district 5

El Dorado County, Placer County and Town of Truckee representatives have sent a letter to Airbnb, asking for assistance stopping short-term rentals (STR) during the current Stay at Home Order. They told the vacation rental booking company that their help is needed to stop the spread of COVID-19 and asked them to not allow rentals in Truckee and the California side of Lake Tahoe during the order which is through at least January 1.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - Election officials have released their first post-election day tabulation of the ballots for Douglas County races. 86.27 percent of the voters have cast their vote: Mail 19,727 50.69%, Early Voting 10,448 26.85%, Election Day 3,399 8.73%. So far, ballots from 33,574 of the 38,918 eligible voters have been counted.

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 1

Danny Tarkanian - 25,293 75.34%

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 3

Mark Gardner - 21,639 64.45%
Charles Holt - 9,337 27.81%

DOUGLAS COUNTY COMMISSIONER, DISTRICT 5

To help stop the spread of the coronavirus, California Governor Gavin Newsom has added more counties to his "watch list," those showing concerning trends in rates of COVID-19. This list now numbers 37 which makes up 93 percent of the state's population. There are 58 counties in the state.

New on that list are Mono County (home to Mammoth Mountain) and Santa Cruz County, a popular tourist destination. North Lake Tahoe is in Placer County which was added to the list earlier this month.

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The second virtual Town Hall meeting focusing on vacation home rentals (VHRs) in the El Dorado County portion of Lake Tahoe will be held on Wednesday, June 10 at 4:00 p.m. on Zoom.

Led by District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel, she and staff will provide some background on VHRs regulations to date, review options for meeting the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency neighborhood compatibility Performance Review Standards, and review input received from the public, addressing questions and comments received.

Register in advance for the meeting here:

STATELINE, Nev. - Three candidates for the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners have been endorsed by the Tahoe Chamber Board of Directors: Larry Walsh, Nathan Tolbert, and Danny Tarkanian.

Walsh is seeking reelection for District 3, Tolbert is a candidate for the open District 5 seat, and Tarkanian is running for election against incumbent Commissioner Dave Nelson in District 1.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Nev. - There will be a virtual town hall debate on Monday, May 4 at 6:00 p.m. for the six candidates vying for the open three positions. Voters will have an opportunity to hear the candidates discuss the issues in depth prior to voting in the June primary.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The Tahoe Chamber is holding its second Virtual Town Hall meeting in as many weeks on the local response to the COVID-19 crisis response.

Last week, Chamber CEO Steve Teshara hosted South Lake Tahoe Mayor Jason Collin. On Friday, March 27, he will host El Dorado County District 5 Supervisor Sue Novasel, and the County's Health Officer, Dr. Nancy Williams. The event is on the Zoom platform from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

TAHOE CITY, Calif. – A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Monday, December 16 to celebrate the opening of the State Route 89 realignment, including the new Truckee River Bridge in Tahoe City.

Attendee parking will be located at the Tahoe City Transit Center along West Lake Blvd. The public should plan to arrive by 9:45 a.m. to park and walk to the ceremony location, which starts at 10:00 a.m. The bridge will be closed for the event.

STATELINE, Nev. – One of the two Douglas County commissioners involved in an altercation on Thursday has issued a statement, regretting the behavior displayed at their meeting in Lake Tahoe.

Progress for Tahoe, a grassroots group of concerned local citizens who gathered together to address the most pressing issues in Tahoe, have endorsed the following for South Lake Tahoe City Council, Measure T, El Dorado County Supervisors and U.S. Representative California District 4:

South Lake Tahoe City Council – Wendy David, Devin Middlebrook and Tamara Wallace

The California primary is on Tuesday, June 5, and a lot of decisions are facing voters in South Lake Tahoe both at the county and district level, as well as at the state level.

California changed their primary system ten years ago for the top offices and now it is the two candidates with the most votes on Tuesday that will head to the November elections, no matter which party they belong to. Prior to this system it would be the top democrat and top republican that would face off.

There are four people running for El Dorado County Supervisor for the 5th District on June 5: Incumbent Sue Novasel and challengers Kenny Curtzwiler, Norma Santiago and Jeffrey Spencer. The 5th District covers Pollock Pines to South Lake Tahoe and Tahoma.

South Tahoe Now asked each candidate the same questions, and here are all of their answers, exactly as they were presented to us.

Sue Novasel
Occupation: El Dorado County Supervisor – District V
Past political history:
2015 – Present: County Supervisor, District V

Meet the four candidates for the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors at the South Lake Tahoe Democratic Club's candidate forum on Thursday, April 26 at 6:00 p.m. at the California Conservation Corps, 1949 Apache Avenue in Meyers.

Sue Novasel, the incumbent is being challenged by former Supervisor Norma Santiago, local businessman Ken Curtzwiler and transportation specialist Jeffrey Spencer.

The primary will be held on June 5, 2018.

There is an item on Tuesday's El Dorado County Board of Supervisor's agenda that caught many by surprise, especially those supervisors appointed to address the issue. Supervisor Shiva Frentzen is seeking conceptual approval of urgency ordinance to place a moratorium on the issuance of new vacation home rental permits in the unincorporated portions of the County located in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

As with meetings concerning vacation rentals (VHRs) in the City of South Lake Tahoe, many residents from the county turned out to voice concerns with the El Dorado County's Tax Collector C.L. Cherie Raffety Wednesday.

What was different than the City's meetings, Raffety limited how the public could speak about noise, parking, occupancy, hot tubs, zoning and other issues they have in their neighborhoods. She broke up the issues and heard concerns, one subject at a time.

Judi McCallum, the longtime El Dorado County employee who served as the assistant to the District 5 Board of Supervisors for 26 years, has shared her official resignation letter with South Tahoe Now.

On March 20, McCallum reached out with a personal letter to friends and the employees of the County as she began her first day of retirement. Here is her resignation letter:

March 27, 2017
El Dorado County Human Resources and Board of Supervisors

Dear South Lake Tahoe Community,

I first met Nick Exline at an event where we had the opportunity to meet Democratic congressional candidate Dr. Bob Derlet. Nick asked about carbon markets and the related benefits to our Sierra Nevada economy. As a watershed scientist, I was impressed by Nick’s informed and thoughtful question. I enjoyed meeting a South Lake Tahoe resident who possessed a strong background in environmental science, as well as a thoughtful man who had ideas about how we could turn our largest obstacles in this region into economic successes for our residents.

Location

South Tahoe Now is offering a new feature this election season, Ask the Candidates. Send your questions of Douglas County (Lake Tahoe side) and South Lake Tahoe candidates candidates, and South Tahoe Now will ask, and get their answers.

Please send your questions to: southtahoenow.com/contact.

The local candidates are:

South Lake Tahoe City Council
Jason Collin, JoAnn Conner, Patrick Jarrett, Brooke Laine, Ted Long, Danny Laughlin, Harold "Trey" Walker III, John Shearer, Robert Topel, Tamara Wallace

El Dorado County Supervisor Sue Novasel will speak to the South Tahoe Chamber on Monday, April 18 during a special meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m. at the Catina Restaurant.

Novasel represents District 5 which includes South Lake Tahoe, Meyers and Tahoma.

The meeting is open to Chamber members and the public.

Sue will begin speaking at about 6:30 p.m. after some Chamber business is conducted. There will be a question and answer period moderated by the Chamber Board President in order to get as many questions answered as possible.

On October 27, 2015, Sue Novasel, the County Supervisor representing South Lake Tahoe, Meyers, Tahoma and Pollock Pines was served a “notice of intent to circulate a recall petition” by a group of citizens who said they are “tired of the corruption and cronyism that has plagued our county for years.” It wasn’t only Novasel, but all five of the County Supervisors, Shiva Frentzen, Ron Mikulaco, Michael Ranalli and Brian Veerkamp.

El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini has scheduled several town hall style meetings throughout the county and has invited to public to attend to discuss his new Sheriff facility in Placerville. The meetings by scheduled supervisorial districts in order to accommodate more people, though the South Lake Tahoe meeting will be held in Pollock Pines.

The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors spent the day in South Lake Tahoe, going on a tour hosted by Sue Novasel of District 5 which includes Meyers and the South Shore.

They were treated to a tour of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care's current home by co-founder Tom Milham. They saw the bear cubs, otter, fox, raccoons, owl, birds and duck currently calling the wildlife center home.

Before having lunch at Lakeview Commons that was prepared by the El Dorado County Jail culinary team, the tour went through some of the county buildings in the area including the library and El Dorado Center.

A few hours after Wendy David was elected as Mayor Pro Tem for the City of South Lake Tahoe, her former colleagues at the LTUSD School Board elected a new president.

Barbara Bannar, the trustee from Area 5, was elected President with Dr. Larry Green elected Clerk of the Board. Green represents Area 4. He was also named Representative to the El Dorado County School Boards Association (EDCSBA) where he serves as Vice President. Bannar was named the Representative to the Lake Tahoe Educational Foundation.

Kenny Curtzwiler – www.voteforkenny.com

I have lived, worked and enjoyed South Lake Tahoe as a resident since 1977 when I came here for a vacation and stayed on as so many have. What makes me qualified for this position?

Commitment. I have been married for 33 years, raised three children, owned a Tree Service and Roofing Company for 33 years and served for 20 years in the Nevada Army National Guard, retiring as an officer with the rank of Major. I will not go along with the status quo of cronyism and favoritism that has stifled our local economy in El Dorado County District 5.