Fortier quits, but forgets to tell anyone at city hall

By Kathryn Reed

“Today is the first day of a whole new adventure. No more politics. No more mayor. No more Tahoe. I am soon off to Redmond, WA. Better make some room in the closet for my clothes, Maria. I am on my way.”

That is what Claire Fortier wrote on her Facebook page Friday morning just before 7.

The South Lake Tahoe (former?) city councilwoman forgot one step in the process. She has not given the city a resignation letter – either in the professional way of being on real paper or the less professional way via email.

Claire Fortier

Lake Tahoe News first reported in May that Fortier was unlikely to finish her term that expires in December 2014 because her spouse had taken a job in Washington state.

Fortier long held the belief she was the only one on the council who could shepherd the Regional Plan update through the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. With the TRPA approving that plan on Wednesday, Fortier believes she has done her job even though the people elected her to do a job that lasts another two years.

The process is that the remaining council members must decide within 60 days of a council position being vacated whether to appoint someone or to call for an election. There are three specified dates in 2013 when an election could occur — March 5, June 4 and Nov. 5. The election cannot occur less than 114 days from the date it is called. So, the soonest there could be an election to fill that vacated seat is June 4.

But the council cannot go forward without a letter of resignation.