SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.— South Lake Tahoe city council member Scott Robbins is facing some heat following his op-ed article in the SF Gate that detailed the different ways Lake Tahoe communities are struggling, and possible solutions that not all agree with. 

The op-ed detailed the many ways Robbins and his constituents feel South Lake locals are being priced out, claiming that “Tahoe’s relationship with tourism is abusive, and it must be meaningfully reformed in ways that support, rather than exploit, the local environment and workforce.”

The piece also speaks on the different environmental impacts that come with tourism, ranging from trash covered beaches, especially during summer holidays, lack of adequate public transportation leading to more vehicle miles traveled, and raised issues with The Destination Stewardship Plan, claiming it is a “greenwashing effort” designed in order to not impact the tourism industry.

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After speaking with Robbins, it became clear that these claims and issues he raised are nothing new, and something he ran on, and ultimately got him elected.

“There’s five people on knuckle draggers that don’t like what I have to say, but there’s hundreds and hundreds more that do,” said Robbins. “I’m more concerned with the Vox Populi.”

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(Vox Populi is latin for “voice of the people.”)

Additionally, Robbins has only received positive reviews of his piece since it was published, racking up likes on social media that indicated to Robbins that there are people who believe in his message.

“That’s a pretty positive indicator of a positive response to the content of the article,” said Robbins. “I got many dozens of positive direct messages as well. The people that seem to be outraged were the same handful of people that had been determined to continue on this trend of regional exploitation of our environment and our workforce.”

“So I’m not surprised by those voices either, but I think the public response to this has been overwhelmingly supportive.”

Robbins has indeed received backlash from the article, with the South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce Director and CEO Duane Wallace reporting to the Tribune that there have been multiple calls to him for a recall petition to be called against Robbins.

“People and other organizations are calling me in good numbers saying they want to do just that,” said Wallace. “They are offering to get signatures and put up financial support.”
Wallace explained that he is not at liberty to share which individuals or organizations are in support of a recall, and is trying to listen to the needs of his community members rather than advocate for anything.

“The problem is that tourism is down. In fact, the most recent second-quarter sales tax count is down 5% per the city and we were down 15,000 room nights this year, per the lodging reports,” said Wallace. “Those real numbers speak for themselves. There is no reason to kick businesses while they are already down. Enough is enough.”

Wallace explained that it is the mission of the chamber to support local businesses and the community, and as CEO of the chamber, he will be opposing yet another tax suggested by the council, as he was directed to by his chamber board.

“The small businesses are very worried by Council members who want to go back to the tax well for the fourth time in the past five years. Three taxes were passed,” said Wallace. “The taxes proposed will cause ever higher prices of local goods, the price of homes, and will hurt the very workers and renters they claim to help.”

Wallace believes it is not possible to raise taxes on tourism without causing lost work hours or lost jobs, and that local prices would raise higher than neighboring communities, leading tourists and locals to shop elsewhere.

“Now is not the time. We have already been through the pandemic, choking smoke from nearby fires, then a full community evacuation from the Caldor Fire,” said Wallace. “Now we have runaway inflation, climbing interest rates, record gas prices, high food prices, and large increases in property insurance if it can even be obtained.”

This is not to say that the Chamber and Wallace are not supportive of affordable housing and transportation solutions. If anything, they support the very idea, having helped with the almost 500 affordable units in the works at Sugar Pine Village.

“It makes sense to see how those coming online will change the supply and demand pricing,” said Wallace. “Blindly raising taxes without specific projects even being identified is simply reckless and irresponsible.”

Robbins is not worried about a recall petition beginning to circulate, and is eager for the challenge if it is to come his way.

“I await the notice to circulate a petition for recall,” said Robbins. “The person who said that should put his pen where his mouth is. It’s up to them to follow up and to make the things they say are real.”

While waiting to see if an official recall petition is filed, Robbins looks forward to continuing doing work for his constituents, and helping people understand the issues that continue to face local communities.

“It’s important for the public to understand that these individual issues all overlap, and they all concentrate into a system in our region that is just not supportive.”

Robbins noted that some items he’d like to address have been put on the agenda for city council, whereas others are still underway.

Recently, the council voted unanimously to develop a Workforce Housing Bill of Rights, which would be the first in the region.

“That’s a low hanging fruit that we can do right away,” said Robbins.

Other items up for discussion are raising the minimum wage, and raising funding of affordable housing development that was voted in favor in the last council meeting.

There is currently no recall petition circulating, but Robbins invites one to begin, believing that all voters should have a right to decide who represents them.

“So I look forward to seeing him file a petition,” said Robbins. “That’s up to him though. In the meantime, I’m going to keep working on things that are important to the people in the workforce here.”