Merchant's parents not only instilled in her an appreciation for public transportation, but also a passion for public service. Merchant's mother was an activist, marching with the Reverend Jesse Jackson on the streets of Chicago in the 1960s and organizing a Santana concert with Bill Graham in San Francisco to send the local youth symphony to Austria.

Since Merchant arrived on the North Shore 17 years ago, she has been an active member of the community, choosing jobs that have allowed her to have a hand in deciding the fate of North Tahoe. She has been everything from a reporter and a transportation official to a county representative.

"I was always raised that you give back to the community you grew up with," said Merchant, 43.

Journalism
After graduating from San Diego State with a journalism degree, Merchant moved to Tahoe in 1989 to work for the Tahoe World. She immediately received a crash course in local politics. At her first assignment, covering an incorporation meeting at the Old Post Office, she met all the movers and shakers.

"Everybody was there--Norma Schwartz, Bev Bedard, Kay Williams," Merchant recalled. "I got an earful. We sat in the back room, smoked cigarettes, and talked politics."

In addition to introducing her to all the local issues and community leaders, the weekly Tahoe World served another important purpose. Merchant met her husband, Robert, at the paper, where he worked as the photographer.

"We used to make out in the dark room," Merchant joked. The couple has an 11-year old daughter, Madison.

Politics
After two years at the paper, Merchant left to work as the field deputy for Placer County Supervisor Mike Fluty. She discovered that she loved county politics.

"I really liked the political stuff and all the different nuances of county government," she said. "Plus, it was never the same thing every day."

Fluty was not re-elected, but Merchant stayed on for a brief stint as field deputy for his successor, Supervisor Rex Bloomfield. She worked on issues such as dogs on the beach, incorporation, and snow removal.

Merchant, who had been volunteering with Tahoe Women's Services organizing its Chocolate Festival, decided to move out of politics and back into journalism. She got a job with the Chamber of Commerce. She did special events before being transferred to the Visitors Bureau as its public relations manager. She wrote the bureau's travel planner and worked with the media to sell North Lake Tahoe as a destination.

Transportation
After five years with the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association (the Chamber and Visitors Bureau combined in 1996 to form the NLTRA), Merchant left in 1991 to become the executive director of the North Tahoe-Truckee Transportation Management Association (TMA). It was there that her childhood experience became an asset.

"I realized that maybe I had an affinity for transportation," she said. "It helped me excel at the job."

As executive director of the non-profit TMA, Merchant oversaw the development of the summer trolley program, the transformation of the bus fleet from diesel to compressed natural gas, and partnering with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments to secure grant funding for local transportation. Nevertheless, she says that North Tahoe has a long way to go to improving transportation.

"If you compare Tahoe to other peer resorts, they do a much better job of getting people around. We just can't seem to get our arms around it."

She attributes part of the problem to the fact that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, as the area's regional transportation agency, is in charge of transportation. But the TRPA wears too many hats to devout its full attention to the issue.

"The TRPA is pulled in too many directions. If we focused our efforts more on transportation, rather than regulating ourselves, we would be more effective."

County Rep
Merchant left the TMA last April to become the Placer County Executive Office Tahoe Manager. She stays involved in transportation issues as the transportation representative on the Pathway 2007 Forum. Merchant is excited about her new job because she sees it as part of her evolution in public service.

"I knew it was an opportunity to continue to make an impact, just on a different level in the community."

As the county's representative in North Tahoe, Merchant oversees the NLTRA budget and works with the TRPA and other local agencies on land use planning, tourism, infrastructure, transportation and affordable housing. Merchant, who is the first Tahoe resident to serve in this position, hopes to use her familiarity with the area to make North Tahoe a priority for the county.

"I would like to make Tahoe a more dynamic part of Placer County, to put more focus on Tahoe from a county perspective."