STPUD changing to at-large elections

The South Lake Tahoe Public Utility District board of directors this week unanimously decided to alter how members are elected.

The board passed a resolution that says instead of running for a particular seat, candidates will all run together for the number of seats available. The candidates with the highest number of votes for the number of seats available will be elected. This is the same process used for the South Lake Tahoe City Council.

The board had discussed this at a few meetings this spring. Public sentiment was in favor of the change.

“It was expected to increase interest in running for the board due to the elimination of challengers having to specify their opponent — when the incumbent choses to run for re-election — and it greatly reduced the likelihood that an incumbent would not have to campaign for re-election at the end of each term,” Richard Solbrig, South Tahoe PUD general manager, told Lake Tahoe News.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report