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Thursday, March 26, 2020

Transcript: SLT City Council Emergency Meeting re short term rentals and Covid-19 March 25 (Part One Public Comments)

Mayor Collin:  We will take public comments at this time for items that are on the (for this emergency meeting:

(Comments were sent in and read out loud by City Clerk Sue Blankenship, the one woman in the room while council membersattended the meeting by voice only.)

First comment is Ed M: New business:  Great idea to avoid a  catastrophe situation, provided that volunteers and staff don’t contract the virus, don’t believe I have to elaborate here.  Item 3: You do need to issue a ban on the rental of VHR's shared rentals, etcetera for short term rentals.  The risk of being infected is much greater outside the Tahoe Basin. People will want to come here because it is safe here.  We won't be able to quarantine them. They pose a risk and voluntary compliance has never worked in any manner within the short term rental industry here.  I suggest only those working in medical and public safety fields be allowed.

Next Comment is from James A.  Please close down VHR's, all short term rentals and hotels motels during this trying time.  Let's look after our own community and welcome back visitors when it is safe to do so.

Next comment comes from PHRM.  Hello.  I would strongly ask that you ban vacation rentals to stop visitors from bringing in the virus to our community.  My wife is bravely on the front lines at Raley's grocery story and we need to protect these workers and all of our families here in town.  We can do this by not providing opportunity for sickness to be transferred. 

Next Comment from Alisa T.  We would like to be assured that the county is included with this.  We live in Tahoma and have seen much activity at legal and not legal rentals over the past week.   This should be applied to all rentals, penalties should include loss of their rental license.  This has to have teeth for people to adhere to it. 

Next comment comes from Theresa F.  Hello.  I'm a full time Tahoe Keys resident and homeowner.  Not only were the Keys infested with VHR's but many families having second homes came here.  I personally know four families from Stockton and other parts of the Bay Area.  I'm certain what happened in the Keys happened in other SLT neighborhoods.  It is sad that the ignorance of others has put our safety at risk.  Lastly our hospital has sixty three beds.  That should be all you need to make your decision to take action and shut down VHRs. 

Next comment from Peggy B.  In an effort to relieve some of the challenges of trying to produce a remote council meeting, the Tahoe Neighborhoods Group is submitting this email.  We have been monitoring the city' and county's efforts to advise the public to shelter in their permanent place of residence and not over burden resort communities.  We have found several online listings of vacation home rentals available in this city on different platforms.  Members report to us that there are houses all over town that had visitors over the weekend and many of them are currently occupied.  One Tahoe VHR operator was on KCRA stating she would not displace her tenants.  Time is of the essence so waiting a few weeks to determine if the travel and lodging advisory is being taken seriously may not be an option.  Without almost universal compliance, the notion of ending the spread of the virus while preserving medical resources in South Lake Tahoe is unrealistic.  We note that other jurisdictions have taken a much stronger position to gain compliance. 

Next comment is from Lydia B.  Thank you for the recent update.  All of my current reservations were canceled by my guests.  From my perspective, people are taking the stay at home order seriously. I, for one, am grateful to see strangers take such quick action. I read a lot of the negative assumptions on social media.  Before the order was issued, we packed up and went to stay at our family cabin, home away from home, in same county as South Lake Tahoe.  Besides my neighbors, I saw a lot of people just walking, driving by just glaring at us with assumptions.  I received a cold shoulder.  People concluded we were renting a VHR but that was not the case.  They still went to Facebook to bash everyone.   Maybe some of these folk came up before the order was issued like we did.  Everyone is now aware of the current situation in California.  We're healthy and have been in place shelter since March 13th. 
As a responsible homeowner, I personally am sick and tired of all these locals projecting their misguided ideas into what I should and should not do with my own home. If I or my own healthy family want to stay in our own cabin, we will continue to do so and shelter in place at our cabin or in South Lake Tahoe. We now have people driving around looking for cars at unknown VHRs in the neighborhood taking pictures so they can spew their hate on social media. 
I know I'm not the only one using our home. As I read about another lady who with her elderly mother in the Bay Area packed up and are staying in their second home by the lake because they're scared like the rest of us.  Clearly they didn't come up because they're ill, they came up to feel safe.  When I mentioned her situation on South Lake Tahoe's Facebook page her situation was belittled in many different ways.  It's awful.  There's no decency in this town by the locals and you're playing right into their hate.  Maybe the VHR is not rented out to strangers but it's easy for strangers to come to this ridiculous assumption.
Just because dates are still available on websites-… 3 minutes up.

Next email from Rick D.  Please shut down short term rentals.  Visitors from outside the local by definition are exposed to the virus and probably carry it.  They are violating the shelter at home edict and are spreading the virus.  If we prohibit short term rentals, we can minimize the traffic in Tahoe from areas where the infection is ongoing. 

Next comment from Claire S.  I am homeless with three underlying health conditions with a HUD VA voucher for South Lake Tahoe that may never be used.  I am not and cannot stay at the shelter because of the risks involved.  I need to be in isolation rather than merely social distanced at motels to prevent infection.  Have any VHR owners been approached and or encouraged to accept a housing choice voucher?  If not why? Would they rather generate zero dollars or more than a thousand a month for their indefinitely unoccupied rentals?

Next email comes from Todd W.  Thank you so much for the hard work you are doing for our community it is greatly appreciated.  The El Dorado County Republican party wants to thank you for the proclamation that you passed on Friday.  We particularly believe the following section is particularly beneficial to your constituents.  A moratorium on residential evictions due to layoffs or reduced work or expenses caused by Covid-19- we also support item two re evictions. 

Next comment from Marci N.  My lungs are compromised, I already take inhalers twice a day.  If I get the virus, I likely won't survive it, please.  Stop the spread of the virus.  I went to the Grocery Outlet and twenty somethings are congregating, clogging the aisles, and acting like it's their new hangout spot since coffee shops are closed.  Regarding VHRs can you fine owners with hefty fines or suspend licenses of those that don’t meet the governor's mandate? I'm literally afraid for my life. Thank you for all you are doing.

Next comment is from Evan G.  I'm a vacation home owner and I support the city's need to support health and safety above tourism.  Whatever the city thinks must be done to ensure medical and supply needs are focused on local residents.  The health of our community is more important than our tourist dollars during this time.  My only ask would be that, one, you provide some clarity or accommodation for any valid uses of short term rentals.  Is it okay to host medical professionals? I've hosted traveling nurses before, should there be an exception for that?  Number two, clarity on the end date for this order would be extremely helpful.  It's difficult to predict what things will look like a month from now but knowing what rules will be imposed for May or June would be helpful.  Perhaps this is a good time to speed up building remodeling permits to encourage VHR owners to close to do remodels they've been waiting to do. 

Next comment comes from Patrick R:  According to what we've seen from the State, overnight lodging is allowed.  The rooms we seem to be getting appear to be business travel- Barton people and a few others. Does the county or the city have the authority to change what the State has enacted?  If they do, the new rules are enacted, what are we supposed to do and for how long?

Next comment comes from Jessica B.  I own two small businesses Omni and Champagne Productions in the city of South Lake Tahoe. I'm writing today to voice my support for item two on today's agenda, moratorium on evictions.  During this unstable time, we are occupied with staying healthy. Last thing we need is to worry about rent payments on businesses like mine that have been shut down by government order or can no longer operate.  My small business is simply not prepared for the impact of this pandemic and if my landlord were to evict me, recovery would be impossible for my business.  My only hope is to have a business to return to when this passes.  This moratorium assures my landlord can work with me.   That said, the resolution could contain some elements that are overly burdensome, for example a requirement that each tenant document their inability to pay rent is due to Covid-19.   This requirement could create a way for landlord to continue to pursue evictions at this time.  It should be assumed that every small business that would need these protections is in this situation because of Covid-19. 

Next comment from Bill M, South Tahoe Family Resource Center.  The entire Lake Tahoe community is suffering during this unprecedented pandemic.  Our undocumented community is also adversely impacted.  The normal fears associated with daily life are exacerbated by the isolation linked with Covid-19. Our underserved and low income community is feeling extra pressure due to lack of hours available to work.  This health crisis and economic downturn will disproportionately impact the most vulnerable among us, our immigrant and low income communities.  (Discontinued reading due to not topics that are on agenda)

Next is from Kathy C.  I own Verde Mexican Restaurante, a small business in the city of South Lake Tahoe.  I'm writing to support the moratorium on commercial evictions due to Covid-19.  During this unprecedented time, the last thing we need to worry about are rent payments 

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Additional comment from Linda W Lake Valley Resident:  Notice in an online posting is not proper notice to all the concerned citizenry.  Do you not see the tragic irony in wanting visitors to stay home and people from gathering and spending money to recreate?  And the taking of our recreation center to become a Petri Dish of public nuisance attraction and contagion.  Who signed up for this among us? This is a terrible proposal, there are countless buildings with no people like government offices or org offices that have no gathering orders.  Take the children and teachers building, take the mental health offices.  Take away a source of recreation for the community even for two months is unacceptable because it is and will be needed by the community that built and paid for it.  Stop the public contagion attraction in South Lake Tahoe period.

Gary J.  Please consider exemptions, exterior door hotels to be exempt.  We have social distancing already in place.  L.A. County and Arizona already have exemptions for exterior door hotels. We need to define exempt travels, for example visiting loved ones, the elderly etcetera, guests unable to make it home, people without a home.
Next comment Gary J for rec center.  Please reconsider this, our children need the rec center. It has been taxpayer paid and built.  I can think of two buildings off the top of my head that would be better suited for homeless needs.  One the old Chevy's restaurant building, it has commercial bathrooms and possible kitchen.  Number two Motel Six restaurant, commercial bathrooms and kitchen.  There is a better alternative than our rec center.


Next comment by Natalie Y:  I appreciate the Covid-19 memo on the city's website to encourage the city to provide more information and buillet points on the website regarding short term rentals.  There is some confusion between the executive orders by the governor, county, and city policy and police powers.  Clear communication is a key at this time and I appreciate the city's response and efforts. 
One more written public comment, from Jessie G.  Please do not allow VHR's to continue to rent to out of town people, one, Barton cannot handle an outbreak, two the grocery stores still have empty shelves and products not available for local residents and most restaurants are closed. Three out of town visitors will bring Coronavirus to Tahoe whether they know they're infected or not and spread it to Tahoe.  Number Four, Governor Newsom has told everyone to stay home, not to travel and spread the virus.  Please stay home and stay safe, don’t come to Tahoe and cause people to become sick or die, thank you. 

One more written public comment, from Jessie G.  Please do not allow VHR's to continue to rent to out of town people, one, Barton cannot handle an outbreak, two the grocery stores still have empty shelves and products not available for local residents and most restaurants are closed. Three out of town visitors will bring Coronavirus to Tahoe whether they know they're infected or not and spread it to Tahoe.  Number Four, Governor Newsome has told everyone to stay home, not to travel and spread the virus.  Please stay home and stay safe, don’t come to Tahoe and cause people to become sick or die, thank you.
SB: That is all of the written public comment and if we could now move onto public telephone comment, I have two requests for phone calls.  First is a phone call to Bruce G, bear with me I'll get Mr. G on the line. 
Bruce G:  I appreciate the need to combat the Coronavirus.  Everything seems so uncertain today except for one certainty, that government is closing down businesses in our community.  I'm very concerned about-  [TECHNICAL] Government is damaging the marketplace causing serious unemployment in many industries and risking a serious downturn.  It kind of reminds me of a surgeon leaving an operating room and declaring the operation was a success but the patient died.  You need to keep this battle with the virus balanced and a proportional response, stop closing down businesses.  As to closing the South Lake Tahoe recreation center, I would urge you to put a time certain subject to renewal by council.  To leave it open ended until this challenge ends is so indefinite.  Evaluate it every thirty days I think that makes more sense.
SB:  And we have one more request and then we will open up the lines for people who want to call in.  I'm going to contact Matt D. 

Matt D:  Thank you for having me. I just want to give a little glimpse of the life of a restaurant owner, I'm not too sure how many people have spoken.  To make it fair for both sides, I know the landlords have bills to pay as well and morgages, I think [INAUDIBLE] the rent would be over a certain amount of time, that people could potentially pay, because it's getting hard to go back in and expect a lot of people to come back in and eat because it's not going to be reality.  I compare it to when we had Nine-Eleven, no one went out after that for a long time.  This being a health issue, I don't see people going out to restaurants right away, it's going to take people a little bit of time to get comfortable to go out again. restaurants will never be cleaner but that's just how it is from our perspective.  We'll have to deal with those situations but to charge people rent would be- too hard for people to survive.  I pay a lot of rent at my two locations in town and employees who are struggling, I'm trying to take care of their hours too. Just for cleaning and stuff but there's only so much I can do. So that'd be my recommendation and all my other landlords have worked with me in other cities that I have restaurants in I hope you can do the same here.  That's my two cents. 


That's all so far: 
Mayor:  We are still getting emails from people who say we're not doing enough getting the word out there, if you have a suggestion as to how we can do that, please give it to us.  We're a small team trying to get the word out as best we can on many-many fronts.  But I'm getting a lot of emails and we are trying to get as much information out there as we can.  If you have a suggestion, we'd love to have it alongside your concerns.  Now we'll move onto our regular agenda. 

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(Continued in Part Two) https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2020/03/transcript-pt-2-city-council-emergency.html 

NOTE:  The clips I transcribe for this project contain information that I don't think is available in print anywhere else. Please show your appreciation by clicking some cash into my PayPal account through button at top of left hand column.)

The meeting is 2.5 hours long this is just first 20 minutes, but I WILL get the rest of the meeting transcribed, loosely, next few days.
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Links in this post 
The Covid-19 Transcripts https://cityofangels25.blogspot.com/2020/03/the-covid-19-transcripts-origin.html
South Lake Tahoe City Council Meeting on Video: https://slt.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=6&clip_id=1086
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Posted by Kay Ebeling
Producer, City of Angels Blog
the city of angels is everywhere

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