SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – South Lake Tahoe’s first city council meeting of the year addressed the Vision Zero plan to reduce traffic accidents in the city, citizen appointments for city boards and commissions, and a back-and-forth regarding microenterprise home kitchen operations (MEHKOs).

The full city council was in attendance, though Councilmember Keith Roberts attended through Zoom from a conference room in Micronesia.

The council’s first item was on the Vision Zero plan, a multi-national strategy to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries, creating safer streets and increased mobility. Vision Zero completed a final report in November of last year, and requested that city council either adopt the Vision Zero action plan or direct staff to make changes to the plan for adoption at a future meeting.

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Several streets were listed as major focus points, especially spots where there were no crosswalks for long periods of time or where there were unsafe conditions for people travelling to school or work. During public comment, some referred to the streets they cross as “terrifying” because of the lack of safety measures like signage, clear crosswalks, or safe intersections. Other points, such as jurisdiction regarding the highway and local streets, were also considered, especially because to work on the highway, there would need to be collaboration with Caltrans.

Ultimately, the council chose to discuss Vision Zero further during their strategic planning meeting in March so they could better understand the pinch points to address. Joe Irvin, city manager, stated he wants the formal plan to be adopted by April, as the Vision Zero Plan needs to be completed by July for federal purposes. The council also agreed to review the Vision Zero Plan more frequently as part of the motion, changing it to an annual review rather than every two to five years.

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The city council spent much of the meeting appointing citizens to the various boards and commissions that had open seats. Mayor Tamara Wallace expressed her surprise at the number of applicants, saying that in all her time on city council, “This is the largest group of applicants we’ve ever had. I will take that every single year, because getting people involved is incredibly important.”

For the Airport Land Commission, Alberto Manfredi and Erick Asbury were appointed, with one dissenting vote from Councilmember Scott Robbins. Robbins said he voted no because he disapproved of “anti-Semitic comments online from Asbury.” Wallace disagreed that the comments were anti-Semitic. Manfredi and Asbury will both serve a two-year term.

For the Building and Housing Board of Appeals, Manfredi, Heather Cade-Bauer, Brooke Martone, and Spencer Benlien were appointed unanimously for two-year terms.

For the Parks and Recreation Commission, incumbents Nicole Ramirez-Thomas, Margaret Kovarik, and Peter Fink were re-appointed for two-year terms, with Robbins and Wallace agreeing that the current commission was particularly communicative. Wallace also expressed a desire for strong communication as the new recreation center goes online, and hoped that the Parks and Recreation Commission would have many contributions to the programming. Trudith Morgan, who also serves on the board of directors for Senior Center Inc., was also appointed, in part for her connection with the seniors community in Tahoe. Jinkens was the single dissenting vote, though he clarified he was not against all the appointments as a whole.

For the Planning Commission, Natalia Wieczorek, incumbent commissioner, was unanimously agreed on, as well as Steven Imhoff. However, Robbins again dissented for an appointment on the basis of online comments from Doug Williams. Robbins stated, “[Williams] has said he believes that racial discrimination in housing is a myth… and having a planning commissioner who thinks that racial discrimination no longer happens in housing is deeply problematic.” Despite the single no vote, Williams, Wieczorek, and Imhoff will still serve two-year terms.

For the Arts, Culture, and Tourism Commission, Mayor Pro Tem Cody Bass moved to keep the incumbents to preserve their forward momentum on their plans. Current commissioner Stacey Ballard, David Hamilton, and Rachel Carlson will serve two-year terms as at-large members. Aimi Xistra-Rich was appointed to the Boys and Girls Club member position and will also serve a two-year term.

Finally, for the Police Advisory Commission, a motion passed unanimously for Manfredi to serve a one-year term. Manfredi stated that he was interested in participating on the commission due to his research into mental health for law enforcement and military.

Before the other seats were appointed, Robbins stated, “I’ve had the most concern about the police advisory commission—they have yet to produce a single piece of advice to city council or police.” Currently, the police advisory commission has only brought information to be received and filed to city council. Robbins expressed that he was interested in seeing a change up and recommended an appointment of new members.

Wallace expressed her support for incumbent member Erika Gonzalez because, “[Gonzalez] doesn’t think like me… and it’s important to have that friction.” She also expressed support for newcomer Valerie Smith, a family nurse practitioner and EMT instructor at LTCC, as well as Kelly Escobedo, whose father served as a public defender in the area.

A motion to appoint Gonzalez, Smith, and Escobedo also unanimously passed, with a search for new members continuing.

Lastly, after lengthy debate regarding MEHKOs in El Dorado County, Robbins moved to direct staff to issue a letter to El Dorado County’s Board of Supervisors to oppose immediate adoption of the program, but try a one-year pilot program.

MEHKOs would allow people to apply for permits from the county to operate a small-scale restaurant in their home. However, this is in opposition to current city codes that prohibit home occupations from having organized activities or allowing customers or clients come to the residence in conjunction with the business. This would also change how parking for home occupations works.

The public and council both were split on the potential of MEHKOs, with some calling it overreach from government, and others supporting it for small business expansion in the Basin. Robbins was one of the advocates for MEHKOs and helped push the idea that a pilot program could be a good compromise rather than immediate adoption.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.