The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday it is looking into Mayor Tamara Wallace after she allegedly wrote a letter admitting to crime.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — This story contains mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know is suffering from thoughts of suicide, emotional distress, mental health crises or substance use crises, call 988.
South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace is under investigation by the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office after saying she stole funds from an area church.
Wallace allegedly revealed her crime via a letter she sent to South Tahoe Now, in which she says she took funds from a Presbyterian church over time and justified using the money because most of it would go toward helping others like her deceased son’s three children.
“Here it is…rather than being like many public servants and individuals who try to lie, hide, and delay the consequences of something they have done, I am taking a different path,” Wallace writes in the letter. “I am telling the truth and admitting what I have done.”
Wallace attends therapy all day and every day after attempting suicide last month on her birthday, Sept. 11, she writes in the letter. Through counseling sessions, she says she is finding there are reasons why she would do something so horrible and spends the next few paragraphs describing traumatic events from her past.
Those experiences “are in no way an excuse for my actions,” she writes.
When asked Tuesday via text message if she plans on stepping down from her role as mayor, Wallace wrote back to ABC10 the letter is her only comment.
The Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church wrote Tuesday in a statement on social media Wallace’s offense resulted in “extensive loss” for the organization:
“Tamara Wallace has formally acknowledged committing a significant offense against the congregation of Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church. When this was discovered by the church, her employment was terminated on September 26, 2025, and the matter was appropriately referred to law enforcement authorities. She did not attend our church nor was she a member. Our congregation has suffered extensive loss, and as we address this loss and its impact, we remain committed to prayer, compassion, transparency, and justice.”
The El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Monday the agency was looking into possible embezzlement by Wallace from the church but could not provide any more information as the investigation is ongoing. There were no updates as of Tuesday afternoon.
Separate from Wallace, South Lake Tahoe Mayor Pro Tem Cody Bass had misdemeanor trespassing and harassment charges brought against him last week in Nevada court.
“I can guarantee my community I did nothing wrong, I believe in due process, bring on the trial,” Bass wrote Monday afternoon in an emailed statement to ABC10.
At 5 p.m. Tuesday, South Lake Tahoe City Manager Joe Irvin appeared in a video on the city’s Facebook account to address events surrounding Wallace and Bass.
“There’s been questions about how these issues impact the city’s finances,” Irvin says, sitting at a desk. “I want to assure everybody that no one individual city council member has access to the city’s finances. That is managed by myself and the finance director.”
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