Fortier, Davis, Swanson take over South Tahoe council

By Susan Wood

With all precincts reporting from El Dorado County at 1:30am Wednesday, Claire Fortier, Tom Davis and Angela Swanson have won the tight South Lake Tahoe City Council race consisting of 10 diverse candidates.

The trio going for the three seats vacated by City Councilmembers Jerry Birdwell, Kathay Lovell and Bill Crawford has name recognition – with Davis and Swanson already having served to mold public policy in a town that Fortier has declared is at “a tipping point.” Davis served on the council for 12 years. Swanson held a seat on the Lake Tahoe Unified School District board.

Fortier – a former editor of the Tahoe Daily Tribune — is the top vote getter with 16.57 percent, or 1,283 votes. She’s followed by Davis with 15.28 percent of the vote, 1,183 ballots; and Swanson at 12.05 percent or 933 votes.

All votes are preliminary and must be certified by the county. Final votes for all races are usually tabled within a few weeks. The council candidates will take office Dec. 14.

For a job that pays less than $500 a month, they are apt to be making pennies per hour.

They come in having to deal with two stalled construction projects – Lakeview Commons and the convention center. The latter is in bankruptcy court. They also must deal with a bankrupt transit system that is mired in lawsuits.

Unemployment is near 18 percent in the city, roads necessitate four-wheel drive without snow or mountain bike tires, storefronts are empty, the electorate angry.

Rounding out the council ballot are:

Joy Curry, 899 votes, 11.61 percent

Alice Jones, 877 votes, 11.32 percent

Elizabeth Hallen, 820 votes, 10.59 percent

Steve Kubby, 830, 10.72 percent

Adrian Gooch, 442 votes, 5.71 percent

Georg May, 205 votes, 2.65 percent

Clint Schue, 146 votes, 1.89 percent

Doug Cichowicz, 96 votes, 1.24 percent

Other Tahoe related issues

Measure E, the business tax fee hike for South Lake Tahoe, came in dead even with 1,462 for it and 1,462 against it. It needed to pass by one vote to proceed.

City Clerk Suzie Alessi and city Treasurer Dave Olivo had an easy Election Day – they ran unopposed.

Assemblyman Ted Gaines, R-Roseville, won both of his races – to retain his Assembly seat and in the special election against three others for the state Senate seat of the late Dave Cox. Gaines will face Democrat Ken Cooley on Jan. 4 in a run-off for the state Senate seat. If he wins, he will have to resign the Assembly seat, which means a special election to fill that vacancy.

Rep. Tom McClintock will easily retain his congressional seat that includes the California side of the Lake Tahoe Basin. He has nearly twice the number of votes as his Democrat opponent Clint Curtis.