Truckee is Lucky | “Mayor Dave” Polivy | E71
Imagine being the mayor of a mountain town during the height of COVID. For Dave Polivy, owner of Tahoe Mountain Sports, being a COVID mayor became his reality after being elected onto Truckee town council in 2018. For better or worse, Dave’s tenure during COVID cemented his nickname in the community as “Mayor Dave”, even though he’s no longer mayor. He’s also Kurt’s doppelganger, giving him another nickname; “Doppelganger Dave”. In Episode 71, we chat with Dave about how he landed in Truckee on September 11, 2001, and his path to business ownership, community building, keeping the ski bum dream alive and eventual mayorship. Dave has appeared on a lot of radio and TV shows, as well as podcasts, but usually he just ends up being a sound bite. But in this near two-hour episode, listeners will get a behind-the-curtain look at what it takes to be an elected official in a mountain town facing growing pains and an identity crisis, all while balancing family, business ownership, and of course, getting outside and putting his mind in the track.
Truckee River Public Waters | Matt Koles | E63
Along one of the best stretches of the Truckee River for fishing, a private landowner in Hirschdale has been blocking legal public access by placing no trespassing signs below the high water mark of the river. Longtime Hirschdale resident Matt “Gilligan” Koles, who’s been a fly fishing guide on the Truckee River for more than two decades, has been fighting these illegally placed signs, as well as dealing with aggressive intimidation tactics involving drawn firearms by the landowner. The Truckee is considered a navigable river, meaning the public has legal access to the river below the high water mark. Nonetheless, the illegally placed signs have not moved, and the intimidation has scared most of the public away. In response, last fall, Matt and a group of fly fishing friends formed @truckeeriverpublicwaters – a 501c3 non-profit dedicated to protecting legal public access to the Truckee River. In Episode 63, the boys chat about the importance of the Truckee River, a bit of its history, a little about fishing and a lot about the access struggle community members in Hirschdale have been facing and what we as the public can do to ensure legal access is preserved.