New faces at Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

Several key public service positions have been filled the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA).

Tom Lotshaw has been hired to work as TRPA’s Public Information Officer. He replaces Jeff Cowen, who worked for TRPA in that and other roles for eight years.

Lotshaw graduated from Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in public affairs journalism and has seven years of newspaper reporting experience. He worked most recently as a reporter for the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana, and as a reporter and photographer for the Tahoe Daily Tribune.

Devin Middlebrook, born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, California, has been hired to work as TRPA’s Environmental Education Specialist. He replaces Kristi Boosman in that position.

Middlebrook graduated from California State University, Chico, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and last year obtained a master’s degree in business administration from California State University, Sacramento.

Middlebrook interned with TRPA in summer 2013 and most recently worked as an outreach coordinator for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

Lucia Maloney has been hired as an associate planner in the Long Range Planning Division, replacing Shay Navarro who took another position within TRPA. Maloney previously worked in social policy and transportation research and planning for private firms in Austin, Texas.

Maloney was born and raised in Kings Beach, California. She has a bachelor’s degree in legal studies from University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in planning from University of Texas, Austin. She will be working to implement local communities’ area plans under the new framework in the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan.

Bruce Barr has been hired as the TRPA’s forester replacing Megan Scheeline. He will work on forest health issues in the Lake Tahoe Basin and on tree removal permits. The TRPA forestry team helps more than 600 property owners annually with tree removal.

Barr is a registered professional forester and certified arborist. Prior to joining TRPA, Barr worked for Sierra Pacific Industries for 21 years and for ACRT Inc., a contractor to Pacific Gas and Electric.