Five Strong, One Goal: Moving Desert Hot Springs Forward Together

​I’ve served on the Desert Hot Springs City Council for nearly 17 years. Every election, we see a "team of three" emerge—a mayoral candidate and two council members running as a unified front.

This leaves the other two council members feeling excluded. This divisive mentality has hurt our city’s politics, leading to fractured relationships and hindering good policy-making.

On a five-member city council, three doesn’t make a team. It creates division. As your next Mayor, I’ll work to change that.

A Mayor’s role is to bring people together. My first experience with a divided council was in Pennsylvania, where I served on an nine-member board split four against four.

Despite being new, as the ninth council member I was chosen as Chair because I had good relationships with everyone. To them, I was neutral, not bound by factional loyalties.

As Chair, I helped bridge the divide. I brought out the best ideas from both sides, free from political rivalry. The council became more effective, putting ideas first and politics second. It became one of the best working councils on which I have served.

Our city deserves the same progress and unity. The voting blocs and factions in Desert Hot Springs need to end. There is no "team of three" on a council of five.

The same goes for the public whose ideas should also be welcomed no matter who they aligned with during an election. All ideas should be welcomed at our city council meetings

As your Mayor, I will ensure that everyone’s ideas are heard. We’ll shape the future of our city through collaboration, not division. There are great ideas out there, eager to make our city really good.

We can make Desert Hot Springs a model of progress.