SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — In both the Lake Tahoe Community College board of trustees and the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board Nov. 8 elections, only one person has filed a bid to challenge the incumbents who are running for the five seats.

Michael Bischoff, who listed his occupation as a student, is running for the seats.

“The reason I'm running is it will give me a chance to give back to this community,” Bischoff told the South Lake Tahoe City Council on Sept. 15. “I should be able to make a contribution.”

Bischoff, originally from the Bay Area, served for four years on the Dublin school board in the late 1990s.

While on the East Bay school board, he was convicted of two charges of driving while intoxicated, one of which was on a bicycle, the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 1999.

Dublin residents called for Bischoff to step down from his seat after the convictions and several other controversies, including incidents where he went on personal errands while taking students on class trips, drove with a van door open so students inside could get a better look at Mt. Diablo, and gave an inappropriate speech at a Dublin principal's retirement reception, the Chronicle reported. Bischoff refused resignation and finished his term.

Bischoff could not be reached for comment. On the El Dorado County Department of Elections contact form, Bischoff listed his phone number at a South Lake Tahoe hotel.

Incumbents dominate ballot

If Bischoff does not take any of the seats on either board, the lineup will remain the same. And at least one member doesn't think that's a bad thing.

“That we continue on with the same members is really an asset for the community,” said Sue Novasel, a member of the LTUSD board, who's up for re-election. “I think we make a really good team and I'd like to see that continue.”

Up for grabs in the November election are Frederick “Fritz” Wenck's seat and Karen Borges' seat on the Lake Tahoe Community College board of trustees, Michael Doyle's, Larry Green's and Novasel's seats on the LTUSD board. All incumbents are running for re-election.

For Wenck, a win in the November contest will mean his 10th term. He's served on the college board since the school's inception in 1974.

“I am running again because of my ongoing concern for the long term success of the college; the dire need for South Shore students for higher education to compete in today's job market,” Wenck wrote in an email. “Also, with the recent high administrative staff turnover, there needs to be continuity of leadership on the board.”

Wenck sees the declining funding from the state and growing numbers of students unprepared for college as LTCC's biggest challenge.

“LTCC has always maintained fiscally conservative policies, which have enabled us to weather this and previous financial storms,” Wenck said. “I will continue these fiscally conservative policies.”

At the kindergarten through 12th grade level, Green, who's running for his second term, has seen a lot of growth in the schools.

“Over the last four years, we have transformed the high school from a dreary collection of buildings fashioned for the 1950s and 1960s to a school where every teen is prepared for the modern world,” Green wrote in an email.

But the school district will continue to face the threat of declining state funding, he added. To counter that, Green will continue to emphasize to county and state leaders the importance of education and work with the community to support education.

“I will consider every option available and work with the rest of the board to ensure that our children receive the best education possible,” he said.