SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – There was one thing that the four remaining South Lake Tahoe City Council members could agree on during their meeting Tuesday night – it was great to see the number of people who applied to fill the council seat vacated by the resignation of council member Tamara Wallace.
Four who threw their hat into the ring decided not to run, but 22 people hung in there with all speaking during the meeting, and not only did they give the council their qualifications and reasons for voting for them, they were also questioned by the council on topics including VHRs, affordable housing, and challenges facing the City.
With a meeting that was supposed to end at 10 p.m., an extension had to be made, again, in order to have a decision on the new council member, but after hours of discussion, there was no decision. The meeting ended at 11:24 p.m.
Mayor Cody Bass moved to appoint Aimi Xistra since the voters supported her in the 2024 election and she came in third behind David Jinkens and Keith Roberts with over 2,000 votes. There was no second to that motion. Councilmembers Jinkens and Roberts said they could get behind Doug Williams, and Heather Horgan’s name was also brought up with no votes to move them forward.
There were also other people insterested in the position that rose to the top including Peter Fink.
Council will bring the same item back on the Dec. 9 agenda, and if they do not select a new councilmember they will call for a special meeting on Dec. 12, the deadline to decide on a person to fill the vacancy. If not done by then, there will be an election for the candidate on June 2, 2026. California Election Code states, if filling a vacancy, the position can only be filled by appointment or during the next regular election which in this case is the June primary.
If nobody is appointed in December, the next six months could be more of the same as is currently being experienced, a two-two tie and nothing moves forward in anticipated big matters. If the decision moves to the June election, that person would only fill the position until the November elections when they’d have to run again, if they choose to.