SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – John Friedrich, who previously served on city council, is ready to get back in the race. He says he’s “proud of what we accomplished,” and raring for more. His platform is based on the results of a survey he’s putting out, and is updated in real-time. “The people are the boss of city council,” said Friedrich.

Friedrich previously served on city council and as mayor pro tem, but stepped down in September of 2024. However, he says he was inspired to come back and motivated through engaging with politics again. “In the end, what drew me back was people and all the good work we can still do together.”

Other candidates have laid out their personal platforms, but Friedrich took a different approach: he asks people to fill out a survey and uses that to guide his priorities. “I’m creating a community shared vision and really taking the idea that ‘government is by and for the people’ literally,” said Friedrich. “The role of city council is to facilitate the will of the community we serve and there is a shared intellect and wisdom of our community.”

Friedrich believes that this work will help engage people civically and serve as an objective measure of what people want.

He prided himself on being in the community during his previous tenure, highlighting his work on engaging with the Filipino and Latino communities that would have been impacted by the loop road, funding Sugar Pine Village and Lake Link, partnering with Lease to Locals and passing a plastic water bottle ban.

Housing is a major priority for him and currently top of the list. He said he is interested in continuing to facilitate affordable housing, working with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s plan to remove barriers to building housing and creating programs to help people afford to buy housing.

He also felt there was a link there with business, and supported incentivizing business as a way to help promote job, housing and economic development. “Let’s cut through the red tape and make it easy to do good things.”

Friedrich is the chief development officer of Skycharger and prioritizes environmental stewardship balanced with development and tourism. “We’re gonna have visitors and it’s not our job to put up the gates. We are all visitors compared to the Washoe, and besides, it’s not the visitors that are the problem, it’s the cars.”

“Climate change is the largest threat to Lake Tahoe. We should be a national leader in climate solutions and sustainable tourism,” said Friedrich. He supported the establishment of solar energy (which he felt could help address concerns around power supply to Tahoe) and an electrified fleet of vehicles for the city and Lake Link.

“We see that data centers are competing with people for power. By maximizing renewables, and local energy production with residents and businesses, we get closer to meeting our goal,” said Friedrich. “I think it’s important that we look for alternatives to energy, as well as hold Liberty Utilities to their promises around renewables and costs.”

Friedrich also expressed support for funding staff for fire and police departments, along with their mental health, as well as the roads. “Wherever we can, we have to find funding for police, fire and the roads. That’s the foundation of public government.” He also has a vision for the future of redesigning Highway 50 to be safer and more like a local road than a highway.

Another major point that Friedrich wants—putting city hall closer to the center of town. “It’s noted in the 56 Acres Plan. In my view, the current place that city hall is should be a visitor’s center or a park and ride. Moving city hall to the heart of town would make it a lot easier for people to go.”

In general, people are a major focus for Friedrich, especially in uplifting the many cultures in the community. He wants to bring the multicultural committee back, as well as engage directly with communities, especially immigrants. “They are the heart and soul of South Lake Tahoe.” He emphasized how he wanted to make them feel safe in a politically tumultuous time, leveraging the state of California’s laws and the way it informs local police departments.

“I’m passionate about turning the spotlight back to people so we can get refocused on where we want to go together,” said Friedrich. “To me, it’s an antidote to the way politics usually is—people should be part of what policy is and feel like they can shape that. We should all be measured by our ability to facilitate the will of the people.”

To read more about John Friedrich’s campaign and platform, visit https://www.johnefriedrich.com/.