Desert Hot Springs Mayoral Candidates Face Off

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – Voters will be choosing a mayor next week. Election day is on Tuesday and many are voting early by mail. News Channel 3 interviews the two candidates highlighting their individual visions for Desert Hot Springs.

Desert Hot Springs Mayor Yvonne Parks has been mayor for two years and wants to keep working for the city.

“This council, under my leadership has provided that plan for the city government to carry out. We had our wonderful Operation Falling Sun that has improved our conditions here in Desert Hot Springs. The people in the city passed Measure A which allowed us to have 4 more officers. The park, is the quality of life issue for our people. We’re just moving forward. All the streets; we’ve done 37 miles of streets,” says Parks.

Fellow councilmember Russ Betts is campaigning for a promotion to mayor.

“We’ve got some big issues of balance here in the city. It’s a balance between the homeowners and the developers. The developers have pretty much ruled the roost here in the city for a long time. We’ve got a tax issue that was loaded heavily on the homeowners. It’s time for some of the large developers to pay their fair share,” says Betts.

There is one thing Mayor Parks and Councilman Betts can agree on. For the past two years, Desert Hot Springs has been on the right path.

Parks explains, “What we’ve brought in the past two years is progress. What I’m most interested in is bringing this city to the shining example, the shining hill, shining city on the hill; working to have a safe and a clean environment, a quality of life for our residents they deserve.”

We ask Councilman Betts, if the council is working so well, why should voters not re-elect Mayor Yvonne Parks?

Betts answers, “There’s been some mistakes. Some costly ones. She disagrees with me on the tax issue. That’s a big one. Back in February, she was interested in letting the large landowners not pay their fair share in taxes.”

The bitter politics of the past in Desert Hot Springs are, for the most part, over. But two different candidates want a chance to lead this city of around 20,000 people in two different directions.