SLT City Council candidate Tamara Wallace

All candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council were given the same questions. With just one day to go to the elections, we will be featuring their answers and a video of their interview with Tahoe Regional Young Professionals through the day.

Tamara Wallace, 46, Retired Businesswoman/Chamber Exec

Discuss your interest in serving on City Council. What is your prior experience in working with civic, community or governmental organizations?

My interest in serving: This is a way that I have wanted to serve my community for many years. However, I have been ill for a long time, so was our oldest son. We also adopted a special needs child. I devoted my time to my family for the last few years, because that was where I was most needed. However, from 2010 to 2014, I was able to serve on the Planning Commission Through that I was further convinced that the City Council was where I wanted to be and I saw how so much of my previous life experiences and education fit well and were needed skills. My health has been improving for over a year (I just completed my first half marathon); in addition, our son’s illness is completely at bay. His attitude, faith and recovery inspired me. Our adopted child is five years older now and he is a full-fledged Wallace with that weird sense of humor we all have. I am now ready to serve in this capacity. I do believe that the council must serve, not rule our community. Further, I have been fortunate enough to have a few really incredible mentors in my life, one of whom recently passed. He and other mentors taught me many things, including: working with public-private partnerships, how to disagree without being disagreeable and that economic development in a community is a high tide that raises all ships.

My relevant Experience: Education/ community work/ government relations: Graduate of the Institute for Organization Management USD; Executive Vice-President and Economic Development Director of the Tulare Chamber of Commerce; Past-president, Lake Tahoe Kiwanis Club; Past board member, Lake Tahoe Lodging Association; Girls Coach, South Tahoe Wrestling; Past-member, STHS Cheerleading-Parents Club; Teacher, Vacation Bible School, Tahoe Community Church; Volunteer, Vacation Bible School, Sierra Community Church; President-Elect and Charter Secretary, Tulare Sunrise Rotary; Member, STAT (South Tahoe Athletic Teams); Member, LTUSD Schools Financial Advisory Committee; Teacher, KAPOW (Kids and the Power of Work); Past partner in a group of four women who raised monies to fund and build a battered women’s shelter; Past Business Manager; Lodging Operator; Special Events Coordinator; Marketing Aide; LTCC Foundation Assistant; Member of USFS delegation to international conference in Moscow, Irkutsk and Lake Baikal Russia focusing on how to grow an economy in an environmentally sensitive area; part of delegation to Washington DC regarding MTBE and Lake Tahoe Restoration Act; nominated three times for business woman of the year by the Tulare Chapter of Business and Professional Women.

Concerning the proposed Hwy 50 Revitalization Project, what is your stance and why?

First of all the issue on the table at present is Measure T. The decision as to what the project might look like and the yes or no to that question would come after. Regarding Measure T. simply put, should 8,000 voters be able to decide whether we spend 100 million on a 1 mile project or should 3 people decide for us. Since 1,500 registered voters already indicated their feelings on the matter my stance is to support the voters.

Loop Road options: My opinion on the Loop Road is this: Boiled down to Mark Twain type of writings those promoting the project are modern day Tom Sawyers trying to convince the citizens of South Lake Tahoe, California to pay them an apple so they can have the pleasure of painting Nevada’s fence! I think we can accomplish many of the items that would be addressed by redirecting the highway, without spending $100 million or more dollars and demolishing 100+ homes and businesses. If we want a more bike-able, walkable area then we should lower the speed limit to 25mph, which is a nationwide standard in business districts. As for traffic congestion, I don’t believe that the loop road will solve this issue in any of its incarnations. However, one community member wisely suggested synchronizing the traffic light system; I believe this would be a huge improvement to congestion. Based on the current option being discussed, I don’t see how moving a congested highway and miles of traffic away from the business district and into a neighborhood with families is a good alternative. Not to mention, our community is in a housing crisis and although TTD has said that they wouldn’t break ground until housing is replaced, they have also said that they are also allowed to negotiate with the displaced families and individuals for rent subsidies, in lieu of replacement housing. This is a much easier option for them, not to mention a quicker one. What makes us think that they won’t push for the subsidies and forego all new housing just so they can break ground as soon as possible? They have already been accused of being less than honest in a law suit filed against them over alleged misrepresentations with regards to the housing element in a similar project in Tahoe City. There is some speculation that their housing solution involves moving the displaced families/individuals into a remodeled Kingsbury Middle School. How can they think this would be a viable option? Imagine being the descendant of a family that built a cabin in the area affected. This cabin houses not just your family, but your history. Your only two options are to move across state line and live in a converted school, or take your subsidy and possibly find another home that simply does not have your history in each nook and cranny. Apart from this, I simply believe that the voters should be making this decision. The council needs to decide how to define “the City.” Is it the staff, the council themselves or is it the citizens who live here? If they believe it is the citizens, then they should let them decide. 1,500 voters signed to demand this issue be put on the ballot, why then would the city not let them have their say. I say again, council members are SERVANTS not RULERS.

Do you believe there is a low income and affordable housing issue in SLT, and why?

If you believe there is, what do you see your role as a council member to address it? YES YES YES we have a problem that if not addressed soon will affect the social and economic fabric of our community for years to come. The short answer is that our role as a Council is to identify the impediments to our employees, our kids and ourselves being able to live where we work.

I must be honest and tell you that I believe, based upon my life experiences, that government has a tendency to mess up more things than they fix. It was TRPA, in reaction to the table games and the 1960 Olympic Games who have made our town a museum of the 1960’s. By freezing building, the supply dropped and the demand increased causing a rise in prices. It was done mostly out of true concern for the environment, but the science as to what was really causing water and air pollution at the lake was not accurate then. “There is science and there is political science.” As studies were done over the past 50 years there was often a finger on the scale tipping the study results towards not allowing homes and businesses to be built. In the mid-1970s about 200 homes per year were being built on the South Shore. When the CTRPA (the precursor to TRPA) hinted that they might soon stop all building, a panic ensued with over 2,500 homes thrown up in a very short amount of time with little regard for stream sediment or any other environmental degradation. So then the agency was able to say, “See, we told you there were too many houses being built, we’ve got to stop all building!” In the urge to find a way to stop the building, the agency came up with items (now called commodities) that could be metered out to control building. These imaginary commodities were things such as sewer units, TAUs, square footage formulas and many other things. Decibel levels, while a real measurement, were used in such a way that their scientific studies found that commercial jet airplanes just happened to need to be at just a few decibels below what a commercial jet could possibly stay under. It took longer to get a permit to build a garage than it took to win World War II. Now, in my opinion, government needs to get out of the way. I believe that there can be a positive meeting of the minds among all the governments on the South Shore to lower or eliminate the fees for builders who will build homes that are dedicated for single family, owner occupied residences. That also meets all environmental thresholds. The project is the fix. None of us is smarter than all of us. That is certainly true in my case. If we can generate enough public pressure on TRPA, STPUD, Lahontan, the County Supervisors, City building Department and many more agencies that cause fees up to $80,000 before even turning a shovel then we will be able to lower costs and reduce the regulations and the time delays that cost the builders so much and are passed on to the renters. That will raise the supply and lower the cost and allow our children and families to stay here in our beautiful City. If elected I will work tirelessly to challenge all our governments to lower the cost and get out of the way.

Do you believe the Council should work as a team and collaborate to come to a solution as to what is best for the community? Explain your answer.

Yes the Council should work as a team.
They all should work as part of a team that sets long and short range financial goals, with public input. The Council should work with other agencies to have a cohesive government overall. The style of government we are under is strong city manager government whereby the Council directs the city manager as a body, not as individuals. As a team they are supposed to make sure that the responsibilities of the city are met and monies set aside for the future. Simply put, the council is the WHAT and the City Manager is the HOW. Our Council should be an example and show respect towards other council members, when there are disagreements, they need to reach consensus without being disagreeable. A 5-0 vote is not necessary and is probably not healthy overall because good respectful debates are crucial for good ideas. However, once the vote is taken those who were out voted are obligated to fairly support the direction and not undermine what has been decided.

A hot topic in the town are Vacation Home Rentals. The current Council and staff held public meetings on the subject and have come up with a new set of codes trying to address concerns. Do you think VHRs are a vital need to tourism in the community? What do you propose the next step should be since both sides of the issue are still concerned about the current direction?

Yes our community needs VHRs in its inventory of available tourism units.
I am very much a property rights advocate. I believe a property owner should have the ability to do with their property as they choose within the “bundle of rights”. However, that bundle of rights includes the quiet enjoyment of your property. The big disconnect has been: for years the neighborhoods have complained of noise, litter, blocked parking and more, and the Council has not enforced their zoning laws. They actually had a policy of non-enforcement. So now that these issues have come to a boiling point, instead of enforcing what they already have on the books they pass some more regulations. Now this complicated situation is becoming even more serious because of the extreme lack of rental housing for locals. The poster child has been the enormous 15 bedroom McMansions that have been allowed to be built by contractors who have used the commodities and rules to their advantage. Further, the City either had over-worked police try to keep things under control or they hired “enforcement” staff that, unbelievably, worked days while the parties and other issues happened at night. Based on many conversations with community members, I’m convinced that the issue comes back to the City needing to enforce their zoning laws as they were meant to be and for them to hire a private security firm to deal with non-criminal situations so they can immediately jump on the violations, including fining the property owners who continuously rent to “bad apples”. The police then could do the more dangerous community policing. Because TRPA rules have frozen many of our motels into museums of the 1960s and because the travelling public obviously now prefers a “home away from home” type of accommodation, VHRs have become a key source of income to our City and a great source of jobs for our service industry. I can also understand why a property owner would choose to do vacation rentals, as opposed to a permanent rental. They can purchase the property, use it themselves when they and their family want to and then also have some extra income to help them pay the mortgage. But something’s got to give. If the Council doesn’t enforce and/or change the zoning regarding the giant motel-like structures a potentially devastating initiative to ban VHRs completely could destroy the industry and the income it produces. All sides of the issue need to compromise to keep this from happening. I don’t have all the answers on how we will succeed in this, but I am sure how we will fail as a Council and Community. That is if we do not try to understand each other and reach out to fairly compromise to make this place as friendly as it is beautiful.

What 3 achievable goals would you champion in the next 4 years?

HOUSING: Affordable housing through incentives and creating a fair compromise on VHRs.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Get started fixing our roads and get projects underway in the community plan areas.
GOVERNANCE: Get out of the way of good projects that create jobs and protect our environment and be a part of healing some of the personal wounds that are an impediment to good governance in our community.

What areas of South Lake Tahoe do you think present an opportunity for revitalization? What do you view as your role?

The area most ripe for a transformation is the Y. I am huge supporter of the Tahoe Valley Area Plan. This plan was approved while I was on the Planning Commission and we worked all four years of my tenure on the final product. It is the one thing, besides the Harrison Avenue project, that I am most proud of. Locals use the Y area to a far greater degree than any other commercial district and it is currently in the most disarray. That is unacceptable. I believe the city council’s role in making the plan come to fruition is to incentivize as much as they possibly can. If the city has banked land coverage, which they do, it should be given to developers that are willing to put in mixed use and affordable/workforce housing. If the city has any other banked commodities, those should also be given to developers to make their projects in the Y area pencil out. An example of this is Dr. Steve Leman’s most recent projects in the Area Plan. The city council had the ability to give Dr. Leman the land coverage that he required for his three projects, however, in a 3 to 2 vote they decided to charge him an additional $27,000 plus per residential unit, for a total of nearly $500,000. That cost will be passed on to the renters/lessees of these units, which definitely makes the units less affordable.

In 300 words or less, why should voters vote for you?

I believe the voters feel the same way I do. I think they should support me because I’m not the things that the voters are tired of.

1. I’m not a recycled Council person who is responsible for spending too much on feel good projects and letting our streets deteriorate or who has passed on large debts, like the unfunded liabilities/promises made to retired employees, that can’t now be met because the money was never saved.
2. I’m not an armchair quarterback who just got interested without putting in prior preparation and I’m not a one issue candidate who thinks they are smarter than the voters. I’ve spent 27 years investing my time and energy into my community. All of my adult life has been invested in making my town better and being directly involved in making key public policy decisions as well as effective economic development decisions (please see my list above of organizations I’ve been involved with and my education).
3. Most importantly, I’m not a surrogate for outside interests. I’m not a cookie cutter candidate who will owe getting elected to anyone but the people who voted for me. What I am, is a person who believes that the Council should serve its community, not rule.

To work as part of a team that sets long and short range goals, with public input, for the city. Work with other agencies to have a cohesive government. Direct the city manager as a body, not as individuals. Make sure that the responsibilities of the city are met and monies set aside for the future. Make certain that priorities are set and citizens are kept safe. Welcome businesses, both into the community and coming to the community. Keep taxes as low as possible so that the public can prosper. Set an attitude of welcome towards those who use city services. Show respect towards other council members, when there are disagreements, reach consensus without being disagreeable.