A Northern California native, Tom Mertens has had a career spanning professional sports, television and public relations. For 12 years prior to retirement in 2020, he was the media/PR consultant for a municipal utility focused on renewable energy and for the clean community choice electricity utility for San Mateo County. Tom started visiting Rubicon Bay in 1956, and his interest in helping preserve the Lake was sparked in the 1980s when he pulled up clumps of algae while fishing off Kaspian Point.  During a term as board president, Tom instigated the campaign to make “Keep Tahoe Blue” one of the most recognizable environmental brands in the western United States. He feels that the League’s job is to protect the Lake by monitoring enforcement of environmental rules, and to ensure that agency and political decisions are science-based and in the best interest of the Lake. Tom served on the League’s Board of Directors from 1992 to 2021, including a term as board president in the late 1990s.