Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum reaction
Critics want to see results

Tahoe Daily Tribune

July 28, 1997
By Patrick McCartney
Tribune Senior Staff Writer

While Democratic allies of President Clinton praised the president's call for action to preserve Lake Tahoe Saturday, Republican elected officials generally adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

Clinton concluded the two-day Lake Tahoe Presidential Forum with a promise to double federal spending in the basin over the next two years, and signed an executive order that requires federal agencies to come up with further actions after 90 days of study.

"It was bipartisan consensus-building from the ground up," said U.S. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., after the conclusion of Saturday's forum.

But, while all four U.S. senators from California and Nevada are Democrats, all other federal and state elected officials representing Lake Tahoe are Republicans. While some were willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt, others viewed his commitment to Lake Tahoe as so much political grandstanding.

"Bill Clinton is going to distribute money up here ... that is what he does," said California Assemblyman Thomas "Rico" Oller, whose 4th District includes the Tahoe Basin. "He brings the bacon and the pork to the community."

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., was more conciliatory, praising the president for looking to Tahoe Basin residents for his solutions.

"After a great deal of discussion of who would be included and who would be excluded, they tried to bring in all the interested parties," Gibbons said on Monday. "That was a remarkable success. I'm very pleased they recognized local solutions." Others held back on commenting on the president's plan, saying the proof would only be evident over time.

"These people are political. He's a good talker and the speech sounded good," said Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, who represents California's 4th Congressional District. "But as Richard Nixon said, 'It's not what you say, it's what you do.' We'll see what the follow-up is."

Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for California state Sen. Tim Leslie, R-Carnelian Bay, expressed a similar sentiment.

"The president is pretty good at making sound bites and making a lot of promises," Schmidt said. "But when the TV is turned off, sometimes his promises fall flat."

Yet, Schmidt said Leslie is hopeful the president will deliver on his promises. "If it works out as well as it sounds on paper, we will be thrilled," Schmidt said. A member of California Gov. Pete Wilson's administration lashed out at Clinton's call Saturday for doubling federal spending at Lake Tahoe over the next two years, calling it an inadequate commitment.

Earlier in the week, Wilson had signed an agreement with Nevada, supporting the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's $906.8 million plan for restoring the Tahoe environment. The Environmental Improvement Program asks for the federal government to invest $296.8 million over 10 years and California $274.6 million. Spokesman Ron Lowe repeated Wilson's charge Monday that Clinton's action was disappointing.

"We were looking for real dollars," Lowe said. "They're taking packaging that includes funds that are already allocated. But when you unwrap the bow and look at the details, it's mostly packaging."

But Lowe said the governor has asked Doug Wheeler, the director of the California Resources Agency, to take a close look at the executive order Clinton signed and evaluate its significance.

But not everyone agreed with Wilson that the memorandum of understanding he signed with Nevada made a larger commitment to Lake Tahoe than Clinton's executive order. While the California agreement explicitly supported TRPA's environmental plan, the initial measures Clinton unveiled also came directly from the plan, said Carl Hasty, a TRPA principal planner and the coordinator of the environmental improvement plan.

And neither politician could commit to their full share of the cost without legislative backing, he added.

"There was no way Clinton could come in here and say 'I have a check for $300 million for you,' no more than the governor could come in here and say 'I have a check for $270 million,'" Hasty said.

And Stan Hansen, a Heavenly Ski Resort vice president who served on the presidential visit's local steering committee, noted that Wilson's agreement with Nevada did not include actual spending.

"I saw commitment in Wilson's MOU, but I didn't see any money," Hansen said. "I saw money and commitment in the executive order."