Author: Kristie Wells
I spend a lot of time watching IVGID Board of Trustees meetings. More time than I probably care to admit.
I started watching because I live here and I want to understand what is happening in our community. I want to know where our money is going, what projects are moving forward, what isn’t getting done and why, and what decisions are being made about facilities I personally use.
There is also a professional reason I pay attention. I’m a Realtor.
When someone is considering buying a home in Incline Village, they aren’t just evaluating the house. Part of what they are buying into is this community and everything that comes with it.
Diamond Peak. Two golf courses. The Recreation Center. Tennis and pickleball. Our parks and miles of trails. And, of course, access to some pretty incredible private beaches along Lake Tahoe.
These things matter. If someone doesn’t care about skiing, golf, beaches or recreation facilities, there are plenty of beautiful places to live around Lake Tahoe. I hear Zephyr Cove is lovely.
But people choose Incline Village, in part, because of what we have here. These amenities contribute to our quality of life and are part of what makes owning property in Incline Village different. As a resident and as someone helping people buy and sell homes here, I think I should understand what is happening with them.
That’s why I watch the meetings. And because I know most people don’t have several hours to watch a Board meeting, I started writing recaps.
They are exactly that: recaps. They aren’t transcripts. They aren’t intended to document every public comment, every exchange between trustees or every sentence spoken during a meeting. I try to pull out the major discussions, explain what happened, provide context when it is needed and, most importantly, tell people what the Board actually decided.
Could someone else watch the same meeting and write a different recap? Of course.
That’s one of the reasons I regularly include a link to the meeting and encourage people to watch it themselves, especially if there is a topic they care deeply about. See all IVGID meetings here. [LINK]
One thing I generally don’t do is count public comments and use those numbers to suggest how the community feels about an issue. That isn’t because I don’t think public comment matters. I do. But six people speaking against something and three people speaking for it doesn’t tell me that Incline Village opposes it. It tells me nine people showed up and spoke about it.
The people sitting in the room at any particular Board meeting are not a scientific sample of Incline Village and Crystal Bay. Who shows up depends on the topic, who knew it was on the agenda, who rallied their neighbors or friends, who happens to be in town and, frankly, who is comfortable standing at a microphone and speaking publicly. A lot of people aren’t.
The same thing happens on social media.
If you spend enough time on Facebook or Nextdoor, you can easily come away believing the entire community is outraged about whatever people happen to be arguing about that day.
Then I go out into the community and actually talk to people.
Clients. Neighbors. Friends. People at community events. People I run into around town. I hear a much wider range of opinions, including plenty from people who would never consider getting into an argument on Nextdoor.
That is why I am very careful about phrases like “the community wants” or “residents overwhelmingly oppose.”
Which community?
If 10 people speak at a Board meeting, 20 people comment on Nextdoor and another 30 argue about it on Facebook, we still haven’t heard from the vast majority of people who live and own property here.
I would much rather see IVGID continue finding better ways to ask the broader community what it thinks about major investments. Give people enough information to understand what is being considered, what it costs, why it is being proposed, what the alternatives are and what happens if we do nothing. Then ask them.
That doesn’t mean public criticism should be ignored. Far from it.
We should question how money is being spent. We should scrutinize big projects. We should expect trustees to explain their decisions and staff to support recommendations with facts. There are times when IVGID deserves criticism, and I have certainly offered my share.
But I also don’t believe everything IVGID does is wrong.
Sometimes people are doing good work. Sometimes decades-old problems are finally being addressed. Sometimes investing in our facilities is necessary. And sometimes reasonable people can look at exactly the same information and come to completely different conclusions about what should happen next.
That’s okay.
I will continue writing my meeting recaps the same way I have been: watching the meetings, doing my best to understand the issues, reporting the major discussions and decisions, and providing additional context when I think it helps.
If I get something factually wrong, tell me. I will correct it.
If you think I should have focused on something else, you may be right. Write about it. I mean that sincerely. Incline Together was never meant to be one person writing about this community, and I would welcome more people willing to put in the time to contribute.
And if you disagree with my perspective, that’s okay too.
My goal isn’t to tell you what to think about IVGID. I want more people paying attention, asking questions and understanding what is happening in a community we all have a stake in.
Because whether we agree on every decision or not, I think most of us ultimately want the same thing: for Incline Village to remain a pretty incredible place to live.