Response to Siobhan Smart’s Ad about TDPUD
Response to Siobhan Smart’s Ad about TDPUDI am a director at TDPUD. This is my response to Siobhan Smart’s ad in Moonshine Ink.
A finer example of Gish gallop has seldom been seen in the papers of Truckee. We are accused of sexual harassment and simultaneously criticized for hiring experts to investigate. By the way, the accusations were shown to be false by two separate, women-owned and -operated law firms specializing in internal harassment investigations.
We are recklessly spending 0.2% of our annual budget on meetings? Newsflash: strategic plans don’t write themselves.
That our 1980s era interior receives a modest upgrade is reprehensible, but we should be building an entire new campus on a piece of land that is already too small for our needs and barely accessible?
We hire expert consultants to help us plan for a challenging future? In what timeline is not planning the way to go? I want to trade up.
Closed session? What sinister schemes are we concocting? It couldn’t possibly involve discussions of security, real estate negotiations, personnel matters … we are clearly plotting to upgrade our Safeway sandwich tray to Moody’s truffle fries on the ratepayers’ dime. Rich, coming from the lady who says when her candidates are elected, her goal is to fire the GM on day one. No cause, no investigation, no due process.
Jeff Bender, the original environmental leader on the board, is a vengeful fraud? The gaslighting is strong. Anyone who still has questions about the Harris litigation can view the board meeting from July 7, 2022, at tdpud.org/board/meetings. The toughest statement I have ever had to make, but transparency is important.
Siobhan spun the wheel of political hit jobs and this is what came out. Wasteful spending! Toxic workplace! Corrupt board! Repeating lies doesn’t make them true.
Your PUD is doing amazing work. We are having meetings, making our workspaces more functional for our employees, expanding our renewable energy portfolio, figuring out ways to save money in the transition, keeping the lights on and the water pure, building in redundancy, reliability, and safety. Come to our meetings. Meet the people so gleefully accused of being toxic, deceptive, reckless nitwits.
The candidates who have actually been attending PUD meetings are Jeff Bender, Barney Dewey, and Courtney Murrell. They also happen to appreciate the actual, serious challenges we face and are eager to build on our strong foundation.
~ Christa Finn, Truckee
Cindy Gustafson Is the Best Choice for North Tahoe
As we all know, this election is very important for all of us, and it will have consequences for a long time to come. Not just the top of the ticket, but in so many ways here on a local level, where issues are non-partisan and can actually be effectual to our everyday lives.
I am a civil engineer in North Tahoe. I have been working with Placer County for over 30 years. I am quite familiar with Cindy Gustafson and Wayne Nader. I have known Cindy for over 30 years and have worked with her in her many public service positions.
The choice is very clear to me as to who would best serve the interests of North Tahoe. Cindy is not just extremely connected with the various local government agencies here, the people who manage them, the huge amount of regulatory oversight, and the culture and people of our area. She is supported by all the people she has touched, and who know her high level of integrity and honesty. She has a long track record of creating consensus and getting things done. Cindy’s heart is fully with the best interests of North Tahoe.
Her opponent has no knowledge, experience, or background in North Tahoe. I know that some of my friends are single-issue and look to Nader as the anti-development guy. That is not in our best interest. Each issue needs to be weighed on its pros and cons, vetted through the public process, and fit the rules. His unsuccessful tenure on the planning commission shows him as a minority of one with little to no success in finding consensus. Trying to stop all development is not good for Tahoe where stagnation has been the common rule for decades. Good, thoughtful projects are needed to improve the community for all.
~ Gary Davis, Olympic Valley
TDPUD Female Employees Disagree with Campaign Messages
It’s unfortunate that we need to write this response, but there are people in the community that say they speak for us despite having never spoken with us. As women who work at the Truckee Donner Public Utility District, we ask that you listen to our own voices.
Recently, candidates in the election for TDPUD board and their proxies have made statements stating to speak on behalf of women who work at the PUD. According to posts on social media, the Costa, Hydar, and Martinez campaigns have been out in the community speaking to voters about the terrible work environment and culture at the PUD that overlooks women, yet the majority of us have never been contacted by them to ask whether this is true.
In a campaign ad in the current issue of Moonshine Ink a local business owner details a meeting she had with 35-plus current and former PUD employees. However, the majority of us were not invited to this meeting where the mistreatment of women employees was said to be a topic of discussion.
We take exception to men representing us when we are fully capable of doing so ourselves if only we had been invited to the table. So let us be clear that we disagree with the messages of systemic poor treatment of women and a culture of retaliation and intimidation at TDPUD.
We find it disrespectful and infuriating that these three candidates and members of the community would discredit the actual experiences of us PUD employees and blindly believe the stories of those with personal ambitions and monetary motives. We don’t speak for every woman who works at the PUD, but this sentiment is shared by those undersigned. We object to being used as pawns in this campaign. We know that in an election, inflammatory things will be said and sometimes mud will be slung, but most of the hardworking people of the PUD did not ask to be dragged into this election, and we will not sit idly by while the Costa, Hydar, and Martinez campaigns attempt to exploit us.
~ Melanie Rives, Truckee; Allison McEneaney, Reno; Sarah Knapp, Truckee; Tracy Pearson, Truckee; Haley R., Truckee; Jen Mason, Reno; Jillian Steward, Truckee; Sarah Kraker, Tahoe Vista; Alex Spychalsky, Truckee; Jennifer Sawyer, Truckee
I Support O’Dette, Entriken, and Greeno for TTAD Board
I am proud to support, endorse, and vote for Teresa O’Dette, Birch Entriken, and Bill Greeno for Truckee Tahoe Airport District Board. The 2024 airport board election is consequential to our entire community, whether you fly a plane or simply live, vote, and pay taxes in our region.
We have six candidates running, and the opportunity to vote for three of them. I encourage all my fellow community members to use the power of their votes wisely. We need a board with integrity, balance, experience, and a diversity of skill sets. These three candidates align with our values and priorities. I am voting for candidates who will prioritize safety first, as quietly as possible, with maximum community benefit.
I am specifically voting for one incumbent (Teresa), and against the other. I am specifically voting for one pilot (Birch, retired professional pilot) and not the other two pilots who are running. This board needs a member with a professional level of aviation knowledge, who understands our complex airspace, and can work with pilots and airport staff to improve safety and noise impacts.
My three votes are for the three longest tenured locals and not for the three most recent arrivals to our community. Teresa (born and raised), Birch (49 years), and Bill (37 years) have called our region home for decades, understand our local issues, have put their kids through our local schools, have owned small, local businesses, and share the values most of us have in common. Their homes are spread between Placer and Nevada counties, including Truckee and North Tahoe.
Please vote for Teresa O’Dette, Birch Entriken, and Bill Greeno for Truckee Tahoe Airport Board.
~ Tal Fletcher, Truckee
Teresa O’Dette Is a Consensus Builder
I have lived and worked in Truckee for over 30 years as a marketing entrepreneur, executive, and real estate agent. I have known Teresa O’Dette since I first moved to North Tahoe in 1991 and I whole-heartedly recommend re-electing her to the Truckee Tahoe Airport District Board. Teresa is not only a long-time local and graduate of North Tahoe High, but she is also extremely business savvy and is the owner of a successful business here for 25-plus years. Teresa is experienced, a clear communicator, and is not a pilot, which gives her a unique community focus on the board to make solid balanced decisions. She is also a number cruncher and consensus builder who knows how to make sure the board is being transparent in all their decisions to represent our Truckee and North Tahoe communities’ important needs.
During her current tenure on the TTAD Board, she built consensus and voted to support millions of dollars of funding for the airport’s wildfire mitigation project, local search and rescue, affordable housing, and many local nonprofits. She is always focused on ways to make our communities safer. She is one of the strongest board advocates for fiscal responsibility and efficient airport operations, which provides $80 million in regional economic impacts annually and is the primary purpose of the TTAD board. This maximizes the remainder of the airport’s tax dollar allocations for reinvestments in our communities.
Please join me in voting to re-elect Teresa O’Dette to the Truckee Tahoe Airport Board.
~ Brinn Talbot, Truckee
Women of TDPUD: Support Costa, Hydar, Martinez
For those of you who are now joining the conversation, I placed in ad in Moonshine Ink’s October edition addressed to the Truckee community titled No Woman Left Behind. It is evident that some felt left behind or, in their words, “If only we had been invited to the table,” hence their response which can be found here.
The 11 women who identify as “Women of the Truckee PUD,” you have my respect and support.
The bravery to sign your names to a letter and publish for public scrutiny takes courage, as does the bravery of the women who did not sign and the bravery of the women who have been dispatched as “disgruntled.”
Pitting women against women is strategic; however, the personal ambition of your former and current colleagues has been to come forth in an effort to protect others.
In saying we intend to leave no woman left behind, we mean that, and just because you as women have not had a negative experience does not diminish the unpleasant and seemingly discriminative actions experienced by other women. No woman left behind means no woman left behind.
PUD women write the whistleblowers have “personal ambitions and monetary motives.” Below is the compensation of one of the 11 signatories. When you suggest monetary motives for your former colleagues, make sure to include your own:
- 2021 base salary of $129,742.00
- 2022 base salary of $163,951.34 plus a benefits package totaling $65,192.83
- 2023 base salary of $189,691.48 plus a benefits package of $68,806.34
The content of character of these candidates is not an unknown to this community. Suggesting that Dow Costa, Mark Hydar, or Cristobal Martinez are using you as pawns is silly.
~ Siobhan A. Smart, Truckee
