Letter: The invisible election

Beneath the streets we walk every day, an invisible network of pipes carries the lifeblood of our community. Much like these hidden conduits, the race for the South Tahoe Public Utility District (STPUD) Board of Directors has operated largely out of sight, overshadowed by the Measure N and City Council contests. This race should not be relegated to the darkness that lurks beneath our roads.

The STPUD race is a study in invisibility. Our campaigns operate on shoestring budgets, with little fanfare and few endorsements. We don't have flashy signs (although I’ve been told that mine are clever) on every corner and our lone candidates forum was attended by hardly anyone beyond dedicated STPUD employees. But this invisibility belies the critical nature of the decisions we'll be making.

Success at STPUD is measured by its ability to remain unseen. When you turn on your tap and clean water flows, when you flush your toilet and everything disappears without a second thought, that's STPUD working at its best. It's a thankless job, but one that's fundamental to our quality of life.

However, this invisibility has also allowed crucial issues to go unaddressed. While they are very kind people with many years of ties to the community, two of the four candidates (Mr. Cefalu and Mrs. Sheehan) have served on the Board for years. They missed opportunities to capitalize on historically low borrowing and construction costs and failed to adequately budget for replacing our aging infrastructure. Now, we're faced with higher costs for these necessary upgrades, and it's the ratepayers who will bear the burden.

The five-year lawsuit with Alpine County over wastewater management is another example of an invisible battle with very visible consequences. While lawyers and consultants quietly rack up billable hours, our community pays the bills and we now face, at a minimum, a much more expensive long-term solution for our treated wastewater.

We need to replace our near end-of-life water and wastewater pipes, find a sustainable solution for our treated wastewater, and secure funding from outside the Basin to mitigate the worst of the proposed water and sewer rate increases. These are not glamorous issues, but they are vital to our community's future and affordability. Kicking the can down the road, as two incumbent candidates have done, has only led to more expensive and invasive solutions.

My experience in workforce housing and policy advocacy has given me the tools to navigate complex regulatory environments and build connections beyond our local community. I'll use these skills to bring much-needed resources and attention to our invisible infrastructure.

The success of STPUD should remain invisible in its daily operations - I want you to be able to go about your day without worrying about water and wastewater management. But the process of ensuring that success needs to be more proactive. No one wants higher utility rates, especially after the cost of living in the Basin has skyrocketed in recent years. But we’re now at a point where there’s no more kicking the can down the road; we’ve got to pay the bill for the years of neglect and underinvestment. If we don’t, the chances of the invisible becoming catastrophically visible increase with every passing day.

As you cast your vote, I urge you to look beyond the more visible races and consider the unseen but crucial role of the STPUD Board and its loyal, hardworking, invisible employees. Let's elect leadership that tackles these hidden challenges head-on. A vote for me is a vote to ensure that the only thing invisible about STPUD is its seamless day-to-day operations, not the critical decisions that affect our community's future. Learn more at www.sethdallob.com.

- Seth Dallob