“I wanted to see what possible middle ground there is,” Hetherington said. “The airport is one piece of the infrastructure up here, and they all have to fit together to make a community.”

Hetherington said she attributes Truckee-Tahoe’s high public involvement to the number of different public districts in the area.

“In a city with one government it’s easy to get lost,” she said. “Having multiple districts makes for a vibrant community.”

Living in Truckee with her family since 1990, Hetherington works as a civil engineer.
She also has other public service experience as a board member for the Sierra Nevada Children’s museum (now the Kidzone), and volunteering in the community, she said.

Looking back over the last four years, Hetherington said she’s proud of airport accomplishments like the preservation of Waddle Ranch as open space, re-adjusting airport rates and fees, airport maintenance, and creating the Airport Community Advisory Team for public outreach and noise concerns.

“Noise is a big issue, so ACAT is breaking a big problem into little pieces and looking for different possibilities,” she said.

Hetherington said she isn’t sure if she will run for another four-year term, but wants to continue to look for middle-ground solutions to airport issues.

— Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun