City Council and members of the public,

The South Tahoe Chamber has reviewed the wording and effect of the hastily prepared California special election Prop 50. The Board urges you to oppose Prop 50 and encourages all citizens to vote no.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to address such a critical issue facing our community. As we consider the impact of Proposition 50, it is crucial to reflect on how these proposed changes would affect not only our representation but also our voice in the decisions that shape our future.

Here is why:

The brief history for our community goes back to when we had two county Supervisors out of the five El Dorado County Supervisors. The issues concerning Tahoe were accurately and appropriately represented. Over time, due to the growth of the population off the hill, we lost one Supervisor. As time has gone by our one representative, currently Brooke Laine, must also represent Pollock Pines area. Therefore, we are effectively down to one half Supervisor representation. Even though South Lake Tahoe is by far the largest city in El Dorado County, we have the least amount of representation. County-level representation is expected to decrease. If Prop 50 passes we will lose more.

Even though our congressional district is large, it at least constitutes mostly mountain towns that share common issues with each other. In our case, the district resulting from Prop 50 would have people as far away as Sacramento voting for who would represent us in congress. They would have no first-hand knowledge of our issues and could/would elect someone who represents their issues and values.

Prop 50 is a hastily prepared political power grab meant to increase one party numbers in Washington. It defies all senses of fairness without any evidence of benefit to common sense representation. There is, in our view, no benefit or practical reason to vote for Prop 50. Currently, a non-partisan commission designs the districts. We voted for that a few years ago. If Prop 50 passes politicians will design our districts. Who do we think will do that for the right reasons? The Chamber states that maintaining the outcomes of previous votes supports fairness. Some might say that other states are using politics to design their districts. Do two wrongs make a right? We ask you, the voters, and our City Council, to send a strong message to Governor Newsome that we want our votes to matter.

There is a saying, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  We believe the only purpose for Prop 50 is the quest for absolute power by the Governor and State legislature. We the people must stand against this power grab by politicians and VOTE NO ON PROP 50.
Respectfully submitted,

Brandi Bannister, President
South Tahoe Chamber of Commerce