SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The South Lake Tahoe City Council voted Tuesday to retain Cody Bass as mayor, and elect Keith Roberts as mayor pro tem. The annual reorganization meeting, normally held in December, was rescheduled for January 13, 2026. The vote was not unanimous, with Scott Robbins as the “no” vote.
Bass, who had a court date Monday on his misdemeanor trespassing and harassment charges, said if he is proven to be at fault on those charges, he would step down from the role. Those charges stem from an incident at Lake Tahoe AleWorx at Stateline, Nevada, on September 25. Bass and his attorney, Adam Spicer, were in Tahoe Justice court on January 12 for a status conference. They will return to court on March 2 at 1:30 p.m. for another status conference.
Council has been in flux since former mayor Tamara Wallace admitted to embezzling funds from the Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church on October 5, 2025, less than two weeks after Bass’s arrest.
Stressing positional knowledge, the majority of the Council agreed to keep Bass as their lead for 2026. He can normally run a meeting effectively, and ask other councilmembers to take a pause when wanting to argue with each other and the public. He also has good collaboration with agencies on whose boards he represents the City’s interests.
Councilmember David Jinkens said Bass has been professional and courteous from the dais and has a positive demeanor and moves items forward on agendas, though Councilmember Robbins disagreed and said he feels Bass’s current issues will distract from the business at hand, and he’d like the City to move beyond the chaos.