PS mayoral candidates face off in town hall

Eight candidates are vying to become Palm Springs’ next mayor.

This after current Mayor Steve Pougnet announced he would not seek re-election shortly after conflict of interest allegations surfaced.

All the candidates got to voice their stance on a number of topics in a two-hour Town Hall hosted by the American Legion Post 519 in Palm Springs.

“We’ve got all the key players here tonight and I think it’s great for the town to get to hear from each of them,” said voter Scott Severin.

“I’m very interested in what they have to say about the community,” said voter Patricia Beslin.

“I’m trying to see which one has the strongest platform,” said Constance Morrison of the American Legion.

“We’re about the constitution and democracy and this is the essence of democracy,” said H. Bryan Card, commander of the American Legion Post 519.

One by one the candidates each gave opening statements, and then it was right to the question and answer session.

Among the questions, which candidates were able to prepare answers for in advance, “What is your vision for the city of Palm Springs and what will your priorities be?” and “What is your experience with and commitment to veterans affairs?”

“They’re asking the same questions to everyone and offering the same amount of time to each candidate and we get a good idea of who each of them are and what their hot buttons are,” said Alan Tripp of the American Legion.

And there were some hot buttons, including the topic of what they’d do about homelessness.

Candidate Guy Burrows got choked up answering because said he used to be homeless himself and had to get himself off the streets.

Shortly after, Councilwoman Ginny Foat was interrupted by an audience member questioning her work on the homeless commission.

“I’ve been working on it for seven years,” Foat said to which someone called from the audience, “Then why isn’t it solved?”

Then came the question of transparency. All candidates say they support an open and honest government and some said the way to make that happen is to distance the relationship between council members and the city’s developers.

“Definitely transparency. All the sunshine we can have,” Beslin said.

Complete list of candidates running for mayor:

Ricky Wright
Robert Moon
Ginny Foat
Guy Burrows
Robert Weinstein
Michael Schaefer
Erbil Gunasti
Ron Oden