds a VHR permit in Glenbrook is XXXX XXXX. She lives in the Carson Valley but has a condo in Glenbrook which she rents on a short term basis.

I believe VHR permits outside of the Glenbrook HOA violates the following VHR Ordinance: Section 20.6222.010 B.7 of Douglas County's VHR Ordinance states, "It is the intent... to make the transitory lodging activity (VHRs)... to resemble the existing residential uses made by resident owners and lessees.

Since the HOA has banned VHR use for anyone outside the HOA (no tourists) the same should hold true for the homes outside the HOA. The HOA and the homes outside the HOA are in the same residential area.

According to the above Section they should resemble each other.

I emailed all ofthe VHR Advisory Board members and requested them to tell me how allowing VHRs in homes outside of the HOA in Glenbrook "resembles the existing residential uses". None of them responded after two of my requests. I have attached the email I sent them to this email.
My proposal for VHRs is also attached to this email.

Plan of Attack: The following is my plan of attack from best options to worse options.

First Option: Persuade the new Commissioner, Sharla Hales, to support my proposal. She is LDS and family oriented. I provided her with a copy of my proposal. She said that she liked it and would have considered it if it was done at the beginning of the process but now believes the VHR Advisory Board should make the recommendation. The VHR Advisory Board will not support my proposal. Hales is very close with the realtors, builders, and developers. She is also very supportive of the County Manager. They are all against my proposal as well. I think it will be tough to get her support. I am working on her daily sending her emails from frustrated families living next to VHRs. Hopefully, xxxx can help here.

Second Option: Put pressure on Gardner and the County to back off. Three things must be done here. File a lawsuit against the County. I believe Section 20.6222.010 B.7 of Douglas County's VHR Ordinance provides the basis for a lawsuit. I believe there is a second basis as well. I believe there is an Equal Protection clause of action when Douglas County allows VHRs in a private secluded neighborhood like Glenbrook but bans them from similar neighborhoods in the Carson Valley.

Second, file a recall against both Gardner and Rice and at the same time have the residents protest Gardner outside of meetings and in public comment. Rice won't be affected by this, but Gardner desperately wants to be liked. He is also up for re-election in two years. We will get a big-name person to say they are going to run against him as well.

File a referendum to ban VHRs in Lake Tahoe outside a specified tourist corridor. There is a couple who has been successful with two past referendums who would lead this movement along with myself.

Third Option: Acquire enough signatures and recall Gardner. If we collect recall signatures at the same time as we collect referendum signatures it is possible to get this done.

Fourth Option: Not the best solution but better than nothing. We get referendum on the ballot. It must pass in two elections. I have no doubt it will pass easily in both. However, this is a four-year process.

I am interested in your thoughts on the above. Please share with xxxxxxx also. I would love his thoughts as well.
Danny