Former PS Mayor Ron Oden speaks out about seeking 2nd term

“I’m not running as the recycled mayor of Palm Springs, I’m different and I’m the best me I’ve ever been,” said former Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden as he emerged from submitting his final paper work to the city clerk’s office.

Oden says he wants Palm Springs voters to see him in a new light seven years after stepping away from the mayor seat.

“I’ve experienced so many things during those years – trials, tribulations, loss and death and all of those experiences have changed me,” he said, noting that he left office in 2007 to care for his parents in the San Fernando Valley.

Now Oden says he’s focusing on bringing change to the city he helped lead for more than a decade, first as councilman beginning in 1995 and then as the city’s first black mayor elected in 2003.

“There’s been a loss of trust and faith in our leadership and I look forward to restoring that. Our residents deserve transparency,” he said.

One of the things Oden supports is more detailed disclosures by elected officials of how much money they make and where it’s coming from. This in light of recent allegations of conflict of interest between the current mayor Steve Pougnet and a private developer.

“Businessmen are investors in our city. They’re not bad people but I think people get stirred and go the wrong way,” he said, stopping short of pointing the finger at anyone currently on council.

Among Oden’s other concerns: what he calls the city’s “eroding relationship” with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the status of a west campus for College of the Desert, where he used to teach.

“Suddenly it’s gone and no one’s talking about it,” Oden said. “Well, I want to talk about it and I want to find out what happened.”

As for those who say the odds are stacked against him because he’s been out of politics for several years, Oden says he hopes to channel Frank Bogert.

Bogert was first elected mayor in the 1950s and came back for seconds nearly 30 years later.

“He was re-elected as the city’s 15th mayor in 1982, so you know what? Coming back is nothing new for the city of Palm Springs.”

Complete list of candidates running for mayor:

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