Adam Sanchez speaks out after DHS Mayor win

In his first interview after the final votes were counted, Councilman Adam Sanchez says he’s ready to become the next Mayor of Desert Hot Springs.

After the last provisional ballots were counted Saturday afternoon, Sanchez beat out incumbent Yvonne Parks by just twelve votes.

The final results of the election will be certified on Tuesday, but current Mayor Yvonne Parks can still ask for a recount, and she told our news team last week she plans to do so. Even with that possibility Sanchez is confident he will be the next Mayor of Desert Hot Springs.

“I think with a 12 vote lead you have to feel comfortable that the results are going to be final,” said Sanchez.

Meanwhile as the city faces possible bankruptcy Sanchez says he is ready to lead Desert Hot Springs through what he says will be painful decisions in the months to come.

Last week our news team learned the city is facing a deficit of more than $3 million by next summer. Sanchez told us Sunday afternoon he believes the city can avoid bankruptcy through making strategic cuts and involving the public.

He wants to change the way the city does business so this won’t happen again.

“I think the process we had in the past is you always had the city manager and the mayor and the mayor pro tem, it seems like they always handled the financial committee. I think as we move forward the finance committee needs to be the whole city council now, it just can’t be two council members and we have to work closely with the city manager and the city staff so there is no more surprises in the future,” said Sanchez.

There are still several unanswered questions, like why the city’s financial situation wasn’t disclosed before the election, and who knew about it. Also, who, if anyone, is going to be held accountable.

The council will be having a special public meeting on Tuesday to answer those very questions.