Eyes on Cathedral City Mayoral race

Chip Yarborough has a lead over current Mayor, Kathleen DeRosa. However, it’s a slim one — just 181 votes separate the two. Yarborough takes 47 percent of the vote to her 46 percent. DeRosa has been mayor since 2004, and on the city council since 1998.

“I feel great. We ran an amazing campaign, a lot of support, a lot of volunteers. We got our message out, and the citizens of Cathedral City made a decision,” Mayoral candidate Chip Yarborough said.

His message, he said, is one of reform, starting with city staff. Yarborough said he does not agree with the cuts made in the last budget.

“We need to get more police officers back on the street. We need to get our special units up and running. Our crime rate has doubled since July 1st when we made the cuts,” Yarborough said.

Greg Pettis has served on the council for 18 years. He says a change was expected.

“I think the city has been very clear that they want us to make progress in our city. They want us to move forward. They want the time of the in-fighting among the city council to go away,” Cathedral City council member Greg Pettis said.

He refers to council chemistry — which he says will get better with new people on board.

“Oh, there’s no question about it. We have already been in touch with each other. We’re looking at ways we can make our city grow and prosper, and a place everyone can just have a real good time when they’re here,” Pettis said.

Numbers show Cathedral City clearly has a new city council member, the former Cathedral City Police Chief.

“We need safe streets. That’s how you get business. That’s how you get development. We need to make sure we have public safety officers out there, both police and fire, and they have adequate staffs to make sure the community is safe,” Stan Henry said.

Mayor Kathy DeRosa said she has not yet made a decision as to whether or not she will demand a recount. She is waiting to receive more numbers from the Registrar Thursday evening before she decides.