SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – After multiple unanswered invitations from South Lake Tahoe residents to a town hall and a virtual town hall of his own, representative Kevin Kiley visited the city, only to tour the high school and meet with the Chamber of Commerce privately. Two different protests and an empty town hall made frustrations with the District 3 representative abundantly clear—yet they are still unanswered.

Rep. Kevin Kiley was elected in 2023 to represent Congressional District 3, spanning much of the California-Nevada border, from all the way down to Death Valley—which includes a large swathe of public lands. While Kiley helped pass the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act along with Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto from Nevada, his track record has left his constituents worried about his priorities.

Kiley has posted his support for the actions of President Trump, including the dismantlement of the Department of Education and approval of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. He’s proposed legislation that would cut funding to the California High-Speed rail project, the California Coastal Commission, and would enable local officials to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement (commonly known as ICE) irrespective of state laws.

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Last Monday, Kiley hosted a virtual town hall with over 25,000 constituents in attendance, though it suffered from technical issues that made it inaccessible for those calling in. According to Kiley’s Representative Report, “Among the topics we discussed was my commitment to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for all Californians. I also appreciated the opportunity to discuss my efforts to address California’s affordability crisis, increase our water storage capacity, improve fire mitigation efforts and ensure every child receives a quality education.”

While another town hall will reportedly be hosted in the future, according to a spokesperson from Kiley’s office, it’s unclear when that will happen. The meeting was hosted in response to calls for opportunities to talk with the representative, some of which came from Tahoe.

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Hannah Shaffer, one of the volunteers who organized the Thursday town hall, said she calls Kiley’s office whenever she can. But she said she hasn’t heard back in the two weeks that she and other volunteers have invited Kiley to the town hall.

“I’m very concerned that the rights of people who are not white men are being stripped away,” said Shaffer. “And as someone who grew up where I needed federal funds to help with my education, I’m terrified about the impacts on education that Kiley hasn’t spoken out about. Regardless of your socioeconomic background, everyone should be able to succeed, and kids in the community deserve equitable access.”

The community had similar concerns about Kiley’s support for President Trump and Musk’s firing sprees, especially those that impacted the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and other stewards of public lands. Rallies sprang up around the city where Kiley was meant to visit, including at Heavenly’s California Base, South Tahoe High School, and the Beach Lodge Retreat where Kiley was set to meet privately with the Chamber of Commerce.

Protestors held up signs decrying Kiley’s lack of response to the town hall, questioning his constitutional oath, and calling for the congressman to listen to Tahoe. At the high school, students asked Kiley questions that reportedly had no real responses, while others flew Pride flags to protest his opposition to transgender girls in scholastic sports, which is quickly becoming one of his platforms.

At the town hall, it was standing room only—many residents and Democrats from Pollock Pines, Markleeville, Alpine County, and Placer County were in attendance. Shaffer said she and other volunteers were connected through former city council member John Friedrich, who spread the word about the town hall and hosted the public comment section.

The speakers at the event were Nadia Tase, a former employee of the USFS for over a decade; Amanda (who requested her last name not be published), a recently fired member of USAID; and Susan Norman, board member of the Sierra Nevada Alliance and former hydrologist with the USFS.

Tase said, “I don’t understand why we’re going backwards… in this community and district, it’s a bipartisan issue—we want to protect our public lands.” She went on to say that the recent cuts and illegal firing of USFS employees was “disrespectful to people who have dedicated their time and lives to this” and especially detrimental at a time where there is a needed increase in pace and scale of forestry work.

According to Tase, here in the Basin, 11 probationary employees were illegally fired over President’s Day, including people working in vegetation management and fire prevention. In reference to Kiley’s criticisms of the California Coastal Commission’s spending, Tase said, “Kiley’s district is in the mountains. Instead of spending his time harassing the Coastal Commission, free speech at Santa Barbara, and railing on Newsom about the high-speed rail, he should advocate for federal funding and taking care of the forest—not worrying about the coast.”

Amanda, who worked for USAID until she was illegally terminated in February, shared her devastation. “USAID has been decimated,” she said. “And everything USAID did for the past 60 years was for you.”

She recounted her time working in warzones and addressing poverty and hunger throughout the world, which utilized American businesses and put their prosperity forward. “American interests were always first. The 1% of federal funding for foreign aid wasn’t just altruism—it’s a damn good business and a great return on investment.” She returned to addressing Kiley, saying that the actions he has supported from the federal government are unconstitutional.

Lastly, Norman was one of the attendees to Kiley’s Chamber of Commerce meeting. As someone previously employed at the USFS and with ties to current employees, she told Kiley that workers were not allowed to reach out to him. An attorney present at the meeting shared that it is illegal to prevent USFS workers from reaching out to representatives. Norman suggested that he get in contact with the Forest Service himself to understand the situation here.

Norman also encouraged the crowd to mobilize by sending thoughtful, respectful letters to representatives’ offices from an informed position, and pushing for Congress to take up their role in checks and balances. She also introduced a petition with resolutions similar to those of the town of Truckee, whose council recently adopted resolutions that opposed federal funding and staffing cuts affecting public lands and services. Norman hoped that South Lake Tahoe’s city council would adopt a similar resolution.

“Democracy requires dialogue,” said Friedrich in opening up public comment. “It’s the fundamental job of a representative to represent, which includes listening regardless of political affiliation, and having a conversation.” He also referred to Kiley’s previous town hall as a “monologue” in which people could not respond.

Public comment addressed to Kevin Kiley often referred to him as a “coward” for not attending the town hall, especially after he allegedly told one of the high schoolers who toured him around campus that he would attend. Many asked Kiley what he would do to protect education in the state, families who were affected by cuts, women’s rights, and public lands.

A survey conducted at the town hall indicated that attendees felt that it was a high priority for Kiley to address cuts to forest service budget and staff, and that he was poorly addressing that issue. It also indicated attendees thought he was poorly addressing national issues of access to government benefits, DOGE cuts to federal agencies, women/minority/LGBTQ+ rights, and government checks and balances.

The Tribune reached out to Kiley’s office for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.

Update: Rep. Kiley’s next town hall will be Thursday, March 27 at 5:30 p.m. You can RSVP here: https://kiley.house.gov/tele-town-hall-rsvp-form

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.