Brakes put on special S. Tahoe parking meeting
By Kathryn Reed
Parking will not be on the Jan. 14 South Lake Tahoe City Council agenda.
The special 7:30am Monday meeting to consider creating another special meeting just for parking was not without drama, though.
Mayor Hal Cole requested the Jan. 13 meeting. Per state Government Code it would take a two-thirds majority to have had the parking issue heard Jan. 14 because the agenda for that meeting had already been posted. In other words, four of the five had to vote for the measure. Cole had the power to call for the item to be put on the agenda without his colleagues’ support, but he said he would defer to the council’s wishes.
Councilwoman Angela Swanson left at 8:15am before the vote because she had another city-related meeting to attend in Meyers. Swanson had previously been non-committal how she would vote – saying, “I feel like we are catering to one portion of the electorate in addressing the issue. I don’t like the precedent it is setting. This is a knee-jerk reaction.” Then she added that she wanted to support the mayor.
Councilwoman JoAnn Conner, as the other city rep on the ambulance JPA, stayed at the council meeting until it was over at 8:22am.
Conner believed it was too important of a topic to push through without careful analysis. Neither the council nor the public would have had even 24 hours to read the staff report had parking been added to Tuesday’s discussion.
Had Conner left early only two of the three remaining members would have needed to support getting parking on the Jan. 14 agenda. And based on the 2-2 vote, Conner made the difference.
She along with Councilwoman Brooke Laine voted no to hearing parking on Tuesday.
Fourteen members of the public were at the meeting. Most are advocates of revoking the entire paid parking program in the city as well as getting a measure on the ballot to do just that. The group says it has the signatures to get it on the ballot, but officials with the El Dorado County Elections Department must still verify them. And there also remains doubt whether there is time for the question to be before voters in June. If not, there will also be an election in November.
The council as of today is slated to discuss the paid parking program at its Feb. 18 meeting. But what won’t be part of the council discussion is the proposed ballot measure.
old Angela walked out of the meeting,
she could not stay 7 more minutes?
all this is going to do is make the Locals more upset with Hal and the Team and the choices they make
another well staged charade
Angela I do not think that there is any thing more important to the citizens of SLT right now then paid parking. That’s why over 1000 signatures in just over 3 weeks. (Middle of winter during the holidays) If there was another month there would be anoter 1000 signatures. You walked out with 7 minutes to go! Is that what you would do as a county sup? We are watching. All we want is to vote. Why is the council trying to stop that at every turn?
Well, our noble leaders are showing EXACTLY what they think of their constituents, aren’t they?
Vote accordingly.
While I generally wouldn’t support the expense of a special election in this instance I think it is necessary. If there are enough signatures of registered City of SLT voters that can be verified by the El Dorado County Elections Department to place this on a ballot, then there should be a vote on this. This matter has become so contentious that I think the only way to put it to rest one way or the other is to let the City’s registered voters indicate what they want via their votes. This decision should not be up to the City Council, those in support of it, those in opposition of it, and there should be no types of back room deal negotiations on this. The matter should now be up to the entire voting populace of SLT and this situation that has become way too large a distraction needs to come to a conclusion.
Even if Council member Swanson votes yes, that’s not the required 2/3 majority needed. She probably new her vote was inconsequential.
Proponents of free parking must:
Stay Calm
And
Persevere
2014 is an election year. 3 of the 5 members of the City Council are up for re-election, should they choose to stick with the program.
Take it to them at the ballot box.
If there’s over 1k legit signatures, there’s no debate or contention with the Parking Issue! If it goes to a vote, Paid Parking will get resoundingly voted out! No ifs, ands or buts about it!!
If the Council wants to delay the inevitable, at the cost of going thru an election, then they’re just wasting time digging a bigger hole for themselves!
Angela has already declared she’s running for another office and will not be on the council after the next election.
The fact that so many signatures have been collected after the city attorney delayed the process by a month is overwhelming.
Get it on the ballot, and let the voters decide since the council has refused to listen to them.
I was at the “special” city council meeting this morning. Almost all of the people at the podium who were given time to speak wanted the paid parking issue put on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting. The vote was two to two, so with Angela Swanson hurrying out of the room before the vote, paid parking will not be discussed at the Tuesday meeting.
If the city keeps kickin’ the can down the road on this, resentment towards paid parking will continue to grow. The city council is ignoring their constituents on this issue!.
While I applaud the improvements made to the city in the last several years, El Dorado beach, sidewalks, streetlghts, new police cars, to name a few, the paid parking problem is not going away.
We want to bring people to So. Shore to enjoy what we have to offer and help our economy, not write them a $55 dollar parking ticket and leave them angry with their Lake Tahoe experience.
Thanks for your time and we will see what happens , Old Long Skiis
maybe if we give them a ticket they will stop coming here and leaving our beaches and mountains covered in trash. Everyone should be kicked out of Tahoe an it should be re-veged and turned into a national park. That would solve all are whiny little problems.
Huh, very ignorant and self serving opinion. I’ve been to National Parks that are far more crowded and more trash than our little town. Lake Tahoe is one of the wonders of the world. It should be marketed and highlighted. With that said, we have city, county, state, and federal agencies that are all funded by different but the same fund, taxpayers. Plenty of funds available for upkeep! Don’t need to steal parking money through meters or fines. What we need is a community with less contempt and more hospitality. Locals that are proud of the place we live, that are great hosts and stewards of this beautiful place we are fortunate enough to call home. How long have you been here and what gives you the right to dictate who is allowed to visit this incredible place?
Joby you are absolutely right. The people who move here and then decide that the gates need to be shut behind them make me nuts. We all came here from somewhere else, or our parents did, or their parents did. Even the “native Americans”. It’s selfish and ignorant to think that nobody else deserves to share what we have found here. And WAY too common.
A. B. I think those council members that voted in paid parking should all go. Tom Davis refused to act against the citizen’s wishes and voted against paid parking. What could be your reasoning that would allow you to bring back Hal Cole or any other council member that deliberately acted against the citizens ?
This issue has grown past the parking mess and become a statement against unresponsive government.
The burn-em and turn-em attitude of this town needs to stop. We need repeat customers. Tickets don’t help.
Seems like this attitude started on the run up to the new millennium. Tried to charge everyone for three of four times the going rates and had the visitors give us the finger. Town was never the same since.
I think the “police state” nature of South Lake Tahoe region is a big turnoff to tourism.
The prices and taxes also impact the true costs of the area, there are much better deals elsewhere.
You should do a study of the costs compared to other comparable areas, I think you will find you people in South Lake Tahoe pay more for everything.
On top of that SLT has areas that ghetto-esk feel. The roads are garbage and very dangerous to bikers.
So many other areas I visit have dedicated bike routes and dedicated bike lanes all over town. Plus mass transit actually works in other tourism areas.
Also, and this is very important, SLT is very family unfriendly and the same towards older folks, downright nasty reputation on that front.
“We all came here from somewhere else, or our parents did, or their parents did. Even the “native Americans”.”
Although the writer’s main point is well taken, well yeah, but unless your relatives have been here close to 10,000 years, it’s a bit of a stretch to compare yourself to the Washoe….
@Sunriser….This issue has grown past the parking mess and become a statement against unresponsive government…..This is what I also see. Personally, I do not like paid parking. Not one bit. And judging from the over 1000 signatures of a town of 20K, the residents don’t either. Find another way to raise the little bit of monies parking would possibly generate (up for debate here) and eliminate the paid fiasco of meters. :)
If the city continues to be unresponsive and down right obstructionists we might have a parking gate right here in river city. If it can’t be on the June ballot then when is the first date for a special election? Let’s get her done!
Scott B. Watch out, they’ll raise TOT and hurt the tourism worse than with the paid parking. As the economy improves and the tourists return, there may not be any need to seek more revenue. City revenue should continue to improve as the economy improves. Standing pat, could be the right play here.
Just curious – all these people piling on in opposition to paid parking. Are you city residents? Or are you county residents who resent that the city asks those who use city streets and parking lots to contribute to their upkeep. I think paid parking is a reasonable solution. I would just ask that our city offer yearly parking passes at a discount to city residents, as we already pay the taxes that maintain streets and parking lots.
I live in the county and support paid parking and the revenue it generates for the city. I don’t believe the parking fees will detour tourism if properly marked. Has anyone been out of town lately? Monterey, for example, or SF? You expect to pay to park there and pay to cross the bridge. Do you stop going there as a result? I think NOT.
Which city departments do you guys work for?
Why don’t people bring up June Lake as often as Monterey?
You can pull off the Loop at many beautiful lakes without someone hitting you up for seven dollars.
Sunriser2 – Clearly you suspect that people who don’t support paid parking are employed by the city and have a vested interest in it. I don’t – I have never worked for the city, neither has any member of my family. However, I have lived here a very long time and watched the streets deteriorate due to lack of maintenance. Maintenance takes money that the city doesn’t have. It is fair that those who use the streets pay something to maintain them. It’s fair that visitors and county residents help.
People from the county write all the time in the lakethahoenews.net that they want to have a say in our city’s politics. If you do, then move to the city. Why on earth would city residents want people who don’t live in the city decide how we raise and spend money?
Just as you suspect that those who support paid parking work for the city, I suspect that many of those who don’t are county residents who want to use city facilities but not pay for them. Number one on that list would be the airport – so many of the loudest supporters of the airport don’t live in the city and don’t therefore don’t subsidize it.
Born and Raised, and City Resident:
I agree with your comments and am pleased to learn that I’m not a sole voice in support of paying my fair share for my use of the City’s assets and amenities. I live in the EDC portion of SLT and am more than happy to help support the City so my town can be successful and raise the needed monies to start making much needed improvements.
4-Mer, nobody is begrudging the city trying to raise money. People dislike the way the city tried to increase revenue through the parking program because:
1) it is a perfectly regressive tax meaning it impacts poor more than rich as a percentage of income. No other tax is as perfectly regressive,
2) It forces parking into neighborhoods where before there was little parking. Thus increasing impact to the community,
3) It devalues the homes in the neighborhoods where there is constant aggressive enforcement. Go ahead and put up an ad and notify folks that parking enforcement will be by multiple times per day looking for any infraction,
4) The program isn’t even a parking program, it is a ticketing program. The entire thing is predicated on writing tickets, and
5) We already have a reputation for nickel and diming tourists and there are other options. This just gives tourists another reason to consider other locations for their next vacation.
And finally an anecdote. Friend of mine lives over by El Dorado beach. He is installing BMPs and has a truck full of rock sort of backed into his driveway, but with a tire, a single tire touching the road. Guess what, he got a ticket. His truck was improperly parked. Would you want to live in a neighborhood like that?
So, I think considering the above, its a good thing that this parking fiasco goes away very soon, like June.
I’m a property owner here in town. I’m against paid parking. The income it generates is based upon the citations issued. If everyone avoided the citations, there would not be income for the city; It would lose money. I know people who don’t comment here who feel the same way I do. You people who support paid parking are going to be surprised to see how greatly we outnumber you.
I am against the paid parking program in the city of SLT (except for the parking garage itself). I don’t feel the city should charge for parking when there is not a shortage of parking as is such in the cities of San Francisco, Monterey, etc. I am not a resident of the city so I cannot vote to make any changes. I can vote with my wallet and not spend money in SLT. The other problem I have with the parking program is there is not that much investment/improvements made by the city in those areas to deserve the privilege of having paid parking. At Lakeside Beach the parking is on dirt… I’m not sure how the TRPA even allows this, but that is for another discussion. Venice Dr, the parking is on the side of the road and maintenance should already be included in the road maintenance funds. Lakeview Commons was mostly paid for by the California Tahoe Conservancy, so I can sort of see the justification for charging for parking there, but do not feel it should be charged. Since the paid parking has been implemented I’ve avoided going to those areas. Your city leaders do not need my added financial support for their poor decisions.
RE: City Resident – I mainly use Hwy 50 to get across town, which is maintained by Caltrans and not the city. The parking lots that I use are the private businesses that I patron, not paid for by the city. I pay city sales tax that goes to the city’s budget. My purchases help pay for the employees that work at the business and also helps pay for the property taxes the property sits on. This should be more than enough to cover the incidental use of the city side-streets that I use on occasion. The problem you are facing is the fiscal decisions of the people that you and the other residents of the city of SLT have voted into office over the years. As for the airport, the numerous lawsuits to stop commercial flights in the 80’s and 90’s caused the airport to be a financial drain on the city, so you can thank parties of those lawsuits for that. I must also mention the city purchased the airport at a county subsidized price of $1.00. I suggest you ask your city leaders what they are doing to bring commercial flights back to the airport to make it profitable again. If no one wants commercial flights at the airport then there should be no complaining that the airport is a financial drain. You can’t have it both ways.
What this city really needs is a thriving economy and charging people to get to the places they are going to spend their money at is not the way to do it. What the city needs is more high paying jobs that will be the foundation for a better economy for everyone. What are your city leaders doing to attract these types of employers? Adding more minimum wage cashier type jobs is not the way to get there.
Sorry for calling you guys city employees. As far as me living in the county think again. Been a tax paying property owner in the city for 34 tears. No kids to take advantage of all the expensive amenities but still belong to community service organizations to try and help out.
If you want to pay your fair share just mail the city a donation. No need to piss off our visitors with BS tickets.
As far as maintaining the streets the money was spent studying complete streets, bugs, light bulbs and redevelopment.