Letter: Candidate’s vote not for sale
To the community,
First, let me say that I respect my opponent in this race and consider him a friend. I also respect the other candidates for the other offices who were endorsed by the Nevada-based chamber. I and other candidates declined to participate. Here are my reasons.
Duane Wallace
I was stunned by their demand for my Social Security number and birth date. I was told that only B Gorman, the Nevada-based chamber CEO, would investigate our finances and give a personal thumbs up or down to a committee of four or five people who would decide for the entire general membership who the they would endorse. FPPC (Form 700) is available to the public and doesn’t expose us to possible identity theft. B Gorman is not bonded or qualified to examine people’s personal finances. I was aware of public statements that the political PAC they had devised was looking for candidates to select and support. Were decisions already made prior to having candidates go through the process?
I wasn’t comfortable with the written questions asking about my loyalty to their documents and programs. As a citizen of the city, I was genuinely concerned that the council gave the Nevada-based chamber $290,000 this year for a business counseling program. It seems like a huge conflict of interest. That’s probably why some council candidates also refused to participate.
I was also concerned by what appeared to be a blurring of roles between the chamber and the PAC that by federal election law is required to be independent. The process simply did not measure up to basic standards of transparency, except that their scheme was as clear as could be. Of course, I would like to be elected, I‘ve proven that I can do a good job for the public. But, my vote is not for sale.
Duane Wallace, South Tahoe Public Utility District candidate
Come on Duane-the only income you’ve ever made since your failure as a restauranteur has been BS CofC grifting and miscellaneous hucksterism. Don’t try to disrespect B Gorman for being exactly like you.
duane your vote is for sale look at your past vote to the union workers at stpud.
The Tahoe chamber seemed to be pretty clear about the difference between the chamber and their PAC. I don’t see any problems. I think the old chamber did support Dennis Crabb for county supervisor as well as political positions. This seems like nothing more then attempt to divide the community for individual political gain.
Crabb got around 30% of the vote for EDC supervisor. The endorsement didn’t do much good.
Maybe B Gorman should provide her Social Security number and birth date to the candidates so they can follow up with the IRS to determine if she is declaring her vacation rental as income.
Lou I wonder if Dennis gave up his SS# to the Nevada Chamber.
Birth certificate? How do we know he is truly an American Citizen?
“…the Nevada-based chamber…”
Continued sour grapes on a job loss.
I thought that I might get those kinds of remarks. But there were about 6 other candidates who also refused. I did work for the Chamber and truly enjoyed it. And I was paid to do it. But that shouldn’t mean that I have to be asked for information that even candidates for President don’t have to supply. And if all the candidates that they pretended to fairly evaluate had actually supplied the information maybe I should shut up. But I know for sure that all didn’t have to. And yes the Chamber Board that ran the Chamber as my bosses when I was there endorsed Dennis Crabb. That was a mistake. So was the BID. I worked for the Board. My criteria was that if it wasn’t immoral or illegal I carried out their orders. But ironically when something that I considered immoral came up and I refused I lost my job. It has been 8 years that I have paid the price for having stood up to the casino takeover of the Chamber. I was there when the lease was signed. I know who is paying their bills. That’s why I refused to go along with it. I’m not about to let them continue to try to point the finger at me through their surrogate. I did struggle financially after that but not for the reasons pointed out. My wife became ill and my son lost his leg to cancer after 9 surgeries. I lost just about everything paying for out of area deductibles, but would do it over again if I had to. I wanted my 8th grader and two seniors to finish high school here so I did what I had to in order to take care of my family. As for failing at the restaurant business I had a great 16 years here and 10 years in Carson City before my parent company went bankrupt not me. I sold both places for a profit. I still miss our customers. And I had 5 good years in commercial real estate and part time teaching. I respect those who use their real names on these blogs. I struggle with those who don’t. I welcome the opportunity to get the facts straight. For instance, It was me who refused to give life time medical to STPUD employees because I knew we couldn’t afford it in the long run. But that being said I’m not going to throw the employees under the bus just to get elected. Thank you for giving me the chance to respond. I don’t go on these sites much but will try to get back to you. Or how about calling me on the number I put up? Or meeting with me. I care about this town and want to do a good job. I have made errors but not out of hatefulness, just based on the information I had at the time. Thanks, Duane
Duane. Running for any office is tough and good luck. This blog has a few people that enjoy casting the first stone; best to just ignore them because they don’t bring anything positive to the conversation.
Duane-
why waste the time and effort to tell us that you don’t like the chamber; because they poked you with a stick almost a decade ago? Surely you have a platform and stand for something more? It is time for you and others to put your personal politics aside.
The power of the casinos has been waning for some time now. You can see it in their numbers as the recreation push in this town starts to gain momentum and gaming revenue drops. The casinos are not the enemy. Why fight old ghosts?
For now, you get put in the camp of the dividers in this town. I don’t get it, many others don’t get it and those candidates are losing us.
Hi Duane, Maybe you’d get more respect for giving up those names you mentioned.
Duane
Thanks for the heads up on the city allocating money for the Chamber of Commerce this year. I do not want any of my tax dollars going to any Chamber of Commerce for any reason, Especially with the poor streets we have in the city limits.
I also agree that the request for personal information is I feel very inappropriate and should not be something the Chamber or anyone else asks for.
I do however disagree with one thing you mentioned. We have one merged Chamber of Commerce that represents both sides of the state line as well our entire community. Your reference to the Nevada chamber is sad as it just sounds like old sour grapes.
I would suggest if you want to hold elected office again its time to move forward and get over the old grudges. For me I would not consider voting for anyone who still holds the one state mentality as we all have to work together for the betterment of our community.
Agreed SC Tahoe. Quit reliving the past and tell the community why they should vote for you. No one will vote for you cause you hate the chamber or the casinos. Enough of this Nevada chamber stuff. Focus on STPUD!
50 yr, the money given to the chamber was a grant iI think from the feds for business coaching. It did not come from the city funds at all and could not be used for the roads
Those are some good words of advice from several of you. I see what you mean that especially from me that sour grapes is the first blush. But just because you aren’t paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t really out to get you! I do hope to focus on STPUD only. But the public deserves a person who will call it like they see it and I’m not inclined to let a desperate group of people who are losing market share stay at the helm by manipulating elections. And I think other candidates may speak out that didn’t work for the Chamber. That should lend some better focus on the bad behavior of that selection process without my past clouding it. For the record though, I was actually for the merger. I even went out of my way to take a day long class in how to merge chambers. What I had problems with was a move into a $23,800 per month rent in an out of the way building for two thirds of the members with a high CPI growth and no way to get out of the most iron clad lease I had ever read. I had read leases for a living and that was not one I could in good conscience advise my board to sign. The rent in town was zero. I was told to keep my mouth shut and not to tell the Chamber finance committee. I refused. All 12 members of the finance committee voted against the merger. The math was overwhelmingly obvious and it was a terrible business decision that I could not recommend. The gaming alliance stepped in as the cosigner of the lease and Douglas County was pitching in about $70,000 a year. Douglas County benefitted by well over a million dollars by having the Chamber become master lessee as a way to avoid federal laws on wages. That way they didn’t have to pay the prevailing wage to build the building. That was too close of a relationship in my mind. So I will take the advice and do my best to not discuss that community dividing merger. I just happen to punch back when punched. So about STPUD: I see that Lou Pierini writes in to comment sometimes. Lou was on the STPUD Board when I got there. He was even more of a tight wad with the public’s money than I was at first. I think those like Lou and others including me who have worked with that organization tend to gain respect for the important role they play in protecting the environment and just as important in fire suppression. Fire protection is a big issue with me. The District luckily fixed the water lines and tanks on Gardner Mountain quite a few years back. That was a big reason the Angora fire was stopped. There is about 140,000 linear feet of line that is still way undersized and in need of replacing. And the issue of state mandated water meters and making the rates as fair as possible for locals is another issue. The $25 million the district had to borrow to pay for that unfunded mandate drove the largest part of the recent rate increase from what I can see. It should be made clear though that those increases must go into a capital restricted fund so the public can see where their hard earned money goes. The timing with the 2% employee raise this year was BAD. Since one of the fake name blogger guys brought it up my having to scramble for a living (I have at times), it should be obvious that I’m not for more rules and taxes and high payrolls. I believe all taxes should be due and payable on election day. But I don’t hate the employees. I have always tried to be fair and treat my employees with respect and pay a rate that allows me to hold on to the ones that made the business money. I like the use of bonuses for performance so that the people who don’t pitch in aren’t rewarded the same as those who do. The employees are simply professionals who answered an ad to do a job at the rate of pay advertised. It’s the board that sets the pay. The federal and state laws on good faith bargaining actually have jail time for boards that don’t engage in good faith bargaining. It was passed in the mid 1990s. The unions are experts and the board and management don’t bargain every day as the unions do. It is a hard world for controlling costs in that regard. There are some practices that get the employees and board together without lawyers that result in more hours put into the process but usually better results for both parties. I have found that employees work better in a thousand ways if they see that they are respected and can sabotage a company in a thousand ways if they think you don’t care about them. So I’m not going to beat up on them to satisfy the folks who feel as I do that government overall is out of control. If you compare apples to apples STPUD pays less than 35% for wages albeit high in some cases. But the City is at 89% for wages and benefits and the County is in the high 80% range also. 35% is pretty close to private industry percentages and is a sign that with Lou and all the boards since then that at least some common sense prevailed. My 16 years there hide nothing. I voted my conscience. Most of the blood and guts was on the floor of the finance committee meetings rather than at the regular Board meetings. I was on the finance committee I think the whole time. I saw no need to tear down others in public if possible. Call me at 545-3563 if you want to talk about the District and some ideas for getting back 70% of the pipe line pumping costs and other issues. Ok I’m going to bed.
Anyone !! Ever think of the County Grand Jury ?
What a surprise Duane, once again you can’t get your facts straight. If you payed attention you would realize all the endorsements made by the Tahoe Chamber are decided by a vote of the board of directors…not four or five people. Per the press release this past week they voted last Thursday. Based on the info provided it looks like the most thorough endorsement review process in town. Guess that’s why you didn’t want to participate.
The truth will come out. I talked to people who were endorsed to get information. I’m sticking with my statement.
The release of personally identifiable information (PII) should never be required and kudos to all who refused. The fact that the chamber didn’t know better in this day and age is shameful. Business coaches?