Tom Ballister, the person responsible for bringing Truckee public meetings to residents at home, was pulled from the control box during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting to be honored as a valued volunteer for the town.

“He always makes sure that our Planning Commission hearings and our Town Council meetings appear on the airwaves, whether viewed through live streaming or being watched through our local cable network,” said Truckee Mayor David Tirman.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, Ballister returned to school to pursue electrical engineering. He then joined Bell Labs developing hardware and software used in computers and phones. Throughout his career he has helped to found three startup companies involving software and computer technologies. In 1998 he moved to Truckee. Working from home he helped a bank in Hungary, writing and designing all its needed software.

Since retiring Ballister has been volunteering on projects throughout town. These include filming Truckee football games and producing local music venues such as Concerts in the Park.

Other projects include designing and remodeling board rooms for the Truckee Tahoe Airport Board, the Truckee Donner Public Utility District and Truckee Town Hall, to make them better equipped for filming.

“For all of this quite-behind-the-scenes hard work, without compensation, it’s my pleasure as mayor of the town of Truckee to present Tom with a key to the town of Truckee,” said Tirman.

“This is not necessary. I do it because I like to and because people seem to appreciate it,” said Ballister. “Thank you for this. I got to get back to work.”

Hannah Jones is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at hjones@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2652.w