Palm Springs City Council to consider directly elected mayor change
Athena Jreij
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Palm Springs city leadership is considering a switch back to directly electing a mayor, if approved by voters.
Since 2019, the city has rotated mayors every year from 5 elected city council members, after threat of a hefty lawsuit due to a lack of Latino representation. The current mayor is Naomi Soto from District 4.
Earlier this month, Councilmember Grace Garner asked the council to prepare materials for a discussion on the switch, something former mayors and current councilmen Jeffrey Bernstein and Ron deHarte support looking into.
“Overwhelmingly, our residents want to be able to choose who their mayor is. They want to go back to that time. They want to be able to exercise their vote and choose who their mayor is,” deHarte said.
Since 2019, the city has had three Latino mayors serve. The measure asks if it’s still needed given the efficiency.
“In a lot of ways, what it intended to set out to do has been done. We’ve had three Latino mayors. We had two of the youngest mayors we’ve ever had,” Bernstein said.
The rotation has faced critiques over the years, like a lack in consistency and influence from the mayor over the council.
“The longevity of a four year mayor is really important to the city, being able to maintain high level relationships with your community organizations and the neighborhoods,” deHarte said.
If the measure progresses, it could change a lot in the city.
“We could have four districts and an elected mayor, six districts, and an elected mayor. When the census happens in 2030 we’re going to have to look at redistricting anyway. So part of another question is is this a timing issue?” Bernstein said.
He also says the city has to consider if they’ll face legal challenges from the past lawsuit and the price of a new ballot measure.
However, deHarte says the cost wouldn’t compare to voters’ desires.
“Well, the cost is really minimal to the operations of the city. You have another stipend for a council member, build out costs there would be to create another office here at City Hall. So the expense to go through the effort is minimal. Being able to put it on the ballot in November when there’s already an election happening, it’s the perfect time to,” deHarte said.
The measure will come back to the city council for discussion in the first week of April. Stick with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.