Local Issues - Local Government
I seek the office of city council to advocate for the locals. The bartenders and baristas, nurses and retirees - the people who live here, work here, and play here. Our city continues to prioritize the interests of the casinos, developers, and resorts. This must change, and it can change.
It’s the locals who make Tahoe a great place to live, not just a great place to visit.
Housing
The biggest issue the city faces is affordable workforce housing. Tahoe is bleeding locals, and the actions of the city must meet the scale of this crisis.
In my first year I passed a resolution prioritizing affordable housing for existing locals. This year I cut the administration costs of the Lease-to-Locals housing program by half saving enough money to double funding for actual grants. Unfortunately the Council also took a big step backwards by re-introducing AirBnB’s into our residential neighborhoods - which we can and should eliminate by ordinance and honor the voters intention in Measure T.
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I will work to aggressively expand the city’s inclusionary housing funding law. This program assesses a fee on new construction to support affordable housing, but it only applies to large McMansions. Today, large AirBnB-condo developments, such as those around Heavenly Village are exempted. This can and should change.
We also need to make the development of new rental housing cost effective by amending our outdated residential zoning laws that incentivize the building of giant McMansions, but which currently outright prohibit even modestly sized duplex housing almost everywhere. Zoning changes are complex and expensive endeavors requiring environmental review and TRPA approval, meaning they must be prioritized in the city budget.
We should also expedite development of the affordable housing project at HW50 and Pioneer, and begin the long term development work for a new housing project at soon-to-be demolished fire station three (which is slated for replacement with a new fire station next door).
These efforts will need a council willing to put locals first.
Roads & Transit
In the past four years, I worked to more than double road and stormwater funding to over $6M per year. In my first year on council we cut taxpayer subsidies to the airport to zero, making the private jets pay for themselves. That funding shift alone enabled adding nearly half a million dollars per year to road maintenance.
In the last year I worked with the Tahoe Transportation District to improve bus service to 30-minute headways, and expand Lake Link service to the “Y”. I also worked with El Dorado County to provide stable funding for local bike trails, playgrounds, and ballfields.
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Road work is now the third largest city spending item, second only to police and fire. The scale of outstanding roadwork is immense, however, with a total backlog of nearly half a billion dollars. Far too many politicians and candidates are unwilling to level with the public about the realities of the challenge, but platitudes will not fund roadworks.
We can and should raise the Transient Occupancy Tourist Tax (TOT) from the current 12% to 16% (for comparison, San Francisco is at 14%) to fund necessary road repairs
At the same time, the city collects $3 million in Tourism District funding every year - nearly all of which is spent on advertising the existence of Lake Tahoe to residents of the bay area and Texas. Significant portions of this money can and should be redirected to fund transit services along highway 50 for tourists and locals alike, especially to provide express bus services from our downtown areas to the Nevada and California beaches, and efficient shuttle services to and from Reno Airport.
We also need to make the development of new rental housing cost effective by amending our outdated residential zoning laws that incentivize the building of giant McMansions, but which currently outright prohibit even modestly sized duplex housing almost everywhere. Zoning changes are complex and expensive endeavors requiring environmental review and TRPA approval, meaning they must be prioritized in the city budget.
We should also expedite development of the affordable housing project at HW50 and Pioneer, and begin the long term development work for a new housing project at soon-to-be demolished fire station three (which is slated for replacement with a new fire station next door).
These efforts will need a council willing to put locals first.
Fire
The Caldor Fire was a warning we cannot ignore. I’ve worked over the past two years to start the funding and designing of a new Fire Station 3, that will replace the existing aging building, supporting modern full-sized fire engines. I’ve also worked to support our individual firefighters by funding additional preventative physical and mental healthcare for all of the city’s first responders.
Our biggest local threat comes from overgrown fuels and insufficient defensible space on private residential property. Many owners, often elderly, cannot afford thinning services and most grant programs are designated for government only. This creates a gap that can and should be filled with funding from the region's largest resorts and tourist operations, who have the most to lose in the event of another wildfire.
Our Environment
The imminent use of glyphosate pesticides in our forest lands is the most immediate environmental crisis facing our community. This September I was the only city council candidate or council member who showed up to comment against these pesticides at the 8/26 TRPA meeting where the issue was considered (the TRPA, notably, took no action).
The city government will be meeting in October to consider taking independent action on this issue - we must be willing to act, even when regional governments fail.
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The exploitation of our environment from relentless over-tourism is visible everywhere from the overflowing trash on our beaches and trails, to the endless miles of traffic choking our air and roads.
We should encourage car-pooling and transit use by tourists with an overnight hotel parking tax, with proceeds dedicated to funding transit improvements and tourism environmental mitigation.
We cannot take our city’s talk about leadership on the problem of long-term climate change seriously, when we simultaneously encourage visor traffic that results in jams that can reach into Placerville. And a serious problem it is. We already face summers so hot and dry that Caldor-level wildfires have become the norm, not the exception, and we will soon begin to see winters too warm for consistent snow.
If we do nothing, if we cannot demonstrate leadership, if we cannot be taken seriously, then the children learning to ski in Tahoe today will be the parents of the last generation to ski in Tahoe, and our jewel in the Sierras will be lost for future generations of locals.
Tourism
Currently the city collects $3 million a year for tourism improvement, nearly all of which is wasted on advertising the existence of Lake Tahoe in the Bay Area and Texas. Our visitor economy is our primary important source of jobs, business activity, and public revenue - we must end the mismanagement of this industry.
If we want a better tourism economy, we must invest the money we already collect into a better tourism product, not waste our money on mismanaged advertising campaigns.
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Exactly none of our tourism district revenue goes to pay workers for beach cleanup after the 4th of July, none for proper Reno airport transit service, and none for a Bay-to-Tahoe ski bus to reduce traffic in winter. This funding could be used to subsidize low-interest loans for refurbishing our aging motels, or for workforce housing, or even simple sidewalk improvements. Instead, nearly every dollar is wasted on social media advertisements in the bay area and Texas.
The next council will have the opportunity to renegotiate the tourism district agreement. The city must not re-approve that agreement without significant spending changes and public oversight.
Economic Diversification
Tourism is brittle. Service jobs tend to be low in pay, low in benefits, and low in stability - with tourism typically the first thing on hold during economic downturns. In Tahoe, these issues are magnified by unstable and unaffordable housing, where locals must compete with VHR's, ski-leases, and second home buyers.
We need diversification in our economy. Tahoe will always be a tourist destination, but that need not be the only thing we are.
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Our city can assist in the development of diversified non-tourism business such as:
Expansion of Barton Hospital into an orthopedics center of excellence (like the Steadman Clinic in Vail), bringing in fellowships and patients from around the world.
Expansion of wilderness guiding and education programs through LTCC and attracting schools such as NOLS.
Improving wired internet reliability, supporting businesses which operate locally, and serve clients remotely.
Expanding non-tourism business also helps our service sector, enlarging a customer base that lives, buys, and shops here year-round. Tahoe will always be a tourist destination, but that need not be the only thing we are.
No New Sales Taxes
A new sales tax is currently being considered by certain business leaders in the community. A new “business improvement district” that would apply a tax to all retail sales in the city, with the ostensible purpose of funding transit. The money collected however, would be controlled exclusively by private for-profit corporations, with no control by any elected government.
Sales taxes are regressive taxes. They tax locals over tourists, and they impact the working class far more heavily than the wealthy. I opposed Measure G, the sales tax from four years ago, about which the city objectively lied to the public, calling it a 1¢ transaction tax, when it was in reality a 1% tax.
In California, this form of taxation is not subject to popular vote. It can be passed by a simple majority of the city council, and then by a majority of business owners, with their votes weighed by their revenue (one vote per dollar).
I support funding transit. This city already collects $3M per year for the “tourism improvement district”. This funding can be used to fund transportation. However, nearly all of this money is currently wasted paying for social media videos and content to advertise the existence of Lake Tahoe to people in the Bay Area and Texas. This is the money that should be used, not a new tax on locals.
The next council will make this decision.
My position is clear: No New Sales Taxes.
About Scott Robbins
Six years ago I prioritized my passion for the mountains and left the East Coast behind. After my first summer here, I started volunteering my time as a way to give back to this community.
I’ve worked with Tahoe Neighborhoods Group to pass Measure T, which eliminated vacation rentals in residential neighborhoods. I volunteer with the El Dorado County Economic Development Advisory Committee, and the South Tahoe Bicycle Advisory Committee.
I’ve advocated extensively in opposition to the Loop Road, which would demolish the Rocky Point neighborhood, and displace local families, all to better speed tourists to the Nevada casinos.
I have regularly engaged with the City Council and written on a wide range of local issues including over-tourism, and for reforming police protocols for handling of sexual assault victims.
I believe very strongly in the value of community and in volunteering to give back to this place which has given so much. It is the locals that are the heart and soul of this place we call home.