Cathedral City approves district map for city council elections

Cathedral City is moving ahead with a plan to elect council members by district.

The council approved “purple map 2” with a possible change that would expand district 2 into the downtown area so district one doesn’t represent the entire area.

The council approved that District 1 and District 2 will be up for elections in 2020. Mayor Pro Tem Greg Pettis lives in District 1 and is currently an at large member serving until 2020.

Councilmember John Aguilar lives in District 2 and he also holds an at large seat until 2020 as both councilmembers were elected to four year terms in the November 2016 election.

Mayor Stan Henry and Councilmember Mark Carnevale both live in District 3, and both councilmembers are termed out in 2018. District 3’s election will occur in 2018, if both decided to run again, they would have to run against each other.

District 4 and 5 have no current councilmembers living in these districts and both districts are up for election in 2018.

Voters in districts 1 and 2 would elect council members for the first time in 2020. Councilmember Shelley Kaplan lives in District 1 and his term ends in 2018. He would have to wait until 2020 to run in his district, if he so chooses.

Residents still have time to voice their opinions on the matter. There will be public hearings on September 13 and September 27.

The city is moving to districts, instead of city-wide elections, to avoid claims of voter discrimination.