Meet the Interim Executive Committee of Eastern Placer Future
Eastern Placer Future is a 501(c)4 organization formed by a group of engaged citizens exploring the potential to create an incorporated town with local decision-making in the North Tahoe area of eastern Placer County. Working committees are being formed to broaden involvement in this effort. Below is a short bio of each committee member.
Alex Min: Alex Min moved to Tahoe City in 2000 from Breckenridge Colorado where he started his Real Estate career. Upon arriving in Tahoe, Alex continued his Real Estate career with Sierra Sotheby’s International Realty where he remains today. Alex has also served on the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors for two consecutive terms and Alex has also volunteered with Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue for many years on the snowmobile team. The highlight of Alex’s life has definitely been raising his two amazing Tahoe kids who were born and raised in the area and are now in middle and high school, both of whom are outstanding athletes and thriving in the Tahoe region. “My kids are the main reason I am so passionate about taking care of the beautiful area we call home. I want to see our community grow into an area that we can all be proud of and that our kids can steward into the future generations.”
Andrew Ryan: Andrew Ryan has been a North Tahoe resident since 1997 and operates a local civil engineering business. He is a strong advocate for bottom-up, community-driven governance and believes that true stewardship grows from the lived experience of small business ownership, stable housing, and/or raising a family within the community. With decades of regional project experience—including his and his partner’s own small-scale local developments—Andrew supports incremental, resilient redevelopment. He prioritizes improvements that strengthen a community’s sense of place and reflect the needs of its people. He envisions North Lake communities that continually evolve and adapt in response to the stakeholders who live, work, visit and love them.
Christian Brown: A local attorney and longtime Tahoe City resident, Chris is a 1993 graduate of North Tahoe High School. After attending the University of Michigan Law School, he practiced with a large, international law firm in San Francisco for 10 years before moving home with his wife Jamie (a 1994 North Tahoe High grad) to raise their kids. Chris is the founder of Elevation Law P.C. in Tahoe City, where he focuses on litigation, real estate, business law and employment matters.
Danielle Hughes: Danielle is a dedicated advocate for sustainable balanced redevelopment and community-driven planning in Eastern Placer. With experience navigating land use policy, environmental review, and regional collaboration, she brings a pragmatic and future-focused perspective to local decision-making. Her work emphasizes solutions that protect the area’s character and environment while supporting community and local business needs.
Dave Williams: Dave has been part of the Lake Tahoe Tahoe Community since 2002, originally as a second homeowner and eventually becoming a permanent resident in 2013. He and his wife, Cindy, live on the West Shore where they raised their three kids (Ryan, Lola & Josh). Throughout his professional career, Dave has served in various executive leadership roles (including CEO of four different companies). Since settling in Lake Tahoe locally, he founded and current operates a property management business, Mountain Getaways. He has also actively served on various local Boards including Treasurer of the Lake Tahoe Park Association and Treasurer of the Truckee-Tahoe Swim Team. Dave believes in sound fiscal management that’s reflective of good planning and supportive of the business community and those who live, work, and visit our beautiful area
Heidi Spirigi: Heidi is an executive coach, consultant, and strategic advisor with three decades of operating experience as a founder and executive in high tech and professional services. Heidi works with companies and leaders seeking to scale by building leaders and teams willing to challenge themselves and undergo deep change. She serves on the TOT Advisory Committee of the North Tahoe Community Alliance and previously served on the board of the SNOW Sports Museum. A long-time visitor to Tahoe, Heidi moved to Tahoe City in 2020 and cares deeply about cultivating a vibrant and sustainable North Tahoe community.
Kevin Drake: Kevin is co-founder and CEO of Alibi Ale Works, which operates two community-centric brewpubs in North Lake Tahoe and Truckee. Prior to founding Alibi in 2014, Kevin spent 15 years working in watershed science and restoration consulting in the Tahoe area. He also serves on the Board of North Tahoe Community Alliance, as Placer County’s representative on the TRPA Advisory Planning Commission and is a member of the Kings Beach District Committee (formerly the NTBA’s Economic Vitality Committee). Kevin is a 20-year resident of Kings Beach and is passionate about creating lasting vitality and resilience in our community.
Maggie Steakley: Maggie has been a resident of King Beach for over a decade and works from home as public policy constant, providing facilitation; project management; policy analysis; interest holder engagement; strategic planning; and written, visual and verbal communications. Maggie specialized in education and early education policy, but has also worked with a number of local clients on strategic planning processes. She also serves as the chair of the North Tahoe Regional Advisory Council (NTRAC), and is an appointed member of the First 5 Placer Children and Families Commission (First 5 Placer). Maggie enjoys skiing, time on trails, birding and naturalism, board games, reading, and traveling. She holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Goldman School of Public Policy at University of California Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History, University of Vermont.
Samir Tuma: Samir is active in local civic life as a board member of the Tahoe Housing Hub, North Tahoe Community Alliance and as a member of the Interim Executive Committee of Eastern Placer Future. He is the Founder of Kila Properties, a real estate development firm focusing on lodging and workforce housing projects in the Tahoe basin. Previously, Samir served as a planning commissioner, start-up executive and an attorney in private practice.
Sarah Coolidge: Sarah Coolidge has been deeply rooted in the North Tahoe region since the 1960s and has dedicated much of her life to the well-being of our mountain community. With decades of leadership and community organizing experience, Sarah brings both heart and strategy to local efforts that protect the environment, support working families, and foster long-term sustainability. She currently serves her third term on the Board of Directors for the North Tahoe Public Utility District, where she has held the role of Board President and worked to ensure responsive, transparent governance. Sarah’s passion for collaboration and local control is what fuels her involvement with Eastern Placer Future — a natural extension of her lifelong commitment to helping this region thrive now and well into the future.
Steve Teshara: Steve has been active in community service for more than 40 years, with a focus on public-private partnerships and community-based initiatives. As a volunteer, he has supported various special events and programs unique to our region. Steve is widely recognized for his ability to “connect the dots” bringing people and organizations together to identify and implement solutions to a variety of community challenges and opportunities.
Wally Auerbach: Wally is a 45-year resident of North Tahoe and the President of Auerbach Engineering Corporation in Tahoe City. He served for many years as the Chair of the Infrastructure Committee of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association (now the North Tahoe Community Alliance) and as the Chair of that board. He also served on the Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation for many years, with several years as Chair. Wally has been an advocate for investigating the possibilities of local control in North Tahoe since assisting the Town of Truckee through their initial years of local government formation in the early 1990’s.