Letter: Public agency lacking transparency

To the community,

On Thursday morning I read an article by Kathryn Reed in the Lake Tahoe News that stated there would be a meeting of the California Tahoe Conservancy (CTC) that morning at the Inn by the Lake.

I stopped by to attend the meeting. When I entered the meeting room I was approached by Ray Lacey, deputy director of the CTC. Mr. Lacey informed me that the meeting was not open to the public. Mr. Lacey indicated that they the CTC had already spoken with their attorney who advised them that the meeting would not be open to the public.

As far as I could see I was the only member of the public at the meeting. Even if the meeting wasn’t open to the public, I wonder why I simply wasn’t invited to stay. What made the CTC consult with their legal counsel about the public attending this meeting? The California Tahoe Conservancy is a public agency. Why would an interested member of the public be turned away?

Lou Pierini, South Lake Tahoe