Seven candidates in the hunt for two open South Lake Tahoe City Council seats

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There are seven candidates for South Lake Tahoe City Council. After incumbents Cristi Creegan and John Friedrich chose not to run for reelection, the period for filing was extended.

The following are running for the two open seats (with their professions next to their names):

Keith Roberts, chief operating officer

David Jinkens, retired city manager
Nick Speal, engineer
Heather Cade-Bauer, procurement contract coordinator
Aimi Xistra, nonprofit director/parent
Marjorie Green, project manager
Caitlin McMahon, alpine ski instructor

Roberts, Jinkens, and Speal have all run for a council seat in the past, with the other four newcomers to local elections. You'll be hearing more about them in the coming weeks before the November 5 election.

Nick Speal had filled out his Ballot Designation Worksheet with the required employment information, but his noted "affordable housing advocate" was inadvertently published by El Dorado County Elections staff.

South Lake Tahoe City Clerk Susan Blankenship said the County published what he put down on the worksheet first, which was the housing advocate. She hadn't released that designation for the ballot since it is not Speal's vocation, meaning he earns no income from it. Blankenship had Speal change employment to "engineer" and the County has changed his designation on the ballot.

"Like many people in Tahoe, I wear quite a few hats," Speal explained. "I am a transit board member, president of the bike coalition, SOS Outreach mentor, and engineer, and lately my primary focus has been on my role as co-founder of Locals for Affordable Housing, the nonprofit organization advocating for Measure N as the most impactful solution to the housing crisis in South Lake Tahoe. I narrowed these down to two options for the ballot designation: Affordable Housing Advocate, and Engineer. The process allows for multiple title submissions so each can be weighed and considered. If the elections officials feel ‘Engineer’ is more acceptable, that’s fine with me."

The County received letters of complaint from some South Lake Tahoe residents who knew the employment line needed to be where they earn their income if employed, not volunteer work.