New DHS mayor and council table raising minimum wage

A new mayor and the members of city council were sworn in tonight in Desert Hot Springs.

“To the new city council please remember you don’t have to like each other but you do have to respect each other,” words of advice from Jan Pye, an outgoing council member, to the newest members of the Desert Hot Springs City Council.

The council members sworn in tonight include incumbent Russel Betts, former DHS Mayor Yvonne Parks, Anayeli Zavala. Scott Matas who was sworn in as the new mayor after defeating incumbent mayor Adam Sanchez in this past election.

“Unifying the city has to be the top priority this starts up here at the dais but the respect of all people on the dais has to be understood. We have to understand why we are not going to go in the same direction for political views, but we have to have the cities best interest at heart,” said Matas.

A major issue on the agenda today was to talk about raising the cities minimum wage.

Some people in the city worry if the council raised the minimum wage it would scare off new stores like Walmart from coming to town. The item was removed the from the agenda.

“When we look at other cities that have passed these ordinances like this is Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle these are large cities with a strong local economy. Right now we are at the point to have the potential to expand for economic development with other jobs that our community needs, and it is our job as a council to make sure that we are also attracting business that will bring good paying jobs for our residents,” said Zavala.

Only council member Joe Mekee voted to keep the motion on the agenda. All the other council members voted to remove it.

The motion can be brought up at another council meeting at a later date, but nothing was set at this council meeting.

During a break Scott Matas told KESQ the first thing he wasn’t to do is talk to Walmart executives and get the ball rolling on opening a store in Desert Hot Springs.