Opinion: Honeymoon over, South Tahoe in shambles

To the community,

The honeymoon is over. The city manager, Mr. [Tony] O’Rourke, has been here a year and City Council has been intact for nine months. But things are the same, SNAFU. Example: The council, while employees continue to be dismissed, gave the city attorney a raise and other goodies which should cause sober people to blush. Also, the finance officer got a bump in pay.

And Councilmember [Bruce] Grego gets a gold star for being the loudest loose cannon in the basin. And Ms. [Claire] Fortier appears to be in conflict serving on the TRPA board. And [Angela] Swanson serves as a consultant for the school district. Remember the city manager was willing to give the school district $250,000 while firing employees. As for the old hands, [Hal] Cole and [Tom] Davis, who knows who pulls their strings?

Bill Crawford

Pretty soon if the city manager keeps contracting pieces of the city out, i.e. the ice rink and he wants to do so with the campground an the golf course (and what else, who knows?). Combine the frenzy to contract pieces of the city out and the shrinking city workforce, there won’t be a city to manage which may be the whole point.

The word from the underground is that much of the city operation is in chaos.

Welcome to the abyss.

Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe