Letter: Seek First to Understand

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Some of the recent newcomers to Tahoe who have fled big cities have been over-critical of those among us who have worked hard to build and sustain this little city. It’s the local elected bodies who are the ones who often bear the brunt of the criticism. They are saddled with the concerns of those who are trying to make ends meet while the state and feds keep moving the ends.

As a 50-year resident, I see things through a different lens. Many things about our community are good, very good. Recently the Lake Tahoe Historical Society held a 55th anniversary event. I’ve had the distinct pleasure of knowing those old timers whose families were here before South Lake Tahoe became a city and when it became a year-round place for families to live in the 1940s. The area became a strip of motels, businesses, and small communities such as the Y, Al Tahoe, Bijou, and Stateline, all along our main street/U.S. Highway 50/Lake Tahoe Boulevard. That happened because of the table games and the Olympic Games. The few locals who lived here realized that they needed to do something to deal with the problems created by the newly paved roads that brought more interstate travel through and to our community.

Those few residents did remarkable things. One of the first was to build the South Tahoe Public Utility District in 1950. That was, according to Dr. Charles Goldman of UC Davis, “the most important environmental improvement in Tahoe history.” I studied it in college because they were the first sewer plant in the United States to be able to treat effluent to the quality of drinking water. Before that the effluent was piped out into the lake! Now STPUD is one of only a handful of 100 percent completely recycled plants in the entire world.

Those hardy souls built schools, created lighting districts, paved roads, started police and fire departments, and built an airport, library, recreation complex, ice skating rink, ball fields, and a hospital. Our County Supervisor, Brooke Laine lays claim to having been the 7th person born at Barton Hospital. In 1965, the City of South Lake Tahoe was incorporated predominately by the Chamber of Commerce with the first five councilmembers coming from that chamber board.

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know people like my dear friends John Upton and recently passed Jerry Johnson, who were members of the very first school basketball team. In fact, Jerry came up with the school's Vikings mascot name. When I moved here 50 years ago to open a steak house, I heard of an amazing woman named Roberta Mason who had started Tahoe Parents Co-Op Nursery School and was just founding Lake Tahoe Community College with Jim Duke being our first college president. Both of those people are still involved in making SLT a better place to live.

In the mid-1990s a few of us convinced President Clinton to start the first annual Presidential Summit. The Lake Tahoe Restoration Act caused the flow of a billion dollars in funding for environmental projects. I’ve only skimmed the surface of good things that have grown out of the hardy spirit of Tahoe locals. A partial list is Clean Tahoe, Boys and Girls Club, Secret Witness, the Educational Foundation, Live Violence Free, Christmas Cheer, Historical Society, Tahoe Arts Alliance, feeding those in need, like Christmas Cheer, Bread and Broth and the Phoenix Food Pantry, service organizations such as Rotary, Kiwanis, Soroptimists, Optimists, the American Legion, Lake Tahoe Wildlife, Search and Rescue, the Senior Center, and many more. I'm so pleased to know almost every one of the main people behind each endeavor. We even boast more Winter Olympic champions than many countries.

All this was accomplished by a very small population at 6,280 feet elevation, while enduring harsh winters, mudslides, power outages, a pandemic, blinding smoke from far away fires, and then our own fires and evacuation. All this has, and is, being accomplished in the most heavily regulated piece of real estate on the planet.

I hope that those who are newly arrived, while welcome to join our local community, first will get to know, honor and appreciate the incredible long-time locals who have done a wonderful job under tough circumstances to improve our little community. Those who have built this town through blood, sweat and tears, a genuine respect for each other, and a shared love and responsibility for sustaining this jewel of the Sierras are worth learning from first.

Then constructive ideas will gladly be accepted.

- Duane Wallace CEO, ACE
South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce