SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Heather Horgan was appointed to city council to fill the empty seat last year and told the Tribune earlier this year that she was interested in running. Horgan said, “Had I not been on city council, I would not be running, but my decision remains for the same reason as before. I have spent so much time talking with people, going into businesses, meeting with all these different agencies and bodies… I want to continue to do it because I’ve only just dipped my toe into the role.”

Horgan currently serves on a number of roles through her position on city council, including at different JPAs. She says that the role has helped her to use her background in environmental sciences, search and rescue, nursing and community care.

“Everything at the local level happens at a slow, intentional pace… but that means one year amounts to just introducing yourself,” said Horgan.

She acknowledges that the turnover of city staff and concerns around transparency from the public have come from negative news cycles and concerns over the city’s stability. However, Horgan said she is committed to transparency. “I will continue to give direction for the city to continue and expand its efforts for transparency.” She is interested in re-engineering how information is shared, especially on topics like second readings of important items or road paving activities.

Horgan said she also approaches city meetings with care. “I take the responsibility to prepare before meetings very seriously. And I don’t ignore any emails that come to me because I take the community’s trust to hold their best interests seriously too… there is no city council member who is out in the community like I am.”

A major guiding force for Horgan has been the city’s strategic plan, which she feels should be highlighted more often, especially in relation to items that city council is discussing during meetings. “I want to be part of developing the strategic plan in the future. For me, protecting the natural environment as well as recreation and access for all through information, language access and the Americans with Disabilities Act are very important to me because of my background in environment and nursing.”

Housing and economy have been some of the more pressing matters for Horgan’s tenure in office, since she was the tie-breaking vote on vacation home rentals. “I was naive about how, for some people, that is how I would be defined. I did foresee that there were long-term rentals that would be taken out of stock. But I heard from the community that people are worried about work and VHRs bring jobs.” While she believes that housing stock is important, she also felt strongly about the economic benefit of VHRs.

“Until we develop a second economy, people need the visitor economy. I’m a labor girl and I recognize that people need to work,” said Horgan. “Overall, I think it’d be good to flatten the fluctuations of our economy, perhaps by hosting cultural events or outdoorsy things.”

“I wholly believe at my core that this is a non-partisan governmental body,” said Horgan. “The beauty of a five-person council is that hopefully, everyone will bring different knowledge and engagement. But we should not come with our own agenda—it should always come from the constituents.”

Horgan, unlike many other candidates, does not have a website. But, she says one of her strengths is hitting the pavement. “I don’t want to do signs because I think there’s an environmental impact with that and mailers. But I’ll be out there. I might even stick a ‘Kick Me’ style sign on my back that just says ‘I’m running for council, as me about it.'”

While Horgan could have run on her position in council, she chose to list herself as a registered nurse. “I think that’s a more authentic representation of who I am. I feel a personal responsibility for the health and safety of people here, and even if I’m not on city council, I’m going to be engaged in some other way.”

“Once you see behind the curtain, you can’t unsee it,” said Horgan. “Now that I know that in government, there is someone responsible for decisions that impact us, I can’t look away.”

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. Learn more at https://fellowships.journalism.berkeley.edu/cafellows/.