Devin Middlebrook selected as mayor of South Lake Tahoe, Cristi Creegan as mayor pro tem

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Devin Middlebrook was selected as mayor of South Lake Tahoe during Tuesday's city council meeting, and Cristi Creegan was selected as mayor pro tem.

The mayor is a leadership position that leads council meetings and is a spokesperson for the City, but only comes with one extra power and that is the ability to call a special meeting. The position, along with that of mayor pro tem is changed annually through a vote of councilmembers.

Middlebrook had no competition but both Cody Bass and Cristi Creegan expressed a desire for the open Mayor pro tem spot.

Councilman John Friedrich thanked Tamara Wallace for being a representative of the city during the challenges of COVID and the Caldor Fire. Concerns from the council were expressed for Bass's busy schedule as a business owner and the uncertainty of his running for reelection.

Mayor pro tem is normally a stepping block into the mayor spot and gives one experience to lead as mayor in the following year.

Wallace said she'd been putting in 40 hours a week during the pandemic and fire and let the other four councilmembers that it is a time commitment to be an active participant.

Wallace has already thrown her hat into the race for El Dorado County supervisor and will not seek reelection for the city council in 2022. The four-year term for Middlebrook and Bass end in 2022 as well, Creegan, and Friedrich in 2024, and concern for continuity was expressed so a mayor pro tem being in the 2024 group was expressed.

This council had voted for a nine-month mayor term so all could have a term in the top spot, but official City protocols were never changed so the term is for one year.

The final vote for Middlebrook and Creegan was 4-1, with Bass voting against it.