Opinion: S. Tahoe officials will do anything to make a buck
To the community,
Recently, our town surrendered to be colonized by SnowGlobe. For miles the heavy bombardment pounded and pounded away. Hearing aids had to be turned off and coyotes howling couldn’t be heard. That’s a shame.
City management gave the keys to the city and was happy to do so because the invaders ironically had promised to pay tribute to the city so that for three days they could raise hell. The site of the battle of the booms and blasts was the local college’s soccer field. The college president was happy to provide the site for the school’s share of tribute.
Bill Crawford
The SnowGlobe drew a big crowd, battles always do. In this case the spectators had to pay through the nose for the privilege of going deaf and to wear weird headgear. Of course, such apparel, a trophy that proves one was there, is costly. But all of the heavy tariff was bearable because it was a no cop free zone. The payees could get stoned without fear of a hassle.
It’s rumored that city management left town for the duration of the booms and blasts so they could escape the cries of the victims, prisoners living within hearing distance of the insane noise.
So the town is a colony of anyone with tribute to pay the city, and can for a time turn the place into a noisy wasteland. So much for law and order that can be suspended to create, for money, lawless disorder.
Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe
PS: I wonder how the hospital ill faired under the circumstances.
You sound like my Dad when it comes to the music. Let’s face it the city needs all the money it can get so the citizens don’t howl like coyotes at higher taxes and cut back to all the programs.
This guys single accomplishment on the Council was to shut down parking for the Keys Marina. And yet he is supposed to be the concience of the City? He takes a great boat launch away from locals and he has our best interest at heart?
What the heck is a “no cop free zone”? Bill, you are really getting annoying. Yes, the event made noise and also brought revenue to our businesses. But, to waste your time trying to ridicule the event patrons? Truly beneath you.
I agree that the College was incredibly gracious in allowing the event “organizers” the use of the kitchen facility and gym but weren’t those ball fields built with taxpayer monies? I also wonder how much overtime wages were paid out this past week. Seems like a wash.
It is obvious the above were not forced to put in ear plugs during the music?
festival. It was not the money that prompted the lawmakers to do this dirty deed but sheer ignorance and gross stupidity. Let one of them say with a straight face they had any idea of the disturbance they foisted on the public.
Who will be the scapegoat for the debacle?
The idea that ‘anything for a buck’ is aprostitution of principles.
Here you have a government operation that has ignore the laws that the citizens have to follow in order to generate commerce.
In effect the rulers violate the principles of the society.
The justification is “we need the money”, well so does a whore.
It’s simple – Without principles you accept a ‘sell your soul to the devil’ philosophy.
With that type ‘philosophy/principle’ in the end you get the he11 part too.
GBA
The idea that ‘anything for a buck’ is a prostitution of principles.
Here you have a government operation that has ignored the laws that the citizens have to follow in order to generate commerce.
In effect the rulers violated the principles of the society.
The justification is “we need the money”, well so does a whore.
It’s simple – Without principles you accept a ‘sell your soul to the devil’ philosophy.
With that type ‘philosophy/principle’ in the end you get the he11 part too.
GBA
Don’t worry all their going to move it to the Airport so we here in Meyers can enjoy it next year.
Someone once said, “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”. Heard it with my own ears.
They move it to the airport and I’ll file a lawsuit against the city.
I appreciate the fact that this event was even tried. Nothing had been encouraged before so why not thank people for even attempting something new?
I was not happy with the choice, of course, since it affected me directly and I spent a whole NYE with nerves on edge and unable to enjoy the night, but I am still applauding efforts that it was tried.
Now to learn from experience. We don’t need a bunch of complaining through editorials. Look at the big picture and don’t allow the opinions of this one venture down Events In Tahoe Row harm the future of other events.
For the future I’d suggest we decide who we want in to Tahoe for events to be successful all around (from a revenue and resident point of view), and then go after the events that will please them. What is our “target market?” Are we going to go after the same crowd that is already here for a NYE weekend and pull away from that or are we going to provide alternative entertainment, etc, for the rest of the population. Diverse choices are important instead of one type/one clientele.
Dude, don’t be such a buzzkill, SnowGlobe drew more interest to Lake Tahoe than anything we’ve done in years. The town was packed for 3 days instead of the usual 1-2 day holiday. It’s worth putting up with the noise for a few days on what’s already the noisiest weekend of the year to have that much more business.
Two things. THAT was MUSIC????? And, why not take this kind of MUSIC down to the casino core where it would bother the partiers instead of residential areas? Not much thought put into that one.
I sure find the “no regulation, smaller government, government-needs-to-stay-out-of-the-way-of-business” crowd’s objections to this event ironic. It is a perfect example of why there should be more representative government. Government must be held accountable for their decisions. And, yes, there should be regulation that isn’t biased towards business.
If we closed the casinos there would have been no problems at stateline for the last 40 years, look at all the money lost, by the city of S.L.T and money made by Nv. casinos in those years. That doesn’t seem fair does it.
Yes Lou, and that includes the entire year, not just New Years.
As usual Bill Crawford is full of criticism but short on any suggestions to help improve the economic condition of this City. At least something was tried to generate revenue which is better than anything Crawford has ever come up with. Perhaps he would prefer that the economic driver of tourism be eliminated altogether. Of course since it’s the main economic driver in South Lake Tahoe the loss of all associated revenues would need to be replaced with tax money via tax increases to just about everything.
Not everyone gets a fat retirement check and health coverage from the school district Bill; some people have to earn money from tourism to pay their bills and try to put something into their own retirement.
No matter what is done in an attempt to bring revenue to our little town, there will always be someone to complain about it. Crawford is part of the old school council that did the same thing over and over and expected different results. I personally don’t enjoy that type of music, but it was for the most part a peaceful crowd. And what does “no cop free zone” mean? There were plenty of cops there. I believe Crawford was on the council that allowed the marijuana dispensaries in town in the first place. And marijuana is pretty much legal now anyhow. I was happy that our side of the Stateline got something fun for a first. Tired of watching all the big events happen in the Nevada side but we get to pay for it on our side.
COMPROMISE! Bring fun, money making events to town AND respect the needs of locals who may need sleep (children, elderly, ill) and can’t leave.
The sub-woofer was the culprit – just turn it down! It creates the pounding, thumping, vibrating windows & metal, which was inescapable.
My husband is a rock musician who plays electric guitar professionally. His studio quality, sound cancelling earphones, did not block the pounding beat so that he could practice for his own gig at The Beacon.
23 plus hours of thumping sternum & temples could be mitigated by control of the sub-woofer power – again, compromise!
Where’s the numbers? Was the event successful financially?
Oh, by the way, Bill, since you were a “teacher”, you should know just a little more about syntax and spelling. The word “faired” should have been “fared”, or was that poetry? No wonder our kids have language problems. Let’s hope that this little event precipitates further discussion at the next City Council meeting. There must be accountability. Happy New Year.
Well that was an ill-conceived analogy, and poorly written article.
PSS: Get off my lawn!
We were able to hear the base in Christmas Valley. I think Diana Hamilton has made a great suggestion.
No one, I repeat, NO ONE has the right to bombard MY house with sound waves (you- and Manuel Noriega- may be aware that the Pentagon uses extremely loud music as a PsyOps weapon!), disturb MY peace, disrupt MY sleep, terrify MY pets and shake MY windows and walls! And they sure don’t have the right to do it for three consecutive days and nights! The city officials who signed off on this should be fired immediately, heads should roll!
These greedy concert promoters show up here from out of town, bring their crowd (largely unemployed “ne’er do well” drug using wastrels) in from out of town and proceed to profit from the use of our public facilities funded by our local taxpayer dollars for their sole benefit; they trash our community and deprive us the right to the peaceable use of our own homes. They are like the vacation renters from hell… on steroids! And people here say this is the clientele we want to attract? Seriously???
After experiencing the wrath of the public, in the unlikely event the powers that be attempt to replicate this disaster next year some major mitigation must take place. (1) The volume must be greatly reduced, subject to quantifiable decibel measurement and the contractual ability to yank the plug if it is exceeded. (2) The event must cease operations at 10:00 PM, again, with the ability to yank the plug if the time limit is exceeded. (3) Move the event to a suitable location with adequate parking and not in immediate proximity to residential areas. (4) Move the event to an off-peak week, the week between Christmas and the New Year is comparable to the Fourth of July for business levels, we don’t need to add even more people into the mix. If indeed the object is to draw visitors, let’s do it when we really need them!
OMG,ITS OVER ,GET ON ,THINK POSITIVE, ITS A NEW DAY.SMILE.
Hey Bill-
clearly a few logistic mistakes were made with this event. Hopefully the wise will evaluate things and put a better foot forward next time regardless of the event theme. However you do no one any favors by complaining and fanning flames. We all still anxiously await your list of new ideas to help SLT heal and move forward.
It is obvious that you have nothing constructive left to contribute.
>Honkylonk, (largely unemployed “ne’re do well” drug using wastrels) …What a blowhard….. invading My town for decades with your know-it-all, “I’m a Big Deal”, sociopathic BS… That’s how one get’s to be despised by every purveyor, every employee and basically everyone in town.
I guess those unemployed people are driving Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW now, cause I saw plenty of those cars around the festival with the unemployed hopping out of them.
I bet we could find someone to disagree on any event held here, then nothing would ever happen, and everyone would be happy, oh, except those that still need to make a living, and aren’t retired.
We have to have the b*lls to make some decisions to improve our lot, and yes, people care about those that were bothered by the noise and vibrations, and once we figure out if this festival benefited our businesses, then, and only then will we look at the festival returning, and what improvements we need to make, otherwise it’s a wash.
the big question is How much did the City get paid? to use the Measure S football field that was supposed to be
4 softball fields
another question would be, did any of those folk’s buy a timeshare while they were here? that is the real visitor the City wants to attract
City council meeting starts at 9AM tomorrow. Wonder if Bill will share his ill will. Lets see how many residents actually show up to speak their mind.
Personally, I’m on hold till I see the $$ numbers and hear from businesses how much of a pop this gave them.
It should be noted that the city did a terrible job informing people about the events noise and hours. Wonder what that new city communications person Nancy Kerry does. She dropped the ball on this one as did her boss Tony Rourke. People tend to be more forgiving if you tell them up front that they are about to be disturbed. This is not rocket science Tony and Nancy. Should have negotiated communications into the contract so that the Snow Globe folks could have gone door to door letting residents know what was about to happen.
I believe the city’s intentions were good. The city is trying to bring people to our community that will support local businesses. Every room in town was booked and clearly this is a good thing for our community. However, at what cost to the local residents? We live one mile from the site and our walls were literally vibrating. I can’t imagine how the home owners in Pioneer village must feel after 3 days of that kind of noise. Mistakes were clearly made and hopefully the people invloved will re evaluate and determine how events that bring people to our community to spend money can be handled in a way that do not dramatically affect the people that live here everyday.
I called one city council member asking that the bass be turned down. This little lady said she lived right across the street from the college and she never heard a THING! THIS IS INDEED A DEAF POLITICIAN! DEAf. And when she asks for
my vote again–and she will–that’s just what I’m gonna be DEAF!
Yes- I will be at the City Council meeting! (Tue. 1/3/12 9:00 a.m. at the Airport) We want to be responsible citizens and work with the city for a better solution that will work for our best interest, and the financial benefit of the city. After all, the city council’s mission is “represent the public interest” as well as to “oversee the city’s operations, and plan for the city’s future”.
Smedley,
You seem to have some serious personal issues, please seek professional help.
I am reading a lot of unsubstantiated vitriol from the people who didn’t like the event.
You are certainly proving that you are better people. I am sure you will be voicing your opinions respectfully at the meeting.~
Does anyone have anything to back up their claims? Decibel meter, video of your walls and windows shaking, etc. I have a feeling that some of you just don’t like young people having fun, which is a perfectly normal part of the aging process.
It attracted alot of people to tahoe who spent money.Yes the airport is probably a better location for this event.I live close by and wasn’t bothered by it either were my pets.I can handle a few days music any type if its good for our economy .I think city did a good job of attracting this festival to our town.I think they do another one near vail and are putting one together in killington vt because our other big music festival that brings in alot of money to tahoe doesn’t exist yet so until then bring them back
I agree with steve b there was alot of money spent this last week did anyone notice the line at Mcdonalds at 3am? or that Dennys was packed all night? instead of the negatives why not try and figure away to make it better and more prosperious for our community every time someone tries to do something to make money for our community, it becomes all about ME ME ME. Opening day of the Lake everyone bitched, Harveys has been doing outdoor Concert for a few years and look at the money they generate, Rather ***** why don’t you come up with and idea, and sahre it with us. We are lucky to live in a free country where we can try things like this to make money. With no snow this was a great boost in our economy. I have lived in Tahoe for 51 years what happened to our community that use to be so close and now we just want to point a finger and *****. GODSPEED and Happy New Year
We did take decibel readings – consistently around 80. We missed the sound check blast and other random spikes.
http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/
The video idea was good – wish I had thought of that for documenting the glass and metal fireplace vibrating & buzzing.
Omg…..boo hoo!! Get over it whiners!! We should do this stuff more often!! Always gonna be someone who will *****!! Jeez just die already the world is more miserable with u in it!!
All the folks that I know who went to the show on Friday took a large dose of Extasy -(molly) -and I herd their was a short supply for Saturdays show
you folks who did not mind the noise
probably drank yourself to sleep
agree w/chief, most of my friends attended the show and the X (molly) stories were endless, one of the many reasons im soo annoyed by there choice to bring it to Tahoe, our reputation as a city is being jeopardized.
LF Rubio,
South lake Tahoes reputation as a mind numb, loser, druggy town is not damaged by SnowGlobe, it is varified.
The “City” didn’t charge a dime for the use of the soccer field. I would want to know if there were deposits taken in case any of the large vehicles damaged the filed itself since the field cannot support the weight of tractor trailers and stages. Since the PD OT budget is more than half depleted; they had to focus their patrols at stateline; that is why police presence was very poor.
This was a poorly organized event and hopefully the “City” can learn from their mistakes. When another promoter wants to host a festival in our town; the hole in the ground would be a great place for concerts and that would force people to use the parking garage as well for additional revenue.
Congratulations Bill ya gottum again. great # of comment’s
Weldingchick, you must not live in the concert area, or you like your house being moved from the foundation. Let’s move it to your neighborhood. Oh yea, you probably would like that.
Wrong location, wrong weekend. Move it and have it on a weekend when we don’t draw 30 to 50 thousand people to town already.
Wonderful idea Whip. I agree. I left a message with Nancy Kerry, the event planner for the City of South Lake Tahoe, with those thoughts exactly. I live close to the event. I was not happy. Hopefully they will rethink this for the next time.
Wonderful idea Whip. I agree. I left a message with Nancy Kerry, the event planner for the City of South Lake Tahoe, with those thoughts exactly. I live very close to the college and I was not happy. Hopefully they will rethink this for the next time.
The survey is way up, about SNOWGLOBE,LOOKS LIKE THE CITY LOVED IT ,YAHOOOOOO,MORE VOTES FOR YES THEN NOS THATS THE WAY WE ROLL IN LAKE TAHOE,GOT TO LOVE IT,MORE POSITIVES THEN NEGATIVES,THANKS FRIENDS YOUR TOPS .
Kitten, Thanks for suggesting it to Nancy. I too live just a block off the meadow across from the college and nobody in my house could sleep until the noise ended each night. The countdown wasn’t for the new year for us, it was for the end of the noise. The number$ everybody is waiting for will be fuzzy at best due to the already busy week that it is every year. If they decide they have to have it, they’ll have to move it. I heard the college was paid 10K to hold the event there, can anybody confirm this? Just curious.
Living here for 24 years I remember when Harvey’s was having complaints about the summer concert noise. I believe Harvey’s and South Lake pretty much came up with some answers. They also start at 7:30 and end at 10.00. And Kathy, I think when this is all said and done. There will be more nays than yeas.
” At lease they pulled it off”, unlike the snowing bike race that tied up traffic then canceled was a failure.Who cares about bunch jocks with red annal’s,speeding around a natural national wonder.
I know there’s a lot locals that rather see Entertainers than Bike races around the yo-yo lake frontage highway.
People are always saying we need something new, different, to come and attract people here for whatever reason.
Burning man is a good example of how things start small end up huge.
Course most the people are so ignorant they keep thinking a convention center a priority to the south shore for business.
If case you still think that way ,then you’er the loser.Only a hand full would made money if it been up running.The place never even had the required parking spaces, and banking on casinos cooperation to fix that flat tire idea for parking.
God forbid a Group of any large market draw Magnitude come TO this crying little town, ship of fools.
Can anybody figure out where all the people are since the roads are clear ,you can bike, hike,DO ALL THESE SUMMER THINGS ?
It’s not that damn cold out there, take a real long hard look.
There’s no one braking their neck to reach this Destination, CAN YOU REALLY BLAME THEM?
This town turning into dirt roads, and community dinners for the poor.
More people leave this town to see shows than are what is offered up here.
All the good people standing with their hands in their pockets, doing nothing, to really promote a market that can drive our incomes.
It’s a real Shame.
Kitten I disagree with you, More then just one kitty .I will bet you It will go on.Yeas.
How about power boat races on the lake like the old days, Harley runs, Tahoe Rod runs, NHRA drag races at the Airport? Let’s mix it up!
Yeah Harley runs would be cool,there is so much Lake Tahoe can do to wake it up,and to have enjoyment,Bring in the new ,out with the old,Time is change ,and change is good .
SnowGlobe was a snow job, pure and simple. It is a clear reflection of the same skewed priorities our city leaders have had since I first moved here in 1979 – short-term, poorly-thought-out financial solutions in place of a reasonable, comprehensive long-term plan that benefits not only tourists and the lodging and ski industries, but long-suffering, hardworking Tahoe locals such as myself as well.
I have a question. If I plan a loud rock concert on my spacious front lawn for next Saturday, which lasts from 6:45 p.m. until 1 a.m., but I also have a bake sale with profits given to the City, will the City call the entire town, as they did on New Year’s Eve, and ask them to be patient, not call the police, and just deal with the “inconvenience”? I think not.
The thought of moving this “event” to the airport next year is not a solution, but just moves the problem from one segment of the Tahoe populace to another. Isn’t it time that our City leaders put residents first – if even for a moment – in their decision-making process instead of trying to excuse themselves out of the mess their ill-conceived actions create after the damage is already done?
Has anyone asked for the noise reports from Site 2?
Oops, hit enter somehow. There are also 3 other noise monitoring sites in the City limits, Site 1, Site 5, and Site 6. Doubt that the 2 in the County would provide any results.
Bill Crawford hates everything…bike lanes, fun, fun, fun, awesome music, anyone under the age of 55, sustainability, the younger generation, snow, puppies, kittens…the list goes on…
HEY BILL!!!! TIME TO MOVE TO FLORIDA MAN…
GENERATION X IS TAKING OVER MAN…
SPROUTS AND CARROTS ARE GOOD FOR YOU! :0)