EXCLUSIVE: New city manager speaks about the future of Cathedral City
Gavin Nguyen
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – Andrew Firestine, the new city manager in Cathedral City, is sharing his thoughts on the future for the first time with News Channel 3 this evening.
The city council approved the hiring of Firestine in a five-year contract at its February 11th council meeting. It came after an extensive search following Charlie McClendon’s retirement, who previously held the position.
Firestine is an experienced local government professional with a career focused on creating lasting community impact and delivering efficient, effective, and responsive service.
A California native, he spent the first 16 years of his career in Colorado, working for a regional council of government and the cities of Colorado Springs and Centennial in various planning and management roles.
Firestine relocated to the Coachella Valley in 2019 and served as Assistant City Manager for the City of Palm Desert, managing multiple service areas until 2022. He then served as Director of Development Services for the City of Escondido before joining the City of Cathedral City in September 2023.
News Channel 3 was the first to ask Firestine questions about the city’s future in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
He pointed to a number of ongoing initiatives to keep the city pointed in the right direction, including an updated strategic plan and new biennial budget.
“We have a newly amended strategic plan that will be coming back to the City Council for Adoption here in the next couple of meetings, as well,” he recounted. “We just adopted a biennial budget, so between the biennial budget and the strategic plan, we have a lot of initiatives already in our work plan.”
Street maintenance, addressing business applications, and encouraging more businesses to take root in the city are all on the list of needs Firestine hopes to address. But one of his priorities: creating places for people to live.
“Like many other cities, we need to do more to catalyze and support housing production and the development of affordable housing in Cathedral City,” he explained.
The city recently released results from a community survey, which Firestine said showed broad satisfaction with city services.
Also on his list to address, though: code compliance work, neighborhood beautification, and enhanced communication with the city’s residents.